I honestly crazy about the first Goosebumps movie. Not in the sense that it was bad, just that it very much wasn’t for me. It was like one of those kids movies from the 90s where it’s mostly noise, hijinks, and extended sequences of young characters running and screaming, which…yeah, not my thing. But I can appreciate what the film does in satisfying the fans of the books, and even as a mildly casual fan of them, it was cool seeing some of those creepy characters being brought to life.
With Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, things are simultaneously different, yet somehow more of the same. None of the characters of the first film are back. This time we follow Sarah Quinn (Madison Iseman), her younger brother, Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor), and his best friend, Sam (Caleel Harris), as they unwittingly bring Slappy the Dummy (voiced by Jack Black & puppeteered by Avery Lee Jones) to life. He ends up causing some havoc around town on Halloween night, and it’s up to the youngsters to stop him.
As someone who wasn’t particularly anticipating this, I was surprised by how charmed I ended up being as the film went along. I still wouldn’t call the film great, and it’s still not really my thing, but what I appreciated about the film was how low-key most of it felt. The first two acts felt like something out of a legit Goosebumps book as we follow the lives of these kids and their day-to-day struggles, which are first seemingly made better by the presence of Slappy, who does their homework, embarrasses the bullies, and generally makes their lives easier. Well, at least before things start to escalate into dangerous territory, as you’d expect. I was more engaged by Slappy as a character here than in the first film, and I was also more engaged by the main characters, despite them being rather broadly drawn. Though, the biggest laughs – at least in these first two acts – always came from Wendi McLendon-Covey, who plays the mother of Sarah and Sonny. She was the MVP for the film as far as I’m concerned, which isn’t too surprising given her long career in comedy.
Once the final act kicks in, and Slappy has started causing chaos around town, bringing Halloween decorations to life, that’s when the flaws really begin showing. The whole film already has the vibe of the kind of made-for-TV sequel that would’ve been rushed out had the first Goosebumps actually been a 90s movie. It looks cheaper, isn’t as well made (though the effects are still solid), has barely any returning characters, plus it contains many sequences that are essentially a repeat of the first. It’s astonishing that this even made it to theaters, since I’m so used to seeing stuff like this go straight to VHS. It’s hard to expect much given that none of the creative people from the first are back, with the sole returning figures are the two producers.
I wish the film was able to stick to what it was doing before the final act. I wish it was able to retain that more small scale, character driven storytelling that managed to bring a surprising amount of charm. The performances are solid, and the characters are likable enough to make up for the thinly sketched writing that the actors are dealt with. There are even some fun monsters that they encounter, and a number of them seemed to be folks in costumes, which I’ll always find charming and amusing.
I don’t know how fans of the first film are going to take Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, but for me, it’s about on par. It’s definitely flawed, and doesn’t add a whole lot new, but it has its charms, and it’s got more than enough to keep the target audience – younger kids – compelled by the humor, the adventurous tone, and spooky shenanigans. Iseman, Taylor, and Harris work well together, Jack Black is always a delight, and the film is smart to keep things moving fast and hardly a second over 90 minutes. With this and the recent film, The House With A Clock In Its Walls, it’s cool to see a resurgence of horror films that are aimed at younger audiences, and while neither of them are particularly great, they at least bring something interesting to the table.