Today, I’ll follow up my movie review of Goosebumps with a review of Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, released in 2018. In this film, a girl named Sarah, her brother Sonny, and his friend Sam, who live in New York City, find an old book that brings the Slappy doll to life. Slappy starts causing chaos. And wouldn’t you believe that most of the film takes place on Halloween of all nights?
This book follows a very similar plot to the first film, with Slappy being the main antagonist and causing all the other characters from the books to destroy the town. The most significant difference is that in this movie, Slappy just finds Halloween costumes that are Goosebumps-themed and brings them to life using magic.
It’s not a bad film, but it is worse than the original in almost every way. Jack Black as R.L. Stine is in the movie for 5 minutes, which is a real bummer. The hilarious Ken Jeong is in the movie, and even though he’s a great actor, it feels like they were trying to recreate how Jack Black felt in the first movie, with Ken Jeong being a big Goosebumps fan and helping the kids out. In my opinion, it just doesn’t work. For me, this happens to be a weaker film.
As a children’s film, it’s probably a 6/10 or maybe 7/10, but if it was ranked as a regular film or children’s horror, it would be like a 4-4.5/10 for me. I liked the first movie more. It’s still a fun one-time watch for a big Goosebumps fan.
Goosebumps is a great franchise with books, TV shows, video games, movies, and lots of merchandise. But now, I have a question: what children’s horror movie should I review next? Always make sure to keep on shivering.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the movie. I have to agree with you; although it wasn't my cup of tea, I can see why some people might find it interesting and entertaining. As for your next review, maybe you could check out "Monster House" – it's another children's horror movie that might interest you!
I haven't had the chance to watch these movies. Looking forward to watching them with my nephew