Trick or treat? The original Goosebumps film, a family-friendly horror adventure inspired by the RL Stine series for young readers, proved to be a bit of both, in a good way, when it stole into cinemas three Halloweens ago. Unexpectedly, the premise was Pirandello pint-sized and pumpkin-spiced: Jack Black played the Goosebumps author Stine himself, whose monstrous creations broke loose from his manuscripts and terrorised an autumnal US suburb.
This year’s sequel dials down such meta-antics for the most part: even as half-term releases go, it’s a little high in sugar, low in fibre, and the plot feels stretched beyond its natural length. (A third film — which seems likely — might work best as an anthology, with Black as the common thread.)
But even so, Goosebumps 2 is a lively and colourful ghost train ride, with some well-judged scares that would have been at home in its 1980s Amblin forerunners, such as The Goonies and Young Sherlock Holmes. In fact, it recaptures that Stephen King-lite vibe far more successfully than did Black’s other 2018 spooky children’s film, The House With A Clock In Its Walls — itself an Amblin production, but lacking the brand’s old magic.
The story centres on Sonny and Sam (Jeremy Ray Taylor and Caleel Harris), two young teenage boys who unearth a sentient ventriloquist’s dummy called Slappy (voiced by Mick Wingert): one of the classic Goosebumps villains, and the only returning character from the first film aside from Black’s Stine, who plays a much-reduced role.
Soon the doll is using his telekinetic powers to bring various Halloween costumes and knick-knacks to life - and it falls to the kids, with help from Sonny’s older sister Sarah (Madison Iseman), to dispel the chaos and seal Slappy back inside his book.
Bridesmaids’ Wendi McLendon-Covey plays Sarah and Sonny’s mother, who is partly transformed into a dummy herself at one point, complete with chattering wooden mouth — a good example of Goosebumps’ flair for authentically creepy moments that don’t test the limits of its PG certificate.
The film also features The Hangover’s Ken Jeong as an eccentric neighbour who starts shrieking even before the ghosts show up, and whose lavish seasonal decorations, including a house-straddling giant spider made from purple balloons, are crying out to be possessed from the start.
