Goosebumps Review

Bringing Horror to Life

♦ Tripwire gave editor-in-chief Joel Meadows the task of reviewing Rob Letterman’s kids horror movie Goosebumps, out at the cinema in the UK now and starring Jack Black, Dylan Minette and Odeya Rush

Goosebumps

Director: Rob Letterman

Stars: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush

Based on the hugely successful kids books of the same name, Goosebumps did brisk business at the US box office last October and at last it has made its way over the water. Jack Black plays author RL Stine who lives next to teenager Zach (Minette) who has just moved into the neighbourhood with his mother. Stine is initially very hostile towards Zach, who takes a shine to Stine’s daughter Hannah (Rush) and it all goes a bit pear-shaped when the pair unleash one of Stine’s horrendous creations on the town.The mcguffin here, like Jumanji, is that the writer’s creations can be made real simply by opening the story they appear in. Stine’s stories are carefully maintained in his library until the teenagers unwittingly open one of them up. Black is actually pretty decent here and Letterman manages to keep the action moving along nicely. The teenagers made to be sweet without descending into maudlin territory and the effects are fairly well-handled. With a running time of around 100 minutes, it never outstays its welcome and it manages to strike the right balance for a young adults horror movie. Black’s career has been pretty dead for a number of years and maybe this may help to resuscitate it a little. A sequel is undoubtedly on the cards.

JOEL MEADOWS

Goosebumps www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk