"Goosebumps" is, without any doubt, one of those movies that will make a perfect addition to your must-watch-movies-on-Halloween list.
Directed by Rob Letterman of "Monsters vs. Aliens" and "Gulliver's Travels" fame, "Goosebumps" has successfully incorporated all the elements of a classic cartoon feature in a live action scenario.
The movie is funny, gritty and tingling, as well as emotional, spooky and of course, scary to some extent. Besides, what makes it a good watch is all the crucial basics like direction, storyline and acting by the lead characters have been done perfectly.
The movie opens with Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) moving from New York to Laurel, Maryland with his mother Gale (Amy Ryan). Zach meets his neighbour Hannah (Odeya Rush) and her father, the mysterious Mr. Shivers (Jack Black), who is revealed to be none other than R.L. Stine, the author of "Goosebumps" books.
In a series of unfortunate events, Zach and his socially awkward new friend Champ (Ryan Lee) mistakenly unleash the Snowman monster from one of Stine's books, "Snowman of Pasadena." Afterwards, Zach, Champ and Hannah try desperately to send it back into the book when Stine appears out of nowhere and captures the monster back into the book.
However, it is not the end; once back home, Stine and the kids discover that another character, the villainous puppet Slappy, has also managed to escape the book. He steals other books of Stine and unleashes all sorts of monsters and ghosts into the town, creating chaos.
Now it is up to Stine and the three kids to send the monsters back into the books and save the town from the mayhem. On their journey, Zach comes across a shocking and unexpected truth about Hannah but chooses not to reveal it.
The movie has brillantly covered how they manage to capture all the monsters and the adventures they come across in their journey.
A perfect direction, an intriguing storyline and impressive acting by all the actors - that pretty much sums up the movie. Letterman has skillfully justified the theme mentioned in Stine's books and has been very careful to make sure the movie does not lose the feel to which the readers associate themselves to the books.
Jack Black's acting is, as always, awesome. His character of a grumpy and people-hater person, who constantly struggles to keep his secrets safe from the world, is so convincing that it's hard to believe he is the same person who voices for a cheerful and positive character like Po in "Kung Fu Panda" movies.
If you hate damn scary movies to watch on Halloween and prefer to stick with the classic mild horror ones like "The Adams Family" or "Frankenstein," "Goosebumps" is surely going to delight you. Though it won't make your Halloween scary, it will undoubtedly make for a memorable experience.
