Title: Goosebumps
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Rob Letterman
Starring: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
What It Is: When Zach (Minnette) and his mother Gale (Amy Ryan) move from the big city to a small Delaware town they have no idea what they’re in store for. You see living next door is a curmudgeon of a man who spends his time locking his daughter Hannah (Rush) away from the world. Zach is suspicious of the goings on next door so he goes over to check out the situation. To his surprise, this grumpy man next door is none other than famous author R.L. Stine! The reasons for his elusiveness are revealed and perhaps there was a good reason.

What We Think: It’s rare you see a horror film the whole family can enjoy. Goosebumps certainly is that! Not only is it a fun time, but it’s just scary enough to give the kids the fright they need. It isn’t boring for the adults either, particularly those adults who grew up on the writings of R.L. Stine. It’s CGI isn’t great but when you consider its target audience and smaller budget it is totally believable enough. When talking about the performances it starts and ends with Jack Black. These are the types of films he seems to strive in. He’s great as Stine and seemed to be challenging Orson Welles with his speech pattern. At the same time, he hits a great note with that R.L. Stine black turtleneck. Both teenage leads are serviceable actors. Minnette and Rush maintain our attention and build their chemistry wonderfully.

 Our Grade: B-, Letterman really understood the material they gave him. Black delivered a performance that was equal parts funny and well-balanced. I’m going to give this a recommendation especially to those parents that do not mind scaring their offspring a bit. For kids, this will be scary enough and for the adults the stories enough to keep you invested. This film proves you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to stir up an interesting story. They’ve set the table for some expansion on this series let’s see if they choose to put that into action or not.