Starring: Wendi McLendon-Covey, Madison Iseman, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Caleel Harris, Ken Jeong, Chris Parnell, Bryce Cass
Director: Ari Sandel
Release date: 19th October 2018
A quiet street, in a quiet American town, and a teenage girl called Sarah (Madison Iseman) has her heart set on going to Columbia University. For her application, she needs to submit an essay about something that scares her, but writers block has set in and she’s struggling to even start. Her younger brother, Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and his friend, Sam (Caleel Harris) have decided to start up their own business called, ‘Junk Bros.’. Business is very slow. One day they get a call to go and clear out a house. When they get there, they find the house is old, deserted and in a dire state. While clearing stuff, they find a chest in a hidden room, and what they think could be some treasure, just turns out to be an old book with a lock on it. The boys unwittingly unlock the book, but they soon regret their actions when some very weird stuff starts happening…
This is the second ‘Goosebumps’ movie, and follows on from the 2015 release of the first one, which starred Jack Black and Dylan Minnette. That one amassed an incredible $156,246,468 in the worldwide box office and the ending was left open, ready for a sequel. Three years later and we have a second movie, but it’s not like a normal sequel; it doesn’t start where the first left off. The time setting for this second movie is a bit ‘off’, as in you’re not exactly sure of the time frames.
The movies are based on the ‘Goosebumps’ series of books, written and created by the American author, R.L. Stein. Written as horror stories for children, there are currently 231 books available, with around 400 million copies sold worldwide, which is pretty good by anyone’s standards.
A ‘horror movie’ for kids, ‘Goosebumps’ was very well received when it was released three years ago. It’s the type of movie that you can share as a family, and those can be few and far between these days. This second one is just as enjoyable and brings back a few characters from the first story. The brilliantly funny Ken Jeong stars as the kids’ overly excited neighbour, Mr Chu and along with some great one-liners, he lashes out a few of his choice dance moves.
This film is going to do great things in the box office and hopefully it will do even better than the one from three years ago. Might even get a few kids interested in the work of Nikola Tesla, you never know!
A movie that will most definitely get you into the Halloween spirit, if you loved the first one, you’ll love this one too. Keep your eyes peeled for a cameo by the author himself, R.L. Stein!
Overall: 8.5/10
