Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

Cert: PG; Now showing

Want to make a fortune? Write a series of children’s horror novels where both you and the books themselves are part of the core mythology. That’s what RL Stine did back in 1992. Following zillions of sales, as well as forays into TV, film, merchandise, etc, the Goosebumps brand is now a hulking monster in itself.

Watching this second featurefilm outing for the franchise, you start to see why Stine’s creations have acted like catnip to a whole generation of young imaginations. The recipe in Ari Sandel’s film, for example, is so simple that it can’t really go wrong — high school drama, surprisingly sharp humour, and wild thrills served up with giddy abandon by those Gothic horror staples we know and love.

A buoyant, spirited young cast is led by Madison Iseman as highschooler and aspiring writer Sarah. Brother Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and his pal Sam (Caleel Harris) discover a ventriloquist’s dummy and a locked manuscript in a creepy old house and take them home. Lo and behold, the dummy turns out to be supremely mischievous and interferes with the siblings’ lives for good and bad. But with Halloween night approaching, bigger plans are afoot for the pesky puppet who wants to bring monster mayhem to the small suburban town.

Spooky fun with a side-order of Gremlins-esque nostalgic charm is let loose by this effective slab of entertainment for younger (but not too young) viewers. Job well done.