By Joe Hammerschmidt
Three years ago, critics and family audiences gave out what seemed like a collective “meh” to a medium-budget film destined to reignite some nostalgia for plenty of 90s school kids. Goosebumps, adapted from the Scholastic book series, had previously been turned into a preteen’s Twilight Zone on the small screen, and the 2015 film served as a minimal brand extension. Jack Black’s portrayal of the author, the quirky R.L. Stine made the all-ages horror homage a somewhat pleasant matinee trip that couldn’t go past “good” territory but wasn’t entirely terrible. It fell into that strange middle ground where it had some box office traction, and stopped there. It made enough money for Sony to warrant a sequel, at a somewhat lower budget, and ultimately sans its major star who had made a better career move signing on to work on an extremely similar film with Eli Roth. This downgraded sequel, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween opens in theaters just as Clock in its Walls is really stretching its legs for the Halloween crowds; the timing couldn’t have been worse, or any later. When stacked up against its closest comparisons, this supposed sequel is nothing more than just a standard direct-to-video followup only with more money to burn. An unsurprising fate for plenty of kid-friendly fare, but no less disappointing given a major studio really took some extended effort to place this work on the marquee.
Goosebumps 2 feels very much like a franchise entry, in name only, with Black’s character bridging the two together, and the revenge plot of one of his worst written villains, the rather annoying ventriloquist dummy Slappy (voiced here by Mick Wingert), who had prevalently haunted his master in the past, the only connective symbols. Everything else is brand new territory, new characters, but the same town, and a rehashed premise. High school senior Sarah Quinn (Madison Iseman) is desperate to escape her small town, her eyes set on Columbia for next fall. Her mom, Kathy (Wendi McLendon-Covey), is a bit of a stern workaholic, oblivious to what could be fantasy. And her sibling Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) is equally desperate like her sister for academic success; way to emphasize hitting the books with gusto instead of slacking off. Leave it to the little brother, and his snarky friend Sam (Caleel Harris), to pick up the pieces left behind from Stine’s former home, still a bit of a shambles, and not completely clear of his work as the duo uncover a manuscript for the presumably unfinished Stine novel “Haunted Halloween.” And from there, a myriad of chaos ensues at the hand of the evil, possibly demonic Slappy.
Director Ari Sandel (The DUFF, When We First Met) approaches this under-the-radar followup without the same passion as his predecessor, animation/live-action vet Rob Letterman. When I say rehash, as referred to above, I mean we shouldn’t be too surprised in seeing plenty of similarities in visual silliness, heartfeltedness, and PG-rated scares between installments. Sandel just grows too comfortable in lazily using the first film as a template while not quite growing the lore past what’s on Rob Lieber and Darren Lemke’s (Shrek Forever After) script. If there’s a difference to be found, it could be that this story feels more in line with the TV series, as when the prior film seemed to connect closer to the books. Yes, still lazy, but flexible to play meta when it deserves to be.
Much of that’s attributed to Black’s portrayal of Stine, which all had to be shot in a brief break period during Roth’s family thriller. I had expected a more tongue-in-cheek cameo, though also hoped Stine would carry a larger presence, possibly as an invisible narrator. Here, Black simply doesn’t contribute anything of substance, only appearing for comical effect and to reestablish Stine’s crippling writer’s block. Did he really belong in this sequel, then? Sadly, no. There needed to be more for him to do, but alas, wasted effort = an actor’s time wasted. The kids’ performances do feel quite refreshing, not too hokey, not too half-assed, but plenty professional. Iseman, last seen in the Jumanji revival, shines quite brightly in the leading part, regardless of her character being a quiet amalgam of many a high school senior in family films, overeager to escape the nest and experience freedom. Sadly, hers isn’t as genuine as, say, Lady Bird tried to be. Taylor builds on the momentum gained with his breakout part last year in IT, only barely. He was fun to watch, but what he had to work with, aside from a Nikolai Tesla fanboy subplot, was a slight disservice.
Among the adults, McClendon-Covey’s motherly instincts, as ramped up to a high extreme on The Goldbergs keep her from losing touch with the rest of the story, neither helping nor hurting. Ken Jeong delivers a few gentle yuks as the Quinns’ next door neighbor, a self-professed Goosebumps fanboy whose skills come in handy as a third-act safety net. His fondness for plenty of the more classic monsters of the franchise does add a somewhat sweet flavor, keeping the third act insanity quite bouncy, almost enjoyable. So very close. Yet the most pleasing surprise falls to the steady rock that is reliable utility performer Chris Parnell as Walter, an enamored co-worker of Kathy’s, whom Slappy possesses, turning him into a quaint Frankensteinian creature, with an eye-catching makeup job to boot. Heck, had there been more of Walter to go around, it would’ve been enough to forgive Stine’s hollowness during his scenes.
Complimented incrementally by Barry Peterson’s action-driven cinematography, and Dominic Lewis’s serviceable score, this Goosebumps sequel, when all summed up, barely squeaks by. A tidy 90 minute frightfest we almost don’t deserve, if the elements that made its predecessor work so well are either missing in action or unwilling to commit the second time around. Taking many a previously written page, I feel confident those who grew up with the franchise in print or TV form will find plenty to be pleased with, while the target audience will certainly be satisfied, in their own right. Though speaking as someone who had ultimately found the previous Goosebumps a rather middling effort saved by a favorite actor in a commanding lead, I was sure there’d be some room for improvement, which director Sandel really doesn’t consider all that much. And that in itself is a trifle disappointing, even if the bar hadn’t been raised all that high. The film does succeed in making the most of adequate cast, and some fairly acceptable VFX splendor, but struggles to deliver beyond its skeleton pieces. Though if I do seriously see myself possibly revisiting this likely palette cleanser in between more legitimate horror flicks every so often (but not every Halloween), maybe it can’t be all that lousy. It is, just not overbearingly. (C-)
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween opens on most Seattle screens this weekend; rated PG for tame terror; 90 minutes.
