Director: Ari Sandel
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 90 minutes
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
Back in 2016 we took a look at the Goosebumps movie, which was a rather odd sight, as the popularity of the series had already faded far into the background of many young adults’ minds. The series peaked in popularity in the nineties but other kids’ shows eventually replaced this spooky series. We were surprised when the movie starring Jack Black was released, and we were even more surprised that three years later a sequel was also released, albeit with a much cheaper and unknown cast. We felt like the series didn’t really need a second movie, but at least some fun came out of it.
The story of Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween takes us to Wardenclyffe, New York, just in time for Halloween. Kathy (Wendi McLendon-Covey) is a single mom who takes care of Sarah (Madison Iseman), who is ready to go to college, and Sonny (Jeremy Ray Tayler), who is kind of a nerd/geek. To make the house even more crowded, Sonny’s friend, Sam (Caleel Harris), will be staying at the family’s house for a few days as he’d otherwise be home alone. The boys are starting up their own business, named Junk Brothers, in which they clean your house and keep some of the ‘junk’ for themselves. When they are finally contacted for their first job, Sam is quite stoked, but Sonny isn’t that convinced that the business is a great plan.
When Sonny and Sam arrive at the house they have to clear, they find a place that comes right out of a horror movie. They walk in, not aware of the Stine name at the residence. After going through all the muck the place has to offer, Sonny accidentally discovers a secret room with a chest in it. While the boys were expecting a chest full of valuables, they only find a book with a lock on it, as well as the key that belongs with it. After opening the book, a strange ventriloquist dummy appears in the box without them seeing where it came from. When, after a while strange things start to happen, and the doll, named Slappy (Mick Wingert) starts moving and talking, it seems they are in for quite a ride this Halloween.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the flow of the movie, things just don’t get overly exciting. The movie follows the same path as the first movie, where critters from R.L. Stine’s book are being brought to life, and at first it seems like a problem that can be handled, but before long shit hits the fan. There’s enough backstory to place everything that is going on, and there’s more than enough action to entertain a younger audience. The movie is also suitable for the parents, but it’s less qualitative than the first part of the series. The somewhat redundant story value makes us feel that there was no need to release a second movie.
For some reason the creators of the sequel thought it would be great to have Slappy voiced by someone who tries to voice him like Jack Black did. This feels like a cheap attempt of making the movie somewhat better, while it would have been a better choice to voice him normally or by someone that doesn’t have to pretend to be someone else. The other cast members are fairly ok, but you’ll quickly notice that many of the movie’s cast members are B-list actors, rather than triple A stars. Nonetheless, for a ‘cheap’ sequel, the acting isn’t half that bad. At the end, you might actually be surprised of who makes an appearance, albeit uncredited.
The extras on the Blu-ray edition of Goosebumps 2 come with the typical batch of deleted scenes and a making of sequence. Other than that, you’ll get to watch a gag reel, sing along with songs, see the Junk Brothers’ commercial, Slappy’s audition tape and a few previews. While most of the features are quite short and somewhat directed to a younger audience, the extras that are there are fun to watch.
Conclusion
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween is a fairly okay sequel to the first movie, but there wasn’t really a reason to create another movie, with another cast, who happened to find R.L. Stine’s first book, which he conveniently forgot in a special room of his old house. The story is a bit wishy-washy, but we reckon a younger audience will still be able to enjoy this movie. If you missed the first movie, and you are looking to pick this one up, you don’t really need to view the original movie in order to see and understand this story. We however recommend the first movie over this one.
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