Movie Review: Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

I never saw the first Goosebumps movie, but I’m familiar with the series from Fox and the books, though I never read them, I’m aware of them. The premise of the movie is pretty simple, for the most part, kids find something they shouldn’t mess with, they mess with it, wackiness ensues. Like the House with the Clock in the Walls, this movie has Jack Black in it, but only briefly. The movie follows the story of a brother, his older sister, and his best friend as they battle Halloween come to life. 

I don’t want to spoil any of the movie, but for the most part, it was entertaining. I honestly don’t remember a lot of it. There were mostly a lot of laughs and a handful of genuine jump scares, but not much substance. It is a kids movie, with a bit for adults to find funny. RL Stine is an excellent writer, so the story holds up. I just never felt that invested, and the stakes were high enough. It just felt like it could have been a made-for-TV Halloween movie, one of those you used to see on ABC Family.

Onto the important stuff: the Hina test. This movie didn’t quite pass. It had a strong female character with the mom being a single parent raising two kids and the older sister doing what she can to save her brother. The best friend to the son was African American, so that’s nice, and the neighbor was Ken Jeong. He was kind of playing a bit of a caricature, but I’m not sure of what. I wish I had a middle grade, but I don’t – so this is more a fail than a pass. The movie was set in New York, so having a lot of white people wasn’t necessary. There was also a forced romance between the mom and the store manager of a pharmacy which brought nothing to the story.

If you like Goosebumps or like movies that are kind of scary, but really aren’t, then this is for you. Otherwise, I’d give a hard pass on this.