“The book is better than the movie” is something I often read. And yes, of course it usually is, but that isn’t surprising. When you are reading a book it is you who makes the imagery to go along with it. Besides that a book can also provide a lot more information than a movie can. A writer can spend a whole paragraph describing the scent in the air or the temperature of a meal. A movie can only show the information through imagery and dialog. So comparing the two forms of media is really something you shouldn’t be doing. They are separate forms of entertainment with their own strengths and weaknesses. Goosebumps has been a long running series of horror books for a young audience written by R.L. Stine. What Goosebumps does however is not take one of them and turn it into a film, but simply decides to use them all. Does that idea work?
Together with his mother Zach has moved to the small town of Madison. It is something he isn´t too happy about, because he had to leave everything he knows behind him· The new town looks boring. But soon after he arrives he meets Hannah, the daughter of his new neighbour, who he immediately connects with. When Hannah’s father sees the two are talking though he forbids them to see each other again. Zach goes back home, surprised, but when he hears Hannah screaming the next evening he decides to call the police. When his neighbour has to go to the police station he decides to head into his house together with a friend from school, Champ, to find out if Hannah is ok. Once inside they discover the manuscripts of the Goosebumps books and when they open one of them the monster the book is about jumps out of it. It is the start of a fight against R.L.Stine´s creations, who slowly start to take over the town.
Goosebumps is a fun family film which never gets really scary, but which has enough thrilling situations and funny jokes to entertain everyone. Ryan Lee plays his role as the nerdy Champ very well and is responsible for most of the jokes. Jack Black plays his role as the father in a very restrained way and is also responsible for the voice of the bad guy, Slappy and regularly has funny one liners. Although the huge number of monsters are all CGI, there is enough variety that it is fun to discover which ones you can make out. As I haven´t read the books myself I can´t compare them (but which you shouldn’t), but I would guess fans of the books would really enjoy the way they have been used here.
