Premiered October 12, 2018.
Kathy Quinn (Wendi McLendon-Covey) lives in Wardenclyffe, NY with her children Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and Sarah (Madison Iseman). Sarah wants to be a writer but is experiencing writer’s block regarding her college application essay.
Sonny’s best friend Sam’s (Caleel Harris) parents are leaving town, so Sam goes to stay with the Quinn family. All of the kids are excited about Halloween, which is a few days away.
Sam and Sonny are middle school outcasts trying to jumpstart a freelance junk collection business. They go to clean out a creepy abandoned house and find a trunk containing a ventriloquist dummy (Mick Wingert) and a book.
The dummy has a card says its name is Slappy and has additional text that looks suspiciously like a magic incantation. Naturally, Sam reads the card aloud.
After an altercation with the local bully Tommy Madigan (Peyton Wich) and his minions in which the book they found is stolen, the boys go back to Sonny's house and learn that Slappy has come to life, a fact which they decide not to share with Sonny’s mom or big sister. Slappy seems to want to be helpful, completing the boys’ homework, magically folding laundry and making clandestine improvements to Sonny’s with his science project, a miniature version of the town’s Tesla Tower.
The next day during science class, Slappy's "improvements" to the Tesla Tower cause it to zap students and blast a hole in a classroom wall. School gets closed for the day and when Sarah, Sonny and Sam arrive home, they find Slappy sitting on Kathy's lap. She informs them they're grounded on Halloween night due to the Tesla Tower incident.
The boys come clean to Sarah about Slappy’s creepy involvement in the day’s events and they decide to get rid of the troublesome dummy in a nearby river. Their problems seem to be over, until Slappy reappears out of nowhere and attacks Sarah's car. Unfortunately for them, their troubles are just beginning.
The kids conduct some research and learn that famed horror author R.L. Stein (Jack Black) lived in Wardenclyffe when he was younger and during that time wrote an unpublished book called “Haunted Halloween.” It’s is the book Sonny and Sam found. The plot of this book parallels what they’ve experienced so far. Slappy wants to create a family and since the Quinns plus Sam have made it pretty clear they’re not interested in being a part of his plans, he uses his powers to bring a drugstore full of Halloween candy, costumes and decorations to life!
Slappy’s plan seems to be working well -- jack o’lanterns, costumes and other Halloween decor are wreaking havoc all over town. He sets up camp in the real Tesla Tower to boost the signal of his powers, turns a hapless store clerk into a real monster and succeeds in capturing Sarah and Sonny’s mom to make her another pawn in his Halloween takeover.
Sarah, Sam and Sonny realize they’re the only ones who can stop Slappy’s malevolent mischief. With the help of an unlikely ally in the form of their Halloween enthusiast neighbor, Mr. Chu (Ken Jeong), they must retrieve the book to stop Slappy’s Halloween monstrosities.
Will the kids be successful in their quest or will Slappy and his new family succeed in making Halloween mischief a malevolent reality?
J.A. Morris says:
I am much older than the intended demographic for Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween. However, it's a fun Halloween movie with a decent cast and lots of holiday imagery. Halloween films also need plenty of frights and good villains and Slappy provides both.
Sarah, Sonny and Sam carry the film and they're played by likable young actors. Wendi McLendon-Covey (best known for playing Beverly on The Goldbergs) does a nice job in the only major adult role and also gets to deliver some funny lines. Ken Jeong also has some entertaining scenes as Mr. Chu.
People who saw the first Goosebumps movie will recall that Jack Black had a major role playing R.L. Stine. In the sequel, Black's role is basically a glorified cameo near the end of the film, but his presence adds some gravitas to the movie.
J.A. Morris' rating:
I wouldn't call Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween a "future classic," but it's an entertaining "family' film and I'm always excited to see a new (good) movie that takes place on Halloween. It's recommended for Halloween fans of all ages, highly recommended for fans of R.L. Stine's books.
3 jack o'lanterns.
Sonny’s best friend Sam’s (Caleel Harris) parents are leaving town, so Sam goes to stay with the Quinn family. All of the kids are excited about Halloween, which is a few days away.
Sam and Sonny are middle school outcasts trying to jumpstart a freelance junk collection business. They go to clean out a creepy abandoned house and find a trunk containing a ventriloquist dummy (Mick Wingert) and a book.
The dummy has a card says its name is Slappy and has additional text that looks suspiciously like a magic incantation. Naturally, Sam reads the card aloud.
After an altercation with the local bully Tommy Madigan (Peyton Wich) and his minions in which the book they found is stolen, the boys go back to Sonny's house and learn that Slappy has come to life, a fact which they decide not to share with Sonny’s mom or big sister. Slappy seems to want to be helpful, completing the boys’ homework, magically folding laundry and making clandestine improvements to Sonny’s with his science project, a miniature version of the town’s Tesla Tower.
The next day during science class, Slappy's "improvements" to the Tesla Tower cause it to zap students and blast a hole in a classroom wall. School gets closed for the day and when Sarah, Sonny and Sam arrive home, they find Slappy sitting on Kathy's lap. She informs them they're grounded on Halloween night due to the Tesla Tower incident.
The boys come clean to Sarah about Slappy’s creepy involvement in the day’s events and they decide to get rid of the troublesome dummy in a nearby river. Their problems seem to be over, until Slappy reappears out of nowhere and attacks Sarah's car. Unfortunately for them, their troubles are just beginning.
The kids conduct some research and learn that famed horror author R.L. Stein (Jack Black) lived in Wardenclyffe when he was younger and during that time wrote an unpublished book called “Haunted Halloween.” It’s is the book Sonny and Sam found. The plot of this book parallels what they’ve experienced so far. Slappy wants to create a family and since the Quinns plus Sam have made it pretty clear they’re not interested in being a part of his plans, he uses his powers to bring a drugstore full of Halloween candy, costumes and decorations to life!
Slappy’s plan seems to be working well -- jack o’lanterns, costumes and other Halloween decor are wreaking havoc all over town. He sets up camp in the real Tesla Tower to boost the signal of his powers, turns a hapless store clerk into a real monster and succeeds in capturing Sarah and Sonny’s mom to make her another pawn in his Halloween takeover.
Sarah, Sam and Sonny realize they’re the only ones who can stop Slappy’s malevolent mischief. With the help of an unlikely ally in the form of their Halloween enthusiast neighbor, Mr. Chu (Ken Jeong), they must retrieve the book to stop Slappy’s Halloween monstrosities.
Will the kids be successful in their quest or will Slappy and his new family succeed in making Halloween mischief a malevolent reality?
J.A. Morris says:
I am much older than the intended demographic for Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween. However, it's a fun Halloween movie with a decent cast and lots of holiday imagery. Halloween films also need plenty of frights and good villains and Slappy provides both.
Sarah, Sonny and Sam carry the film and they're played by likable young actors. Wendi McLendon-Covey (best known for playing Beverly on The Goldbergs) does a nice job in the only major adult role and also gets to deliver some funny lines. Ken Jeong also has some entertaining scenes as Mr. Chu.
People who saw the first Goosebumps movie will recall that Jack Black had a major role playing R.L. Stine. In the sequel, Black's role is basically a glorified cameo near the end of the film, but his presence adds some gravitas to the movie.
J.A. Morris' rating:
I wouldn't call Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween a "future classic," but it's an entertaining "family' film and I'm always excited to see a new (good) movie that takes place on Halloween. It's recommended for Halloween fans of all ages, highly recommended for fans of R.L. Stine's books.
3 jack o'lanterns.
Cool! I'm gonna try and find this :)
ReplyDeleteIt's still in theaters at the moment, Pecor. Check your local listings. :-)
ReplyDelete