Do you ever wonder that a very surprising and fun film like “Goosebumps” would ever get a horrific sequel from the director of an actual good young-adult film “The DUFF”? The answer would be “Yes”. One of the most unnecessary sequels I have seen since “Unbroken: Path to Redemption”, “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” takes the complete opposite from what made the first film a scary and fun time in 2015 with Jack Black playing a satirical take of the author R.L. Stine. Instead of being fun, the film makes it’s characters more idiotic and cringe-worthy that it can come off as a live-action cartoon like the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” films.
The sequel tells the story of two kids, who are of course preparing for the big Halloween night along with their sister. They mysteriously encounter this house which was previously owned by R.L. Stine, therefore encountering a puppet called Slappy the Dummy (whom was seen as a villain from the first film). The demented dummy of course comes alive towards the kids magically, but instead of being sarcastic and delightful in the first film, he actually DOES something unruly completing the kids homework from school and LITERALLY folds their own laundry. How is that even possible? After that as you know, Slappy as always becomes their friend and plays racing video games with the two kids. However, there is a problem improving even worse. The dummy toy is becoming more evil and many non-alive objects like gummy bears and a giant big foot werewolf come to life. The two boys now have to face the eruption and (like in the first film) to suck the creatures and the puppet back into the book generically titled quote-by-quote “Haunted Halloween”.
You know this film gets terrible from the start when it opens with the sister (Sarah) typically worrying about an assignment that she has to do an essay about “what gets her scared” in order to get into Columbia University. It is a typical, bothering cliche that goes on throughout most of the film including one scene at a pharmacy. By the way, Sarah is a typical, bored teenager that always gets on your thin nerves by her facial expression.
Also, the main character, Sonny, whom is a full-fledged idiot, also has an assignment to accomplish for a science project he needs to get done or else he has 50% of his grade taken away. His mother (Wendy McLendon-Covey) probably says one of the most rubbish and stupidest lines of the year, “I want you to eat 50% of your eggs.” in response to Sonny obviously warning her mother that 50% of his grade will be taken away if he doesn’t get the project done in time. The dialogue gets more troublesome from there.
Remember when I commented about Slappy the Dummy lacking the sarcasm and delight in the first film? Well, let me explain. When both zealots Sonny and Sam are encountering some of the worst live-action cartoon bullies I have seen in recent memory (which is expected in a family film like this), they obviously take the book and Slappy the Dummy. Slappy comes to life and (I’m not kidding) brings revenge to the main bully by pulling his pants down. The doll himself is not voiced by Jack Black like in the first. He was eventually replaced by voice actor Mick Wingert. That result can tell you how Slappy’s presence comes off as cringe-worthy and unpleasant instead of being funny.
Every one of the school scenarios in this film are about as bad as something you would see from “A Wrinkle in Time”, but in understatement, they are improved worse here. There is a scene (probably the worst one) in which Sonny is showing off his then-completed science project called “Tesla”. Of course, the bullies are acting like live-action cartoons towards Sonny thinking he is going to fail big time. Sonny apparently fails the project letting the miniature tower to blast a hole in the building and gets a school call from his mother. Every character thus far is extremely unintelligent and ignorant while in the first, the character development was more taut and smart.
Thankfully, not all of the film is a horror to sit through. Slappy occasionally does have some moments where it feels like there is some humor put into him. The biggest improvement of the film is unexpectedly the last 30 minutes of this film. It feels magical and somewhat engaging. Why? Because of Jack Black actually making a small appearance as R.L. Stine. The humor does not feel lost with him as he does have some funny lines scattered here and there. There is actually pretty good make-up work especially on a pharmacy employee turning into a ogre as well as some eye-popping visuals like colorful gummy bears improving into huge size. Too bad you have to wait 52 minutes for it.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween is extremely appalling, until you get to the deeper core around the first hour where you see pure magic changing into a brighter and fresh mint leaf. Unfortunately, it still serves as an abomination compared to the surprising first with its unintelligent character servicing and typical frustrating cliches in a bottom-of-the-barrel family film. Sony is going for a dead end now with this after the unsympathetic “Venom” just last week. There will be potential strong hopes where they revive for Jason Reitman’s “The Frontrunner” and the animated “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”. The now-un forgiven Goosebumps series will be for granted no longer making more good films after this. Despicable Me 3 much?
Grade: 2.5/10
