Goosebumps 2 almost too scary

By Katherine Monk

I feel compelled to begin with a quote from the press notes, because it explains so much: “Producer Deborah Forte reiterates the author’s sentiments when she says Slappy reminds her of the classic conceit where something safe, funny, and entertaining – like a ventriloquist dummy – can be repurposed to send chills down your spine, and then remind you of those fun childhood scares you had as a kid.”

Okay. I’m not sure about the rest of the population, but in my view, there’s nothing safe, funny or entertaining about a ventriloquist dummy. They rank up there with cracked porcelain dolls, white-faced clowns and the string figures from Blair Witch Project. They’re creepy, if not downright terrifying, which means setting an evil one loose in a kids’ movie seems a little cruel.

Yet, that’s exactly what happens in Goosebumps 2, the second movie spawned by R.L. Stine’s freakishly successful young adult series published by Scholastic Books.

Okay. I’m not sure about the rest of the population, but in my view, there’s nothing safe, funny or entertaining about a ventriloquist dummy. They rank up there with cracked porcelain dolls, white-faced clowns and the string figures from Blair Witch Project.

Stine’s scary stories have sold in excess of 400 million copies, and he’s written more than 200 tomes, making him the number one bestselling author in the United States — outselling the likes of Stephen King, and earning Stine the moniker of the pre-teen Stephen King.

So clearly, given the sales, kids aren’t too scared of Stine’s content. Yet, Goosebumps 2 isn’t based on a published book. It’s an original story that works a little like the first movie, which went monster meta, and introduced us to writer R.L. Stine as played by Jack Black.

Black is back as Stine, a shadowy figure who lives in hiding and only emerges after he’s been contacted by three desperate teens. Sarah (Madison Iseman), Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and Sam (Caleel Harris) accidentally animate an old ventriloquist dummy named Slappy when they clean out an old house.

Slappy seems to be a bit of a help at first, saving Sam and Sonny from the school bullies by using his magical powers. Yet, it soon becomes clear Slappy’s real aim is far more sinister. He wants to make all the Halloween decorations come to life, and turn every day into a monster mash-up.

The only thing that could stop Slappy is a book, an unpublished and unfinished first book by Stine that featured Slappy. If the kids can find the book, and open it in the presence of the monsters, the ghouls will be sucked in by the blank pages.

There’s something cool about populating blank pages with an unfolding story, and even Jack Black’s brief presence as the author offers a kid’s portal into the concept of meta. Yet, the most enjoyable pieces of this movie — from the double-entendres to the central device — feel decidedly adult.

There’s something cool about populating blank pages with an unfolding story, and even Jack Black’s brief presence as the author offers a kid’s portal into the concept of meta. Yet, the most enjoyable pieces of this movie — from the double-entendres to the central device — feel decidedly adult.

Sure, you could argue giant animated gummy bears are pure kids’ stuff, but it doesn’t mean these child-oriented devices don’t hit the hard edges of horror. The gummy bears bite. The dummy has an evil giggle. And horror of horrors — even mom, played with winning spunk and perfect comic timing by Wendi McLendon-Covey, isn’t impervious to Slappy’s spells.

In one scream-inducing scene, she’s turned into a dummy, too. It made me think of that scene in Coraline, where Coraline’s mother appeared with dead button eyes. That upset me, and they were just knit puppets. This is a real person transformed into a woman with a hinged jaw.

Yikes! We all know you need a real edge of fear to make a kids’ movie memorable — witness the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz. But like other recent efforts, including Eli Roth’s The House with a Clock in its Walls, Goosebumps 2 sometimes feels a little too graphic, and a little too cool. You can be scary, but without warmth and palpable love, it’s just thrills, chills and a possessed dummy that gives Chucky a run for the bloody money.

@katherinemonk

THE EX-PRESS, October 12, 2018

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