Jack Red reviews Goosebumps show & both movies

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, one of the first horror shows I ever gotten into was Goosebumps. Yes I been around a lot of the books, Slappy always been a personal favorite of mine. I also seen both Goosebumps movies. So I figured since I haven't talked about Goosebumps in general to review it prior to Halloween.

1. Goosebumps show (1995-1998)


Based on most original Goosebumps books as well as a couple Goosebumps Series 2000 books. There is a handful of original episodes as well but most of those aren't great. I remember watching a couple episodes including a few I had on tape. Yes one of those was The Haunted Mask. Some of these got a few episodes mostly the case for Night of the Living Dummy 3.

Largely what you expect from the books was present here. Yes there are some notable differences that started becoming more notable in later seasons. Most of these earlier episodes are better than the later ones. This was due to low ratings, being rushed out & altered too much of the story. This also explains Chillogy episodes.

There was great special effects with good enough story telling to get the job done. In some ways like aging is a mixed bag. The later seasons are aging horribly while the first two seasons are aging very well. Goosebumps also had a few exclusive VHS footage with the author himself. Most of this is now present on Netflix.

I felt they did a great job playing on a lot of different fears. I would even go as far to say for a child's horror show that I still love. It truly deserves the title of a true Halloween show in my eyes. You got enough creatures alone to stop right there. I simply loved how they used Slappy on this show. Sadly it wasn't clear why the canned episode based on Night of the Living Dummy 1.

Honestly, this brings back a lot of memories. Goosebumps also continuing with several newer series. Including those Slappy is narrating himself. The success of the book sells as well as those watching the show led to a few spiritual successors by. R. L. Stine. Like Fear Street & The Haunting Hour. It also led to our next entry.

2. Goosebumps (2015)


Goosebumps was an interesting take on the concept. Slappy got freed from his book, he released most of the monsters. A group of kids had to send them back that ends up being more difficult than even the author thought. Jack Black plays both his roles incredibly well. Funny enough, not long ago he started his own YouTube account killing it.

I felt they pulled most of the right monsters in this movie. The concept of facing most of them at once would be terrifying. I felt the writing itself was great with some surprises you won't expect. Goosebumps is very true to it's name.

I am even sure the author himself is proud of it. Obviously they had to make a sequel. Before I start going into that. Goosebumps does have better special effects than those on the show. I will say the theme to that show is still the best Goosebumps song ever. Honestly they did a great job with a difficult concept to nail.

Jack Black is hands down the best character in this movie. Sadly, he moved to a more minor importance in the following movie. I liked how they went about even the little things. They went out of their way to making you believe this is Goosebumps. I felt this movie is going to become a family friendly horror classic your families & friends will watch for years to come.

They even made it more difficult to stopping them too. As long they remain outside their respective books, they are essentially immortal. Slappy does look more faithful to the books. Although I'm still slightly more of a fan of the show Slappy more. This was a great take on a series of horror books. This movie nails most of it like a home run.

3. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018)


This movie did change from it's original concept. But to be fair, doing an entire movie at Horrorland wouldn't be able to add much to it. So I am very happy about this new concept they ended up with. Goosebumps 2 has a different Slappy from the previous movie. He is more magical with a more twisted plot.

This time, Slappy went to a store like Party City to transform the costumes & similar stuff into creatures. Personally I love this since he went to the perfect place. Places like that has all kind of Halloween stuff so just imagine a good amount of it becomes alive out of the clear blue. An employee got transformed into a creature too.

This also affected a lot of people's Halloween decorations. Thus suddenly the entire town was under attack. Some may say "Oh the last movie did that." Yes it did but how they went about a similar concept is what makes it so difficult. A new group of kids had to take on these monsters. Jack Black had a smaller role since he was starring in another movie during production.

Goosebumps 2 is also very true to the brand as well as the title itself. This also screams Goosebumps with an passion. Yes a couple monsters got reused but they were newer monsters not those from the previous movie. A different actor voices Slappy in this movie. I kinda felt side characters works better here while main characters was better in the previous movie.

Honestly, this movie may be mixed by some but it still has some appeal to it. This would be a great movie to watch with your family especially if you have kids. Goosebumps 2 is a great sequel that sorta comes off as it's own movie. There is loose ties between the two movies. I felt they did a great job with this.