MOVIE PREVIEW: "Goosebumps" - Should you give this film the cold shoulder?

(www.PlayTimeCares.com) - I received an invite to see a film called "Goosebumps," and I immediately thought about another part of my childhood being remade...this made me happy and kind of queasy at the same time! Do not get me wrong; I am not a person that has a problem with change, but I have seen so many remakes of things from my past that did not justice to my memories. Those unnecessary touching of my past always make me weary when they remake anything for this generation to enjoy outside of bringing back the original entities.

I was given the following synopsis of the movie:

A young kid teams up with the niece of young adult horror author R.L. Stine after the writer's imaginary demons are set free on the town of Greendale, Maryland.

Well, R. L. Stine is the original writer of the "Goosebumps" series, so that story line could be intriguing. Time to look up the trailer and see what type of film I was getting myself into:

Anyone that reads my reviews know that I am not a person that wants to give away the plot of any film. With that said, this synopsis of the film that is given is accurate. Along with a team up aspect, you have a blossoming young romance, learning how to grow as a person and all the other themes that can make a film memorable.

I would liken this film to "Jumani" of the late, great Robin Williams fame, and after you see this film, or just the trailer, you would see why I would compare the two. Of course "Jumani" came out 20 years ago (1995), so the graphics are a tad bit more crisp with the variety of monsters from the mind of R.L. Stine.

Overall, I will say, for me, this film toddles between a good matinee film and Redbox rental. I am not sure if I would be happy that I spent 8 or more dollars to see this film, but $5 to have the huge screen and pristine sound that a theater provides isn't that bad of a deal. I also think an audiophile with this movie should be happy with a Blu-Ray copy of this film.

In terms of if you should bring your kids to this film, I will totally leave that up to you. You have to know the scary level of your child(ren). This is a horror comedy that has comedy great Jack Black as a main star...so you know they have some bumps to give goosebumps, but for me, nothing that should traumatize a child.

All in all, this was a decent film that was entertaining with its silly humor. Here is what others that saw the movie thought about it: