- "The stories are alive."
- ―Tagline
Goosebumps is a 2015 American fantasy computer-animated live-action horror comedy film directed by Rob Letterman, based on the best-selling children's book franchise of the same name by author R.L. Stine. The film stars Jack Black as R.L. Stine, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Ryan Lee, Amy Ryan, Halston Sage, and Jillian Bell. The film was released in theaters in the United States on October 16, 2015 by Columbia Pictures, the film received mostly positive reviews by critics, and was a success at the box office.
The digital version was released in the United States on January 12, 2016, while the Blu-Ray, 3D Blu-Ray, and DVD was released on January 26, 2016.
Synopsis[]
After moving into a small town of Madison, Delaware, a teenage boy named Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) meets Hannah (Odeya Rush), his new neighbor. Hannah's father, R.L. Stine (Jack Black), author of the Goosebumps novels, keeps all the ghosts and monsters in the series locked up in his books. When Zach unintentionally releases the ghouls and the monsters from their manuscripts, Zach, Hannah, Stine, and Zach's friend, Champ (Ryan Lee), team up in order to put the monsters back where they came from, before it's too late.
Plot[]
Following his father's death, teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) and his mother Gale (Amy Ryan) move from New York to the small town of Madison, Delaware. His new neighbor is a girl named Hannah (Odeya Rush). They introduces themselves to each other, then her father, Mr. Shivers (Jack Black), tells Zach to stay away from them. That night, he watches a video of him and his late father playing baseball.
The next day, Gale starts her new job as the vice-principal at the local high school and Zach is a new student there. During a school assembly, Gale tells everyone about tomorrow's fall dance. A boy named Champ (Ryan Lee) sits next to Zach and befriends him, giving him his contact information so he can give him a call if he wants to go to the dance with him as part of their plan to get dates.
That night, Zach takes out the garbage, then Hannah appears at the fence, which scares Zach at first, Hannah then invites him to come with her after Zach asks her if there's anything fun to do around the area. They go to an abandoned amusement park, and climb to the top of the Ferris wheel. They talk to each other for a while, and Zach is happy that he found a friend, and he may like Hannah more than a friend. When they arrive home, Shivers warns Zach again to stay away from them.
The following night, while Zach is doing his math homework, he sees Hannah and Shivers arguing in the window, followed by Hannah screaming. He rushes over to make sure she's okay, but Shivers tells Zach that there was no scream. Zach calls the police and Officer Stevens (Timothy Simons) and Brooks (Amanda Lund) arrive at Shivers' door. He explains that Hannah went back home with her mom in London, and the scream was from a horror movie that he was watching on his HDTV with surround sound. Officer Stevens and Officer Brooks end up telling Zach the penalty for filing a false police report. When Officer Brooks quotes "three years," Officer Stevens quotes "Yeah, close. It... actually, it's a written warning."
Later that night, when Gale leaves to chaperone the high school dance, she asks her sister Lorraine (Jillian Bell) to watch Zach, after being grounded for calling the police on Shivers.
Later, Zach sees Shivers talking to Hannah in the window, knowing that he was right after all. He tells Lorraine not to go in his room because he has a test to study for in order to cover-up his real plan to sneak into Shivers' house and save Hannah. He calls him pretending to be a cop and asks him to come to the station for further questioning. Zach meets up with Champ, after calling him and making him believe they were actually going to the school dance tonight when actually he needs his help, who goes with him into Shivers' house by picking the basement lock. Along the way Zach finds bear traps on the ground and bumps into a clock (which looks like the Cuckoo Clock from The Cuckoo Clock of Doom). When they make it to the office upstairs, they see a bookshelf full of manuscripts, each one is titled a different book in the Goosebumps book series. Champ grabs the one titled, The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, and wonders why this one, and all the others, have locks on them and questions if there is some sort of key that unlocks them. Zach finds the key near by on the desk and unlocks it to prove a point. When Hannah comes in the room, wondering why they're there, Zach explains the situation, and grabs the book by the cover, having dropped it when she was try to attack them, mistaking them as burglars, accidentally letting the book open. The real Abominable Snowman pops out of the pages, then smashes through the walls of the room, leaves the house, and escape into town, knocking the other manuscripts to the ground, the one titled, Night of the Living Dummy is unlocked as well.
Zach, Hannah, and Champ follow the Abominable Snowman to a local ice rink, where it attacks them. Luckily, Shivers sucks it back into its book. On the way home, Zach finally realizes that Shivers is actually R.L. Stine, the author of Goosebumps. Once back at home, Stine tells Hannah to start packing, but Hannah doesn't want to move since she's grown attached to Zach. Zach comes back in, with Champ, asking Stine for an explanation on what's going on. Stine explains his tormented past; he had suffered resentment and bullying from other children due to terrible allergies that kept him indoors during his childhood, causing him to create his own friends, monsters, demons, and ghouls that he imagined would terrorize all his tormentors. One day, the monsters all became real and unstable, wherein he wrote the Goosebumps series to lock them up inside their own manuscripts from where they came from and made harmless copies to sell around the world, making him a famous author. While picking up the books, Stine realizes that one is missing. Sitting in the chair is Slappy (voiced by Black) from Night of the Living Dummy, who vows revenge for his imprisonment. He burns his manuscript, and flees the house with the others. He opens the book The Haunted Car that releases the titular car and then releases the Lawn Gnomes from Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes. Zach, Hannah, R.L. Stine, and Champ battle them, but the gnomes come back together, the Group realizing that the monsters can't be destroyed, so they escape from the gnomes by going through the basement, that Zach had earlier picked the locks on the door so he and Champ could break into the house, and escape to the outside and began to search for Slappy after seeing more burnt manuscripts.
Slappy begins rampaging through Madison with the Haunted Car and opens You're Plant Food! releasing E. Ville Creeper's Plants which destroys the cell towers. Then he opens six more books and throws them in different locations around town. The Body Squeezers from Invasion of the Body Squeezers: Part 1 and Part 2 freeze Officer Stevens, Officer Brooks, and the entire Madison Police Department where they accompany Slappy into the building. Fifi the Vampire Poodle from Please Don't Feed the Vampire! attacks Lorraine. While looking for Slappy and seeing that everyone in town has been frozen by The Body Squeezers, Zach tells Stine that maybe they could capture all the monsters if Stine wrote one story. Stine says he can only do it with his special typewriter, which is at the high school on display. While driving to the school, they get attacked by Brent Green (also voiced by Black), the Invisible Boy from My Best Friend Is Invisible, and then The Giant Praying Mantis from A Shocker on Shock Street. Will Blake's werewolf form from The Werewolf of Fever Swamp follows and chases them through the grocery store. Luckily, Lorraine hits the werewolf with her car where she's covered in poodle fur after escaping from Fifi. Zach tells her to get help. Lorraine goes to the police station to tell the cops to go to the school to help Stine and Company, where she gets frozen by the Body Squeezers after Slappy finds out, having been there the whole time listening.
R.L. Stine, Zach, Hannah, and Champ cut through a cemetery, where Hannah gets caught on a statue and Zach sets her free. They were about to kiss when Zach sees Hannah glowing ghostly blue in the moonlight, revealing her to be a ghost. Before he questions Hannah, the four get chased by the Graveyard Ghouls from Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls. They barely escape and make it to the high school. Once alone without Hannah around, Zach privately questions Stine about this and he tells Zach that Hannah is not real, but a Goosebumps character created because he was so lonely, and thought having a daughter would make him happier, most likely Hannah from The Ghost Next Door. Hannah comes along to tell them that She and Champ found the typewriter. Stine grabs the typewriter and goes to the auditorium to start writing the story, while Zach, Hannah, and Champ warn everyone.
Zach warns the students, the School Staff, and his Mom about the monsters. At first, they don't believe him. Someone jokes about how monsters are taking over, everyone laughs, and then the person says a giant praying mantis is coming and they finally do believe Zach when the Giant Praying Mantis smashes through a window of the gym and takes the student close to the window. Zach tells the Whole School to calm down since he is in charge of helping protect the students and tells them that they have to barricade the doors to protect the school and not let the monsters come inside while R.L. Stine finishes writing the new story to capture all the Monsters. Outside on the football field, Slappy and the Lawn Gnomes release almost every monster in the "Goosebumps" series including Murder the Clown, Carly Beth Caldwell's Haunted Mask form, the Bog Monster, the Scarecrows, the Creeps, the Mummy of Prince Kho-Ru, Nila Rahmad, Madame Doom, the Pumpkin Head, and many more. They all have a bonfire of the burning books while Slappy tells them that the only way they'll be free forever, is if they kill R.L. Stine and charge an attack towards the School.
The principal speaks over the intercom for all students to get to safety. In the library, Zach battles the Bees from Why I'm Afraid of Bees and the rest of the monsters get in the school with the help of the Annihilator 3000s from Toy Terror: Batteries Included. In the hallway, a girl named Taylor (Halston Sage) and her boyfriend Davidson (Steven Krueger) are attacked by Will in his werewolf form. Davidson abandons her, but then Champ saves Taylor from the werewolf by biting it with his silver teeth fillings. Taylor repays Champ by hugging and kissing him and becoming his new girlfriend, but the Plants and the Giant Praying Mantis are still attacking the school.
After realizing that there is just too many of the Monsters attacking at once and they are out numbered, Zach and Hannah go to the auditorium to try to find and warn R.L. Stine that the monsters are in the school. In the auditorium, Slappy finds and breaks Stine's fingers, by slamming the typewriters case shut on his fingers preventing Stine from finishing the story as Zach and Hannah arrive to help save Stine from Slappy and as the students run from the monsters having finally entered the school. Hearing an Announcement, from the principal, that the monsters have Invaded the school, Zach, Hannah, and R.L. Stine make a break for the Gym, with the rest of the School, when they are attacked by E. Ville Creeper's Plants. After beating the Plants and making it retreat back to the outside, The Moon comes by and Hannah starts glowing again, but With Champ and Taylor to witness it. Champ asks Zach about that, saying that he already knows, they then get chased by the monsters through the gym, and they barley escape as Zach almost got hit by the Executioner's axe. While trapped in the gym's exit, Zach gets an idea, when he spots a tackle dummy and the buses outside.
Zach, Hannah, R.L. Stine, and Champ leave Madison High on a school bus, and the monsters then start following them, after Stine realizes that Slappy and the Monsters are only after him, luring them away from the school, and now the students and staff are safe. The mantis knocks the bus over, and the Werewolf and the Abominable Snowman open the door, but discover that the bus contains instead a dummy which is triggered to a bomb causing the Monsters, but Slappy and The Haunted Car, to blow up to buy Stine and the Gang time to write the story.
On a decoy bus, Stine and the kids drive to the abandoned amusement park, and Stine tells Zach what to write because the Story has to be Fully Complete in order to work, but then Slappy finds them since the Werewolf tracked their scent, and Slappy opens the book titled The Blob That Ate Everyone. Once the Blob came to life, it devoured the fun house, where they were hiding and Stine tells the kids to climb to the top of the Abandoned Ferris Wheel and finish the story while he distracts the Blob. The Blob swallows Stine, but he's still alive as Slappy watches and begins tormenting Stine, saying that being trapped in the blob is like being locked inside Stine's manuscripts, then Slappy notices that Stine doesn't have the manuscript that's going to defeat them, and sees that Zach has it, Slappy then sends the monster army after them. Zach, Hannah, and Champ, having climb the Ferris Wheel, avoiding the monster army below. Zach finished the story and put the final page of it in a leather bound manuscript. The mantis chews the bolts, causing the wheel to roll down the hill and crash, luckily, they survive. As Zach, who is about to open the book, he realized that if he did, all the Monsters, Including Hannah will be sucked in too. Hannah then tells Zach that she knew she wasn't real after all and she opens the book herself. All of the monsters are then sucked back to the book one by one. When the Blob gets sucked in the book, it spits R.L. Stine out. Slappy then begins to strangle Stine only for him to kick Slappy into the vortex. Slappy vanishes saying "See you in your dreams!". As Zach holds onto Hannah, she accepts her fate. Zach and Hannah kiss goodbye, lets go of him and is sucked in the book as well, before Champ closes it.
Sometime later, Madison High School is seen being repaired and reopens. Stine gets a new job as the new English teacher, as well as him now dating Lorraine. Zach and Champ have Stine's class the last period of the day and he gives them his first lesson about how Every story ever told, including Goosebumps, can be broken down into 3 very notable parts: The Beginning, The Middle, and Finally, The Twist. After class, Zach walks with Stine in the hallway. The school's new drama teacher Mr. Black (portrayed by the REAL R.L. Stine) exchanges greetings with Stine. Zach asks Stine if he misses Hannah to which he reveals that he made Hannah real after writing her back into existence with another book. Zach and Hannah kiss and leave school as Stine looks on. A few moments later, Stine grabs his suitcase and is about to leave school himself, but then he suddenly sees the typewriter typing by itself, writing "The Invisible Boy's Revenge". It turned out that Brent Green had evaded capture as he quotes "You forgot about me!". Brent's hand print appears on the cabinet glass while Brent maniacally laughs as Stine screams in horror.
Alternate opening[]
The film was originally going to start this way:
Two movers (Kumail Nanjiani and Luka Jones) are packing a house. They put the boxes in the moving truck. One of them accidentally drops a large trunk. The boxes and trunk contain the Goosebumps manuscripts, which fall out onto the ground. When hitting the ground, the Night of the Living Dummy manuscript's lock breaks, but the movers put all of the books back in the trunk anyway, saying that they will tell the owner about this, after he tips them. As they drive off, one of the movers begin talking about how a lady (specifically a tollbooth operator) was flirting with him, when then they suddenly hear a loud noise coming from the back of the truck. Initially, they assume a box fell over. The two movers pull over and check out the back of the truck, and they see the books from the large trunk lying on the ground. One of the movers sees something rushing by in the truck, causing the movers to further investigate. They venture further in to the moving truck. Slappy reveals himself, and one of the movers refers to him as a "ventriloquist dummy." Slappy gets offended and replies to him saying, "Who you calling dummy, Dummy?" The two movers scream in terror as the back door of the truck slams shut behind them.
A slightly changed version of this opening was reused as the opening cutscene in Goosebumps: The Game.
Alternate ending[]
The film was originally going to end this way:
Zach and R.L. Stine are walking down a hallway. Zach asks Stine if he misses Hannah, and Stine responds yes. Then, a girl called Anna (Ella Wahlestedt), asks Zach if he could help her. She says it is her first day at school. Zach thinks that the girl is one of Stine's creations, so he moves the girl next to a window in the rays of the sunshine, to see if she is also a ghost. She doesn't glow. Anna then walks away, thinking that Zach is crazy. Stine explains to that he didn't write anything, and that Zach should go with her. Zach quickly runs up to Anna and tells her that his strange behavior was just his way to say hello. Zach waves to Stine, and then he gives a tour of the school to Anna. He tells her that the gym is still being repaired because of the events that had happened previously.
Stine walks the other way, but sees his typewriter typing by itself. It types the words "Slappy's Revenge". Stine screams in horror as Slappy's reflection appears on the glass and blinks slowly.
(In this last scene of the movie, Slappy was replaced by Brent Green. According to R.L. Stine, the reason the filmmakers deleted this ending was because everyone in the test audience hated it.)
Cast[]
- Jack Black as R.L. Stine
- Jack Black as the voices of Slappy the Dummy and Brent Green
- Dylan Minnette as Zach Cooper
- Odeya Rush as Hannah Stine
- Avery Jones as Slappy the Dummy (puppeteer and voices him in the "All About Slappy" special feature)
- Amy Ryan as Gale Cooper
- Ryan Lee as Champ
- Ken Marino as Coach Carr
- Jillian Bell as Lorraine Conyers
- Halston Sage as Taylor
- Steven Krueger as Davidson
- Timothy Simons as Officer Stevens
- Amanda Lund as Officer Brooks
- R.L. Stine as Mr. Black (credited as Hallway Player)
- Nate Andrade as the Bog Monster (credited as Monster #1)
- Melissa Brewer as Clarissa (credited as Monster #2)
- Sheldon Brown as the Muglani (credited as Monster #3)
- Marshall Choka as Murder the Clown (credited as Monster #4)
- Melissa Cowan as Graveyard Ghoul #1 (credited as Monster #5)
- John Deifer as Professor Shock (credited as Monster #6)
- Everett Dixon as Body Squeezer #1 (credited as Monster #7)
- Brian Gabriel as the Mummy of Prince Khor-Ru (credited as Monster #8)
- Kevin Galbraith as Graveyard Ghoul #2 (credited as Monster #9)
- Maryann Gorka as Countess Yvonne (credited as Monster #10)
- Clare Halstead as Carly Beth Caldwell/the Haunted Mask (credited as Monster #11)
- Devin Hampton as Body Squeezer #2 (credited as Monster #12)
- Rory Healy as Count Nightwing (credited as Monster #13)
- Vivian Kyle as Snake Lady (credited as Monster #14)
- Drew Lamkins as The Lord High Executioner (credited as Monster #15)
- Charlie Leach as Body Squeezer #3 (credited as Monster #16)
- Katie Lumpkin as Brenda's Creep Form (credited as Monster #17)
- Larry Mainland as Graveyard Ghoul #3 (credited as Monster #18)
- Lucky Mangione as Ricky Beamer's Creep Form (credited as Monster #19)
- Justin Natic as Graveyard Ghoul #4 (credited as Monster #20)
- Josh Phillips as Cronby (credited as Monster #21)
- Mickie Pollock as Madame Doom (credited as Monster #22)
- Steve Quinn as Captain Long Ben One-Leg (credited as Monster #23)
- Ashley Jo Sizemore as Graveyard Ghoul #5 (credited as Monster #24)
- Jeff Tenney as Body Squeezer #4 (credited as Monster #25)
- Jennifer Trudrung as Nila Rahmad (credited as Monster #26)
- Ashton Lee Wolden as Wart's Creep Form (credited as Monster #27)
- Coleman Youmans as TBA (credited as Monster #28)
Uncredited[]
- John Bernecker as Will Blake
- John Herndon as a Scarecrow
- Kumail Nanjiani as Mover #1 (alternate opening)
- Luka Jones as Mover #2 (alternate opening)
- Ella Wahlestedt as Anna (alternate ending)
- E. Roger Mitchell as Mayor of Madison
- Benjamin Papac as Seth
- Nick Stanner as the Pumpkin Head
Crew[]
- Music by Danny Elfman
- Costume designer: Judianna Makovsky
- Editor: Jim May
- Production Designer: Sean Haworth
- Director of Photography: Javier Aguirresarobe
- Executive Producers: Tania Landau, Bill Bannerman, Ben Waisbren, Bruce Berman, Greg Basser
- Based on the Goosebumps book series written by R.L. Stine
- Story by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski
- Screenplay by Darren Lemke
- Produced by Deborah Forte, Neal H. Moritz
- Directed by Rob Letterman
Production[]
The first attempt at a Goosebumps film was endeavored in 1998, with Tim Burton set as the producer. This plan fell through because the scriptwriters could not decide which monster or book should serve as the film's basis.
The film rights to the Goosebumps series were acquired by Sony Pictures in 2008, and Scott Alexander and Larry Karazewski were hired to write the script. These scriptwriters chose to combine all of the Goosebumps monsters into one shared universe, as they felt that none of the individual books were, by themselves, long enough for a full-length movie. Deborah Forte, who produced the television series, was chosen to produce the film, while Rob Letterman was chosen to direct the film.
According to R.L. Stine, after someone came up with the idea of using him in the film, production on the film quickened, with the filmmakers ultimately choosing the seventeenth script written for the film. Stine also clarified that as far as he knew, his only real writing contribution to the film was in vetoing two Stephen King jokes that were going to be used in the film.
Second draft[]
- For a more detailed analysis of the film's second draft, please see Goosebumps (film)/Second draft.
Casting[]
Jack Black was cast as R.L. Stine in September 2013. Black met with Stine and the two discussed how the fictional version of the author was going to be portrayed by the actor, Black said he was going to play a sinister version of Stine. Dylan Minnette and Odeya Rush were cast in February 2014, and the rest in April 2014. After that, it was announced that the film would hit theaters on August 7, 2015. The cast attended Comic Con three times, in July 2014, and in June and September 2015. in November 2014, the release date was switched to April 15, 2016, and in January 2015, it was switched to back to October 16, 2015.
Filming[]
Filming began on April 23, 2014 in Atlanta, and Madison, Georgia, where the director of photography was done by Javier Aguirresarobe, filming ended on July 16, 2014, the editing then began throughout 2015. The trailer to the film was released on July 8, 2015.
Monsters and villains[]
- For a more detailed list and analysis of the monsters and villains in the film, please see Goosebumps (film)/Monster List.
The following is a list of monsters that appear in the film, in order of appearance.
- Hannah Fairchild from The Ghost Next Door
- The Cuckoo Clock from The Cuckoo Clock of Doom (seen as a decoration in Stine's basement)
- The Abominable Snowman from The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena
- Slappy the Dummy from the Night of the Living Dummy Saga
- The Haunted Car from the book of the same name
- The Lawn Gnomes from Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes and Planet of the Lawn Gnomes
- E. Ville Creeper's Plants from You're Plant Food!
- They are referred to as "the Man Eating Plants".
- The Body Squeezers from Invasion of the Body Squeezers: Part 1, Invasion of the Body Squeezers: Part 2, and Revenge of the Body Squeezers
- They are referred to as "Bug-Eyed Aliens."
- Fifi the Vampire Poodle and Countess Yvonne from Please Don't Feed the Vampire!
- The latter is alternatively referred to as "The Vampire Bride."
- Brent Green from My Best Friend Is Invisible
- He is referred to as "the Invisible Boy."
- A Giant Praying Mantis from A Shocker on Shock Street
- Will Blake in his Werewolf form from The Werewolf of Fever Swamp
- He is referred to as "The Werewolf of Fever Swamp", the title of his book.
- The Graveyard Ghouls from Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls
- They are referred to simply as "Ghouls" in the film itself. They are properly referred to as "Graveyard Ghouls" in Goosebumps Night of Scares and the tie-in books.
- The Creeps (Ricky Beamer, Wart, and Brenda) from Calling All Creeps!
- Carly Beth wearing the Haunted Mask originally from The Haunted Mask
- The Scarecrows from The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight
- Madame Doom from Revenge of the Living Dummy, Help! We Have Strange Powers! and Weirdo Halloween
- Professor Shock from The Creepy Creations of Professor Shock
- A Pumpkin Head from Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns
- He is alternatively referred to as "The Jack O' Lantern."
- The Annihilator 3000s from Toy Terror: Batteries Included
- The Lord High Executioner from A Night in Terror Tower and Return to Terror Tower
- He is alternatively referred to as "The Executioner."
- The Mummy of Prince Khor-Ru and Nila Rahmad from Return of the Mummy
- The former is alternatively referred to as "The Mummy."
- Additional mummies from The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
- Murder the Clown from A Nightmare on Clown Street
- Cronby the Troll and a Muglani from Deep in the Jungle of Doom
- The latter is alternatively known as "The Witch Doctor."
- The Swamp Monster from How to Kill a Monster
- He is referred to as "the Bog Monster."
- Bees from Why I'm Afraid of Bees
- Captain Long Ben One-Leg from Creep from the Deep
- Clarissa from Be Careful What You Wish For...
- She is alternatively referred to as "The Witch."
- Count Nightwing from Vampire Breath
- He is alternatively referred to as "The Vampire."
- The Snake Lady from Escape from the Carnival of Horrors
- The Blob from The Blob That Ate Everyone
- He is referred to as "The Blob That Ate Everyone", the title of its book.
Scrapped monsters[]
The following is a list of monsters that were slated to appear in the film before being scrapped during production, yet were included as easter eggs in the final cut and/or appeared in tie-in media.
- Monster Blood from the book of the same name - It appears in Goosebumps: The Game, and the title is mentioned in the final cut. It was going to appear in the film itself before being replaced by The Blob.
- Mr. Wood from Night of the Living Dummy - He appears in the Goosebumps: The Game.
- The Beasts from The Beast from the East - A Beast appears in Goosebumps: The Game.
- Sabre from Welcome to Camp Nightmare - The book title is seen on Stine's bookshelf in the final cut.
- The Masked Mutant from Attack of the Mutant - The book title is seen on Stine's bookshelf in the final cut.
- The HorrorLand Horrors from One Day at HorrorLand - The book title is seen on Stine's bookshelf in the final cut.
- Sam, Louisa and Nat Sadler from Ghost Beach - They (possibly) appear in the movie novel.
- Camp Spirit Moon campers from Ghost Camp - They (possibly) appear in the movie novel.
- The Gargoyle from I'm Telling! - It appears in the movie novel and Goosebumps: The Game.
- The Vampire Bats from Trapped in Bat Wing Hall - They are mentioned by Stine in the actual film.
- Dr. Brewer's Clone from Stay Out of the Basement - He appears in Goosebumps: The Game, and the book title appears on the bookshelf in the final cut.
- Hap and Chip from Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes - The other Gnomes appear in the film; they are seen in concept art, proving that they were going to appear in the film. They eventually make appearances in Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween.
- Jared and David from Calling All Creeps! - The other three Creeps appear in the film.
- The Mud Monsters from You Can't Scare Me! - The Swamp Monster/Bog Monster is accidentally referred to as one in the Goosebumps Activity Book, Slappy's Revenge and the Monster Survival Guide.
- Mrs. Maaargh from Creature Teacher - She is mentioned in Slappy's Revenge.
- Dr. Maniac from Dr. Maniac vs. Robby Schwartz - He is mentioned during the introduction of the movie novel.
- The Sea Monster from Deep Trouble - The book title is seen on Stine's bookshelf in the final cut; it is seen in concept art, proving that it was going to appear in the film only to be replaced by E. Ville Creeper's Plants.
- Hannah Stoneman from Werewolf Skin - She is among several werewolves featured in concept art. However, her name would have been changed to "Anna" so she couldn't be confused with the protagonist Hannah. Oddly enough, the name "Anna" was later used for another character for the alternate ending.
- Aaron Freidus from The Werewolf in the Living Room - He is among several werewolves featured in concept art.
- Monroe Morton from How I Met My Monster - He is among several werewolves featured in concept art.
Music[]
The score of the film was performed by Danny Elfman.
See Goosebumps Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for a complete track listing.
Songs[]
- "Racketeer" by The Blue Van
- "Headlights" by OPIEN
- "Get Ugly" by Jason Derulo
- "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Ryan Perez - Daple
- "Better Than the Rest" by Shock Diamonds
- "Heads Will Roll" (A-TRAK remix) by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- "Break the Rules" by Charli XCX (Trailer only)
- "Bumps Gonna Goose Ya!" by Jack Black (Nerdist Music Video only)
Reception[]
Box office[]
As of March 22, 2016, the film has grossed $80.1 million in North America, and $76.3 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $156.3 million, against a budget of $58 million, While in theaters, it was the #1 movie in America in October 2015, and was the fourth film to reach the top of the box office in the fall of 2015, the other three being War Room, The Perfect Guy, and Hotel Transylvania 2. In Mexico, the film grossed $7.1 million. In Australia, the film grossed $6.3 million. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the film made $4.0 million, opening at #1 in the box office. It opened at #2 in Russia, making $1.27 million (behind In The Heart of the Sea). Furthermore, it opened in France at $1 million.
Critical reception[]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 76% based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 60 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Blu-Ray and DVD[]
The movie was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 3D Blu-Ray on January 26, 2016. The digital download was released on January 12, 2016. The movie has a total of nine special features on the 3-D Blu-ray and blu-ray version:
- Beginner's guide to surviving a Goosebumps creature- in this special feature, Zach and Champ show us how to survive the following monsters: Lawn Gnomes, The Werewolf, the Haunted Car, Abominable Snowman, and the Giant Praying Mantis.
- Strange things are happening... on set- During the filming of Goosebumps, Dylan Minnette recorded a video diary, and he shows us the strange videos in this feature.
- Alternate opening- The film's original start... starring Slappy.
- Alternate ending- The film's original endng.
- Deleted scenes- scenes that were cut out. Including R.L. Stine going to the police station, Zach and Hannah flirting in the car, and more.
- Blooper reel- This feature shows all of the hilarious mistakes that the cast and crew made during filming.
- Casting gallery- This feature shows screen testing from Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, and Odeya Rush.
- All about Slappy- Slappy tells us how the crew made him for the film, R.L. Stine's thoughts on him, as well as his books, and how much Slappy loved playing in the film.
- Creaturefield!- Two of the FX creators for the monsters, Steve Prounty and Fiona Cush, show us how to make ourselves into our favorite monster's, they show us how to make fake blood, and a realistic Mummy mask.
Blu-Ray/DVD trivia[]
- The DVD version only has the first two special features.
- The Digital version has an extra special feature.
- The movies previews that play before the film starts, plays the trailers to The Goldgurg's: Season Two, Pixels, Hotel Transylvania 2, The 5th Wave, The Angry Birds Movie, and Open Season: Scared Silly.
- Goosebumps was the #1 most purchased blu-ray on the week of January 26th - February 2nd.
- Brent Green may be included on the cover art of the packaging, because Champ's tie is held up.
- On the Blu-Ray version, excluding the rental, before the movie's main menu shows up, Slappy makes an introduction.
- Goosebumps is also available in a DVD 3-pack, with Zathura and Jumanji.
Languages[]
Goosebumps is playable and subtitled in:
- English
- English Audio Descriptive Track
- Spanish
- French
- French Audio Descriptive Track
Gallery[]
References to Goosebumps books[]
Goosebumps (original series)[]
- Welcome to Dead House: The cover of the book is featured in the end credits animation.
- Stay Out of the Basement: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- Monster Blood: The title of the book is mentioned.
- Say Cheese and Die!: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf, and the skeleton cook from the book's cover is seen in the end credits animation.
- The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb: The Mummies make an appearance as background monsters.
- Let's Get Invisible!: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- Night of the Living Dummy series: Slappy appears as the film's primary antagonist. The manuscript for Night of the Living Dummy makes an appearance, the title of the book is mentioned, and the cover of the book is featured in the end credits animation.
- Welcome to Camp Nightmare: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- The Ghost Next Door: Hannah Fairchild appears as a main character in the film, and the manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- The Haunted Mask: Carly Beth (wearing The Haunted Mask) appears as a background monster.
- Be Careful What You Wish For...: Clarissa appears as a background monster.
- The Werewolf of Fever Swamp: Will Blake (in his werewolf form) appears as the tertiary antagonist in the film, and the cover of the book is also featured in the end credits animation.
- You Can't Scare Me!: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- One Day at HorrorLand: The manuscript appears on Stine's bookshelf
- Why I'm Afraid of Bees: A swarm of Bees appears as background monsters.
- Deep Trouble: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight: The Scarecrows appear as minor antagonists, and the manuscript of the book can be seen on Stine's bookshelf. The title of the book is also mentioned, and the cover of the book is featured in the end credits animation.
- Go Eat Worms!: The title of the book is mentioned.
- Ghost Beach: The cover of the book is featured in the end credits animation.
- Return of the Mummy: The Mummy of Prince Khor-Ru and Nila Rahmad appears as background monsters, and the manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- Attack of the Mutant: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- A Night in Terror Tower: The Lord High Executioner appears as a background monster and the manuscript is seen getting opened by the Gnomes and subsequently burned by the Haunted Car.
- The Cuckoo Clock of Doom: The Cuckoo Clock makes a cameo appearance in Stine's basement.
- The Horror at Camp Jellyjam: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes: Dozens of Lawn Gnomes appear as antagonists, and the manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf. The cover of the book is also featured in the end credits animation.
- A Shocker on Shock Street: The Giant Praying Mantis appears as an antagonist in the film, and the cover of the book is featured in the end credits animation.
- The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena: The Abominable Snowman appears as the secondary antagonist in the film, and the manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf. The cover of the book is also featured in the end credits animation.
- How I Got My Shrunken Head: A pair of Shrunken Heads can be seen on the Muglani's staff.
- Ghost Camp: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- How to Kill a Monster: The Swamp Monster appears as a background monster.
- Attack of the Jack O'Lanterns: A Pumpkin Head appears as a background monster, and the cover of the book is featured in the end credits animation.
- Vampire Breath: Count Nightwing appears as a background monster.
- Calling All Creeps!: The Creeps (Ricky Beamer, Wart, and Brenda) appear as background monsters.
- Beware, the Snowman: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- Chicken Chicken: The manuscript of the book is seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- Don't Go to Sleep!: In A Shocker on Shock Street's animation, there's a street sign that says, "Reality Police Department", which is a reference to the main villains from this book.
- The Blob That Ate Everyone: The Blob appears as an antagonist, and the title of the book is mentioned by Stine. The manuscript of the book can also be seen on Stine's bookshelf. The plot of the film is also similar to this book's, in that monsters created by a writer with a magic typewriter come to life. Zach and Champ's names are a reference to the book's protagonist, Zackie Beauchamp.
- My Best Friend Is Invisible: Brent Green appears in the film as part of the "Twist Ending".
Give Yourself Goosebumps:[]
- Escape from the Carnival of Horrors: The Snake Lady appears as a background monster, and the manuscript appears on Stine's book shelf.
- Trapped in Bat Wing Hall: Stine mentions "vicious vampire bats".
- Beware of the Purple Peanut Butter: The manuscript is seen on the book shelf.
- Under the Magician's Spell: The manuscript appears on the book shelf.
- Deep in the Jungle of Doom: Cronby the Troll and a Muglani appear as background monsters.
- The Creepy Creations of Professor Shock: Professor Shock appears as a background monster.
- Please Don't Feed the Vampire!: Fifi the Vampire Poodle appears as a minor antagonist, and Countess Yvonne appears as a background monster.
- Attack of the Beastly Babysitter: The manuscript appears on the bookshelf.
- Escape from Camp Run-For-Your-Life: The manuscript appears on the bookshelf.
- Toy Terror: Batteries Included: Annihilator 3000s appear as minor antagonists, and the manuscript appears on the bookshelf.
- Lost in Stinkeye Swamp: The cover is animated during the credits.
- Checkout Time at the Dead-End Hotel: The manuscript appears on the bookshelf.
- You're Plant Food!: E. Ville Creeper's Plants appear as minor antagonists.
- Zombie School: The manuscript appears on the bookshelf.
Goosebumps Series 2000:[]
- Creature Teacher: The manuscript appears on the bookshelf.
- Invasion of the Body Squeezers: Part 1 and Part 2: The Body Squeezers appear as minor antagonists.
- Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls: The Graveyard Ghouls appear as minor antagonists, the manuscript appears on the bookshelf, and several ghouls from the book cover appear during the end credits animation.
- The Mummy Walks: The manuscript is seen on the bookshelf.
- The Haunted Car: The evil living car appears as means of transportation for Slappy.
Goosebumps HorrorLand:[]
- Revenge of the Living Dummy: The manuscript appears on the bookshelf.
- Creep from the Deep: Captain Long Ben One-Leg appears as a background monster.
- Monster Blood for Breakfast!: The manuscript appears on the bookshelf.
- Help! We Have Strange Powers!: Madame Doom appears as a background monster.
- Little Shop of Hamsters: The title is mentioned.
- Weirdo Halloween: The manuscript appears on the bookshelf.
Goosebumps Most Wanted:[]
- Planet of the Lawn Gnomes: The manuscript appears on the bookshelf.
- A Nightmare on Clown Street: Murder the Clown appears in the film as a background monster.
Merchandising[]
See: Goosebumps (film)/Merchandise
Sequel[]
On September 2, 2015, it was reported a sequel was in the planning stages. On April 25, 2016, it was confirmed that Rob Letterman and Darren Lemke will return to direct and write the film, and on February 7, 2017, Sony announced that the film will be released on September 21, 2018.[1] On May 18th, 2017, the title, Goosebumps HorrorLand, was confirmed. In December 2017, the release date was pushed back to October 12, 2018. In April 23, 2018, the title was changed to Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween before it was revised later that year on June 11 as Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween.
Gallery[]
To see the full image gallery, please view Goosebumps (film)/Gallery.
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The movie was originally going to be released on August 7, 2015, but was pushed back to April 15, 2016, then once more to October 16, 2015, most likely to fit in with the Halloween spirit, or make it close to the 20th anniversary of the TV adaptation of The Haunted Mask.
- The movie was first advertised on the back of the books when Zombie Halloween was published.
- The cast and crew attended Comic-Con three times, the first time was at Comic-Con San Diego in July 2014, the second time was at Book-Con in April 2015, and the third was at Comic-Con New York in September 2015.
- Stine fixes the gap in his fence to keep Zach out; however, he would have been able to hear Stine hammering on the fence, even with his headphones on.
- The subtitles stop referring to Stine as "Shivers" after Zach makes Stine snap at him insulting his books.
- Some of the manuscripts weren't burned; Slappy just threw them out of the Haunted Car.
- This movie marks the first theatrical debut of several characters in the series:
- The Giant Praying Mantises never appeared in the television version of A Shocker on Shock Street.
- The books starring the Abominable Snowman, The Body Squeezers, The Graveyard Ghouls, The Haunted Car, the Snake Lady, the Muglani and Cronby the Troll, Professor Shock, Fifi the Vampire Poodle, Countess Yvonne, The Annihilator 3000, the E. Ville Creeper's Plants, Bees and the additional Mummies were never made into episodes. Most of those monsters all came in Give Yourself Goosebumps, while the rest, excluding the Abominable Snowman, Bees and the Mummies, were in Goosebumps Series 2000.
- Captain Long Ben One-Leg, Madame Doom, and Murder the Clown never appeared on TV considering the television series was made long before their releases, because their books were from Goosebumps HorrorLand and Goosebumps Most Wanted.
- The titles The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, The Ghost Next Door, Night of the Living Dummy, The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, Monster Blood, Go Eat Worms!, and Little Shop of Hamsters are mentioned. People might say that The Werewolf of Fever Swamp and The Blob That Ate Everyone are mentioned titles as well, but Stine is referring to Will Blake and The Blob as the titles of their books.
- The titles Chicken Chicken, The Ghost Next Door, Under the Magician's Spell, Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls, The Mummy Walks, Weirdo Halloween, Zombie School, Welcome to Camp Nightmare, Night of the Living Dummy, The Haunted Car, Creature Teacher, The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, You Can't Scare Me!, Beware of the Purple Peanut Butter, Deep Trouble, Return of the Mummy, Ghost Camp, Planet of the Lawn Gnomes, Revenge of the Living Dummy, Escape from Camp Run-For-Your-Life, Checkout Time at the Dead-End Hotel, Say Cheese and Die!, Attack of the Mutant, Beware, the Snowman, One Day at HorrorLand, Attack of the Beastly Babysitter, Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, Let's Get Invisible!, Toy Terror: Batteries Included, Escape from the Carnival of Horrors, The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, Stay Out of the Basement, The Blob That Ate Everyone, The Haunted School, and Monster Blood for Breakfast! are seen on Stine's bookshelf.
- Some monsters have new appearances:
- Slappy has brown eyes instead of blue (this appearance is later shared in the Goosebumps SlappyWorld series)
- Hannah Fairchild is sixteen instead of twelve. She also had long, dark hair instead of short, blonde hair, (though in the book she thought about growing it out which may explain why she has long hair in the movie) and she wears dark colors instead of bright neon colors.
- Will Blake is seventeen instead of twelve. Also, in his werewolf form he was more "Wolf-like" than human-like.
- The Lawn Gnomes are more "cute" looking, instead of ugly.
- The Abominable Snowman has white fur instead of brown.
- The Body Squeezers wear blue space suits and have freeze ray guns.
- The Giant Praying Mantis is a real insect instead of a robot and is fifty feet tall.
- The Haunted Car is a black 1969 Lincoln Continental Mark III instead of a blue Sports Corvette.
- Captain Long Ben One-Leg doesn't have a skeletal appearance in the film.
- The Cuckoo Clock's bird is a black crow, instead of a cuckoo bird.
- The Blob is more of a liquid, similar to the 1958 film, The Blob, which is mentioned at one point.
- Clarissa looks younger in the film, and she and Madame Doom are two different characters.
- The Swamp Monster looks like a monster made out of moss.
- The Annihilator 3000s are smaller in the film.
- Fifi the Vampire Poodle has white fur instead of black fur, like on her book's Classic Goosebumps cover.
- Murder the Clown has white makeup instead of red, and red hair instead of yellow. He also doesn't have an axe buried in his head.
- The Haunted Mask did not have a pointy chin or big ears.
- The Pumpkin Head has an oval head and skeletal face. it also wears a dark green shirt and a pale black suit with matching pants and shoes.
- Count Nightwing's design more closely resembles Count Orlok from Nosferatu instead of his look on the book cover.
- The oldest monster to appear in the film is Slappy, with his book published in May 1993 (unless you count the mummies from The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb published in January 1993), and the most recent monster to appear in the film is Murder the Clown, with his book published in February 2015.
- Goosebumps: The Game and the mobile title Night of Scares were released to serve as a tie in to the film. As well as a Goosebumps Keyboard app available on Google Play and later, a Goosebumps VR app on the App store.
- The scene where Will Blake is about to attack Taylor is a reference to the 2004's film Van Helsing, where the werewolf is about to attack Princess Anna.
- Hannah Fairchild, Will Blake, Prince Khor-Ru, the Swamp Monster, the Scarecrows and the Graveyard Ghouls appear even though they have been killed off in their previous books
- References to Stephen King and The Shining are made in the movie. There are also references to Gollum, a character from The Lord of the Rings, references to Dracula and Phantom of the Opera (posters seen in the school's auditorium), 2004's Van Helsing, 2010's Gulliver's Travels (another Jack Black/Rob Letterman book-based film collaboration), Saturday Night Live (SNL), Frosty the Snowman, Coke, Sony, YouTube, the classic 1950's Blob movie, and Steve McQueen.
- Slappy, Brent Green (both voiced by Jack Black), Hannah Fairchild, the Lawn Gnomes, a Scarecrow, Professor Shock, and the Annihilators 3000 are the only monsters who talk in the movie. It is unknown who voiced the Annihilators 3000 or the Lawn Gnomes. The other monsters only growl, shriek, and moan (although some of them spoke in the books). Murder the Clown laughs, but doesn't speak.
- In the Spanish version of the film, the Haunted Car spoke. Her translated line was "Haunted", but in a whisper. If you listen closely, you can hear her say this.
- Hannah Fairchild, Carly Beth Caldwell (under the Haunted Mask's control) and Ricky Beamer (in his Creep form) are the only protagonists of the book series to appear in the movie.
- The reason why The Blob is more liquid-like is because it was supposed to be the Monster Blood. But instead of changing the appearance of the monster, they just changed the color from green to pink.
- A video reveals that there are over 50 references in the film of other action, horror and comedy movies.
- The same video reveals that they had stopped recording because Dylan Minnette (Zach), twisted his ankle when they were recording the scene of jumping the fence.
- The second Movie Poster shows the main characters with a giant book, with the hands of Slappy, Will Blake, the Pumpkin Head, a Lawn Gnome, the Giant Praying Mantis, the Abominable Snowman and Brent Green. This poster was only for Latin America.
- The monsters featured on the poster (excluding the Pumpkin Head) are the most noticeable.
- The end credits feature many of the different Goosebumps covers including Welcome to Dead House, Ghost Beach, Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, A Shocker on Shock Street, Lost in Stinkeye Swamp, The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, Attack of the Jack O'Lanterns, The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena and Night of the Living Dummy. The Graveyard Ghouls from Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls and the skeleton cook on the cover of Say Cheese and Die! are seen during Welcome to Dead House's animation, and during A Shocker on Shock Street's animation, there's a street sign that says, "Reality Police Department" referencing the villains from Don't Go to Sleep!
- Of all of the covers featured in the credits, only one was not based on a Tim Jacobus work. That being the art for Lost in Stinkeye Swamp by Mark Nagata.
- An early storyboard featured an alternate version of the end credits sequence featuring entirely different book covers. These would include Night of the Living Dummy III, Welcome to Dead House, Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, The Haunted School, Don't Go to Sleep!, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, The Curse of Camp Cold Lake, The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns, Stay Out of the Basement and A Night in Terror Tower. [2]
- Original Goosebumps artist Tim Jacobus did the artwork for "The Invisible Boy's Revenge".
- Tim had no idea about his art being animated at the end credits, and was amazed when he saw that in theaters for the first time.
- Many books were made as tie ins to the film like the Goosebumps Movie Novel, Night of the Living Monsters, Goosebumps Activity Book, Slappy's Revenge, and the Monster Survival Guide.
- Stine mentions the title, 'Slappy's Revenge' at one point in the movie.
- Goosebumps the Board Game was released for the film and included six playable monsters.
- Slappy is R.L. Stine's alter ego in the film, he represents Stine's evil side of him, and Slappy has a similar resemblance to Stine, when their reflections touched in the fun house mirror, they almost looked the same, only difference is that Stine wears glasses and a black suit, and Slappy doesn't wear glasses and wears a black tux with a red bow tie and a red carnation.
- The movie was voted, "Best Halloween film" on Netflix.
- The Invisible Boy's Revenge Cover uses a 2003-2007 reprint cover template but uses the original cover logo.
- The Invisible Boy is invisible, not a ghost. This means that he shouldn't have been able to use the typewriter at the end of the film since he couldn't have possibly fit inside the trophy case.
- It is unclear how the graveyard ghouls would appear buried in the graveyard if they were released from their manuscript.
- Early concept art for Slappy had his design look similar to Edgar Bergen's dummy Charlie McCarthy complete with a monocle over his right eye.
- Jack Black himself was mentioned at the very end of the Goosebumps film. If you listen and look really close, you can see R. L. Stine (the author) making a small cameo as the new drama teacher at Madison High; Mr. Black.