Goosebumps (film)

''Goosebumps'' is a 2015 American horror comedy film directed by Rob Letterman and written by Darren Lemke. Based on R. L. Stine's children's horror book series of the same name, it stars Jack Black as a fictionalized version of Stine who teams up with his teenage daughter (Odeya Rush), to save their hometown after all of the monsters from the ''Goosebumps'' franchise escape from his works, wreaking havoc in the real world. Amy Ryan, Ryan Lee, and Jillian Bell appear in supporting roles.

Development on a ''Goosebumps'' feature film adaptation began in 1998, with Tim Burton attached to direct. After failing to find a script to determine which book to adapt, the project was halted. In early 2008, Columbia Pictures acquired the rights to create a ''Goosebumps''-based film, and the project reentered development. Principal photography lasted from April to July 2014 in Candler Park, Atlanta.

''Goosebumps'' was theatrically released in the United States on October 16, 2015, by Columbia Pictures. The film was a commercial success and garnered generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its humor and many references to the ''Goosebumps'' franchise, and grossed $158 million against its $84 million budget.

A standalone sequel, '' Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween'', was released on October 12, 2018, with only Black returning in an uncredited supporting role.

Plot

Following his father's death, teen Zach Cooper and his mother Gale move from New York City to the small town of Madison, Delaware. Settling in the neighborhood, Zach meets his neighbor Hannah, whose overprotective father tells him to stay away.

The next morning at the local high school where Gale is introduced as the new vice-principal, Zach befriends Champ, a cowardly but friendly student. That night, Hannah invites Zach to an abandoned amusement park where they get to know each other. Upon returning home, Hannah's father again warns him to stay away, or bad things will happen.

Later, Gale has to supervise a school dance, leaving Zach with his aunt Lorraine. Fearing Hannah is in danger, Zach tricks her father into going to the police station while he and Champ enter his house. They find a bookshelf with numerous locked manuscripts, each one cataloging entries from the ''Goosebumps'' franchise. In response to Champ's curiosity, Zach unlocks ''The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena'' and the story's titular monster emerges from it and escapes. With Hannah's help, they track the Abominable Snowman to a local ice rink where Hannah's father appears and reimprisons it in the manuscript.

Hannah's father unintentionally reveals he is R. L. Stine, the creator of the ''Goosebumps'' franchise. He originally wrote the stories to cope with severe bullying, but the monsters featured in them became real as a result of his imagination, forcing him to keep them imprisoned in their house manuscripts. Back home, they encounter Slappy the Dummy from the ''Night of the Living Dummy'' series, who has now been freed from his manuscript. Seeking revenge on Stine for his imprisonment, Slappy incinerates his manuscript, which leaves no other way to reimprison the monsters, before fleeing with the others in ''The Haunted Car''.

Stine and the kids are attacked by the titular gnomes from ''Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes'' and are forced to escape. Slappy releases several of his fellow monsters, causing havoc around Madison. Meanwhile, Lorraine is attacked by Fifi the Vampire Poodle from ''Please Don't Feed the Vampire!''. Zach convinces Stine to recapture the monsters by writing a single manuscript, but it can only be done with his supernatural typewriter, which is currently on display at the high school. Along the way, they are attacked by Brent Green from ''My Best Friend Is Invisible'' and the giant mantis from ''A Shocker on Shock Street'', forcing them to hide in the supermarket. Will Blake from ''The Werewolf of Fever Swamp'' chases them to the parking lot where he is run over by Lorraine, who survived Fifi's attack.

Stine and the kids go through a cemetery, where Zach sees Hannah become ghost-like in the moonlight before being attacked by the titular characters from ''Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls''. Arriving at the school, Stine confesses to Zach that Hannah is actually Hannah Fairchild from ''The Ghost Next Door,'' and he originally created her to cope with his loneliness, but Hannah is unaware of this. Stine begins to write a story based on the events around them, while Zach and Champ attempt to warn everyone, but nobody believes them until the mantis attacks the building.

The rest of the monsters are then released and Slappy orders them to storm the school. Despite the best efforts of the school's staff and students to keep the monsters out, they break in nonetheless. Slappy finds Stine, breaking his fingers with the typewriter's case before he can finish the story.

Stine and the kids trick the monsters into following a school bus rigged with explosives while they board another and head for the abandoned amusement park. Realizing he'd been fooled, Slappy tracks them down and releases the Blob from ''The Blob That Ate Everyone'' as the other monsters arrive. Stine confronts it and is devoured, while the trio seek refuge in the park's ferris wheel where Zach finishes the story just before the structure is damaged by the mantis, causing it to roll towards the forest. After surviving the ordeal, Zach refuses to open the story's manuscript, because Hannah will also be sucked in, but she reveals she knew the truth about herself all along and opens it, sucking the monsters into it, kissing Zach before accepting her fate.

Sometime later, Stine begins working as a substitute teacher at the school while starting a relationship with Lorraine. After class, Stine reveals to Zach that he brought Hannah back into reality by writing a new copy of her story. Zach and Hannah kiss and leave together, Stine incinerates the copy and prepares to leave, but then finds his typewriter writing by itself. It turns out that Brent Green evaded imprisonment and is using the typewriter to write a new ''Goosebumps'' story entitled ''The Invisible Boy's Revenge'', much to Stine's horror.

Cast

* Jack Black as R. L. Stine, the creator of the ''Goosebumps'' franchise, attempting to keep his identity secret.
** Black also provides the voice of Slappy the Dummy from the ''Night of the Living Dummy'' series Avery Lee Jones and Jake McKinnon provided the puppeteer work for Slappy.
** Black also provides the voice of Brent Green, the invisible boy from ''My Best Friend is Invisible''.
* Dylan Minnette as Zachary "Zach" Cooper, Stine's new neighbor.
* Odeya Rush