Goosebumps

***Goosebumps*** is a 2015 American 3D live-action/computer-animated horror comedy film based on the children's book series of the same name by R. L. Stine and the nineteenth Sony Pictures Animation film. It was directed by Rob Letterman, and written by Darren Lemke, from a story by Scott and Larry Karaszewski. The film stars Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Amy Ryan, Ryan Lee, and Jillian Bell. Financed by Sony, LStar Capital, and Village Roadshow Pictures, it was produced by Original Film and Scholastic Entertainment, and was released on October 16, 2015 by Sony Pictures Entertainment, under its Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation labels.

## Plotedit | edit source

Zach Cooper and his mother Gale move from New York to the fictional town of Madison, Delaware. Their new neighbors are the mysterious "Mr. Shivers" and his daughter Hannah, but when Zach tries to introduce himself, Mr. Shivers warns him to stay away from them. At school, Zach befriends Champ, an often bullied, socially awkward student. One night, Zach hears Mr. Shivers and Hannah arguing from his window, followed by Hannah screaming. He calls the police, but Mr. Shivers assures the officers that nothing is wrong and the scream was from a movie. Fearing Hannah is in danger, Zach tricks Mr. Shivers into going to the police station for further questioning.

Once he is gone, Zach and Champ break into the house in search of Hannah. They find several *Goosebumps* manuscripts, all of which are locked. They're confronted by Hannah, who assumes they are burgling the house. Zach clears up the misunderstanding, but accidentally unlocks *The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena*; the book opens, releasing a Yeti that breaks out of the house. They pursue the Yeti to a local ice rink, but Mr. Shivers appears and sucks it back into the book. On the way home, Mr. Shivers explains he's truly R.L. Stine, the author of *Goosebumps*. He created his stories as a child, to cope with severe bullying. However, the monsters came to life and became uncontrollable, so he had to trap them inside their manuscripts.

Returning to the house, Stine and the kids are confronted by Slappy, the villain of *Night of the Living Dummy*, who is angry about being imprisoned. Before Stine can capture him, Slappy burns his own manuscript and flees with the others. They are attacked by gnomes, forcing Stine and the kids try to fend them off, but each gnome reforms after being smashed, making them realize that the monsters cannot be destroyed.

Slappy releases the rest of the monsters, letting them rampage under his comand. Zach suggests Stine write a new book that will trap every monster, but he can only do it on a special typewriter which is at the high school. The *Werewolf of Fever Swamp* pursues them into an abandoned supermarket, only to be run over by Zach's aunt Lorraine. As they continue toward the school, Zach notices that Hannah glows blue in the moonlight. He privately questions Stine about this and Stine reveals that Hannah is a *Goosebumps* character (*The Ghost Next Door*) he created, but she is unaware of this. At the school, they find the typewriter and start on the new book. As the monsters storm the building, Zach leads the other students in barricading the doors, while Champ saves popular girl Taylor from the werewolf. Slappy confronts Stine and breaks his fingers with the typewriter case before the story is finished.

Stine and the kids board a school bus and lead the monsters to an abandoned carnival on the outskirts of town. While Stine distracts the monsters, Zach finishes the story, but is reluctant to open the book because Hannah will be trapped inside it as well. Hannah reveals that she knew she was not real all along and opens the book, sucking all of the monsters into it. While Zach tries to hold on to her, Hannah accepts her fate and is imprisoned as well after they kiss.

Sometime later, Stine has started working as Zach's English teacher. After class, Zach asks him if he misses Hannah, but Hannah suddenly reappears. Stine reveals that he wrote her back into existence with another book. She and Zach kiss and leave school together while Stine burns Hannah's manuscript. As he prepares to leave the school, he sees the typewriter typing by itself inside its display case; the Invisible Boy has evaded imprisonment.

## Castedit | edit source

* Jack Black as R.L. Stine the creator of the *Goosebumps* franchise and the father of Hannah.
	+ Jack Black as the voice of Slappy the Dummy, a living dummy from the *Night of the Living Dummy* books. Avery Jones provides the puppeteer work for Slappy.
	+ Jack Black also voices Brent Green, the invisible boy from *My Best Friend is Invisible*.
* Dylan Minnette as Zachary "Zach" Cooper, the new neighbor of R. L. Stine.
* Odeya Rush as Hannah Stine, the daughter of R.L. Stine and a *Goosebumps* character based on Hannah Fairchild from *The Ghost Next Door*. She is also Zach's love interest.
* Amy Ryan as Gale Cooper, Zach's mother who is the vice-principal at Madison High School.
* Ryan Lee as Champ, Zach's new friend.
* Jillian Bell as Lorraine Conyers, Zach's aunt who falls in love with R.L. Stine.
* Halston Sage as Taylor, a popular student at Madison High School whom Champ has a crush on.
* Ken Marino as Coach Carr, the gym teacher at Madison High School who hits on Gale.
* Timothy Simons as Officer Stevens, a police officer that works for the Madison Police Department.
* Amanda Lund as Officer Brooks, a police officer trainee that works for the Madison Police Department and is partnered with Officer Stevens.
* Steven Krueger as Davidson, a popular student at Madison High School.
* Keith Arthur Bolden as Principal Garrison, the principal of Madison High School.
* R. L. Stine as Mr. Black, the new drama teacher at Madison High School that R.L. Stine encounters in the hallway. He was credited as "Hallway Player".

## Productionedit | edit source

### Releaseedit | edit source

Goosebumps had its world premiere screening on June 24, 2015, at the CineEurope film distributors' trade fair in Barcelona, Spain, where the film was presented by Black on stage.

Goosebumps was released on Blu-ray (2D and 3D) and DVD on January 26, 2016, and includes deleted scenes, a blooper reel, interviews with the cast and crew, an alternate opening, an alternate ending, and a featurette about Slappy.

## Receptionedit | edit source

Goosebumps grossed $80.1 million in North America and $70.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $150.2 million, against a budget of $58 million.

## Triviaedit | edit source

* This is the first Sony Pictures Animation live-action film, followed by *Goosebumps: Horrorland*.
* This is the fourth Sony Pictures Animation film to use profanity; as the word "cripple" is said once (referring to a handicapped person) and God's name is used in vain twice. This is another reason for the film's PG rating.