Jack Black plays a fictionalised version of real life author R L Stine and dials it down a bit as a moody, sullen author who wants to keep himself to himself but when a new teenager, Zach Cooper moves next door and is attracted to Stine's daughter Hannah. However Zach is uneasy about his father and he does not know who he really is.

When Zach and his new school friend stumbles upon Stine's book collection they unlock the monsters inside the books who unleash themselves into the open world led by the dummy Slappy.

They need to escape the monsters but more importantly Stine needs to somehow put them back into a book by writing a new chapter.

The film is similar in many ways to Jumanji and at times just as hectic. Maybe it has too many monsters on the loose although Slappy the ventriloquist dummy makes a good and sinister impression.

An enjoyable family film with cheesy laughs and scares, teenagers would like it and moves along at a good pace.

GOOSEBUMPS is a very modern-feeling adaptation of the work of R.L. Stine, the author who had a big hit with his GOOSEBUMPS series of young adult horror novels in the 1990s. I never encountered them - I was too old at the time and went straight for Stephen King instead - but I was willing to give this one a go despite not liking Jack Black as an actor. It turns out to be a play-it-safe production, definitely aimed at young viewers, and one which frequently turns into a sprawling CGI adventure as do so many Hollywood flicks these days. Black plays Stine himself, whose fictional creations come to life and terrorise a small town. The teenage cast members then spend the running time escaping from various monsters. The CGI creations are quite typical of their type; hardly realistic, but some creativity has gone into their look. The film itself is instantly forgettable.

Gale Cooper (Amy Ryan) is the new high school vice principal and moves her son Zach (Dylan Minnette) from New York to Madison, Delaware where her sister Lorraine (Jillian Bell) lives. Zach meets the girl next door Hannah (Odeya Rush) and her angry dad who turns out to be R. L. Stine (Jack Black),bestselling Goosebumps author. At school, he's befriended by bumbling loser Champ (Ryan Lee).

The kids are fine. Ryan Lee is the comedic fool. Jack Black may not fit this role that well. It's a lot of stuff being stuffed into this. It's a little over-stuffed. It's a lot of monsters. It's also not the most compelling. There is lots of action but the intensity is relatively low. It tries to be comedic and it does have a certain amount of fun. It's a fine young-adult action comedy but not anything exceptional.