R.L. Stine's Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls (2015)

When i was a kid i enjoyed goosebumps a lot, i assume that is what got me into liking horror movies. So my sister told me about this new movie, and i decided to watch it, its very likable. It got me pumped for Halloween in a nostalgic way. It captured the original formula that the original goosebumps had, with the premise being about a haunted horror house capturing visitors and turning them into monsters, only to have their souls fed on by the villains. Let me just say the practical effects and makeup look amazing, and clearly they had a bigger budget than other goosebumps. The set looks great, the horror house made me go out and find a horror house that very night.The main characters are actually likable, the main lead is played by Disney star Dove Cameron ( who i have a crush on now), but of course shes already got 2 guys who like her, one of them has a childhood crush for her and through the movie hes trying to tell her that he likes her, kind of reminded me of my own real life crush on a girl i knew. Also the villain is entertaining,kind of creepy ( he looks like the guy from "something wicked this way comes"), but is not really scary, also his introduction could have been way better and creepier. However his daughter with the sultry voice, was well played and was one of the best characters in the film. The script and dialogue was not awful, but it still felt like a Disney channel movie sometimes, despite being soft horror, there were some genuine creepy moments and a few jump scares,one of the characters turns into a very creepy clown, that looks just like the new penny wise! the plot did get overly complicated for a goosebumps movie,like their was a love rectangle happening, also the only way to turn people into monsters is to show them their deepest desires,but this did lead to the love interest for dove having the most bad ass dream sequence ever, where he, dove, and his rival are fighting in a apocalyptic punk world, i loved that scene! Other than that i didn't find too many problems with the movie, i actually kind of wish they did make it more scary but its just a goosebumps movie, its supposed to be training wheels for kids, to help them get more into the horror genre, just like i did. its certainly one of the best goosebumps I've seen, it has awesome visuals, its a great Halloween movie to get you pumped and i recommend it.

I was actually looking for a different movie when I stumbled upon this through Netflix. By the time I realized my mistake, I decided to give it a shot anyway. I went in with the mentality that this was a kids movie because it is. Anyway, I saw the plot coming a mile away but it was still fun to see the character's reactions to it. Dove Cameron did a great job with her character and most of the others portrayed their intentions pretty well. I absolutely loved the dynamic between Beth and Hunter. I wanted, more than an adult woman should want, for a second movie to come out just to see what would happen if the bad guys came back. I enjoyed this more than many of the other Goosebumps movies and I say it's worth a shot as a family flick. Go in with low expectations and come out with great rewards.

If you have nothing else to watch and this is the only thing on TV, watch it I guess.The biggest problem I had was with the weird camera-work. Almost everything is blurred at the edges and I am guessing they were trying to give it a fairy-tale look with the blurring, but it just looks silly.The second problem is that the lead male and female have no chemistry. The Hunter guy has more chemistry with the lead female and mostly because they actually are a couple in real life.. so yeah.In the end, acting is fine, girls are fine, mood is light and I was kinda hoping for all that. But unlike Goosebumps, this movie wasn't very entertaining. Teen problems mixed with campy horror. Meh!

I was amazed by this movie. Thought it was gonna be just another cheesy kids horror movie, but I was surprised that it wasn't! The movie had a good plot and the "twist" in the movie was unexpected to me, which made it even better! Visual effects weren't that bad. The makeup could've been done better, but for budget wise was pretty good. Surprisingly, the guy behind the camera did pretty well! The direction of the film had some good shots but mostly just basic film capturing. Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan were the two actors I recognized in this film. Their acting was pretty descent. I think Dove Cameron was the better actress out of this film. It seems like she works with her role and makes her character the best she can! Anyways, I really would take a shot on this film before turning it down. I really think this movie will surprise you, but probably won't scare you!