There’s nothing path-breaking about Goosebumps, but it never bores. There’s an old-fashioned playfulness to the ‘horror’ scenes, and frankly I thought there were more laughs than scares. It’s one of those films that the family can watch together. Not a bad way to spend two hours.

The film, with the well-mounted CG villains – the werewolf, the abominable snowman, body squeezers – and its hair-raising playfulness, is a pleasure ride.

As an adult, you won’t really be in love with the film. Through a child’s eye, however, this is stuff you’d definitely want to catch at least once on the big screen.

As a standard children’s adventure, this one is interesting enough but the horror part just doesn’t stick.

Overall, director Rob Letterman’s “Goosebumps”, with some fine nuggets of direction, is a contrived tale, targeting the family audience this Halloween weekend. It is not too scary for children, but not too tame for the adults either.

If you are a fan of the Goosebumps series, this adaptation is a must-­watch. Also, give it a shot for Jack Black who is exceptional.