Geetha’s (Family) Halloween At The Movies 2018: House With A Clock and Goosebumps 2 !

Alright, Halloween!!! Here are the latest and best flicks for your family at the theaters for this awesome season (hope you like Jack Black!)…

THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS
A young adult fantasy-horror flick starring Jack Black as Jonathan, the person/ warlock living in New Zebedee, MI, in the fifties. Cate Blanchett stars as his (witchy) neighbor. Things are ho-hum until the warlock takes custody of his young, recently-orphaned nephew Lewis (Owen Vaccaro), whose experimenting releases some unsavory characters (Kyle MacLachlan) from death. It’s not as fab as the book, but it could be worth the theater trip: the script is as competent as the director (Eli Roth), and the chemistry between the leads is not bad. Still, there are some parts where Jack Black sucks the fun out of the scene (you’ll see what I mean. Your kids probably won’t). Has his head gotten a bit big? Hmmm… well, here’s hoping he’ll get over himself soon.

GOOSEBUMPS 2: HAUNTED HALLOWEEN
Jack Black returns as the voice of demon doll Slappy in this sequel. Sam and Sonny (Caleel Harris, Jeremy Ray Taylor) are a couple of teenagers who find the doll while rummaging in an abandoned house (they are the Junk Brothers, Inc.). It also stars Madison Iseman as Sarah (Sam’s elder sister), Wendy McLendon-Covey as her mother, and Ken Jeong as a neighbor. There’s no character development or anything of that sort happening. Just some unalloyed, safe fun for the kiddies – the special effects alone will have them satisfied. But if they’re older than ten, there’s a chance they’ll be bored. You’ll be bored, for sure. I know that’s harsh, but hey, I’m nothing but the unalloyed truth 🙂

Happy Halloween to all, and I’ll hope to see you all at the movies!