A Spooktacular Ride with Goosebumps
Goosebumps is based on the adventures of five high school students and monsters they free in their town by an accident. While fighting these evils, they have to form a partnership apart from their personal issues and eventually learn secrets about their parents and the history of the town. Every protagonist is drawn into a suspenseful tale which the narrative weaves erasing the line between horror and adventure, keeping the viewers engaged.
Each character is in a spine-chilling tale where Friendship, courage, and the lingering effects of hidden secrets are achieved skillfully. The show Goosebumps perfectly captures a shift from comedic teenage hijinks to being genuinely eerie. This merging of the teenage life and supernatural horrors is done well to give the audience the thrill and mystery such lovers of teen horror and mystery will find appealing.
The main cast of Zack Morris, Isa Briones, and other actors do a good job in portraying teenagers experiencing unimaginable ordeals in their life. The feature they adopted of portraying high school life interfering with the supernatural is quite familiar and very appealing. The main actors incorporate terrific performances into their roles, which are the reasons why the show is quite interesting.
All the directors, including Rob Letterman, Erin O’Malley ,and Steve Boyum, did a great job of bringing the series to life with great acting, character development, and pop culture twists. It is a great work to build the suspense and keep the horror elements as the primary focus without letting the individual narratives of the older kids take over.
The musical score in Goosebumps is perfect to give it the eerie feel of the series. It brilliantly builds up tension scenes and adds something to every scene, making the moments tense. The score plays right at the edge of horror and thrill, increasing the tension of the show without exaggeration.
The look of the show is also top-notch with great use of bright and dynamic cinematography which depicts horror at its best but also ordinary teen life. A classic component of filmmakers successfully contributing to the feel of horror is the manner in which the lighting and camera work are used to create the supernatural atmosphere.
The element of sound design deserves to be accentuated as it creates an organic ambiance where horrors rise from the ordinary world. The sets are damp, dreary and belie the fact that the series is set in a high school; they provide the audience with a different focus when there is a hint of the otherworldly.
Supernatural effects are used throughout the series and are effective while never going overboard. They add to the suspense and horror but do not steal from the emotional aspect of the movie.
Cuts are clean and smooth, helping in the smooth running of the story. Transitions from the normal high school environment to the two different dark supernatural worlds are well done and integrated, in order to provide continuity to the movie.
The pacing in Goosebumps is consistent with timely twists and character developments. It’s an unstructured ride of emotions, best not to dwell on a particular theme or story arc.
Talking in Goosebumps sounds realistic and appropriate for teen horror series. It combines comedy, suspense, and emotion, which work as the backbone for the series but also help develop characters’ relationships and their motives.
Still, Goosebumps hooks with a combination of teen drama and horror and, at times, relies on cliches. Some aspects of the story may seem rather cliché for those who are familiar with supernatural themes from various shows and movies, but they are insignificant when it comes to enjoyment of the series as a whole on the subject of the odd and the eerie. It finds the Goldilocks just in terms of appealing to fans of the original R.L. Stine stories and being new and original. It made me feel happy and creeped out at the same time in anticipation of new trips to this paranormal plane.
