Directed by Ari Sandel (The Duff; When We First Met) and starring Madison Iseman (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle; Beauty Mark), Jeremy Ray Taylor (It; Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip), Caleel Harris (various tv series), Wendi McLendon-Covey (Bridesmaids; Bewitched; The Goldbergs (TV Series)) and Ken Jeong (The Hangover; Crazy Rich Asians; Kung Fu Panda; Transformers; The Muppets).

Family adventure; 90 minutes; 6+

Based on the children's stories by RL Stine, its storyline is separate from the 2015 film directed by Rob Letterman and starring Jack Black.

In this instalment / sequel, school friends, teenagers Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and Sam (Caleel Harris), start up a Junk Brothers business to earn some pocket money. The get a job to clear a run-down house which used to be owned by RL Stine - a character they are going to be learning a bit. The deal is they can take what they want and make money from it. They stumble of a secret chamber and drag out a chest; hoping it would be full of treasure, they are dismayed when it "only" contains a book. What the book reveals, though, is a ventriloquist's puppet, which comes to life.

Sonny's mother Kathy (Wendi McLendon-Covey) is working two jobs and has asked his sister Sarah (Madison Iseman) to look after them in the evening. Instead, she goes to meet up with her boyfriend at a club. However, things don't got to plan for her and she returns home, to become embroiled in the adventure alongside Sonny and Sam who are joined by the puppet Slappy who magically comes to life and wants to become part of their family...

A joyous family film where the children cycle everywhere in their neighbourhood where everyone goes overboard in preparing from Hallowe'en. The outdoor decorations are spectacular, and the CGI special effects to bring them to life (spoiler alert!) are even better. From the comfort of plus cinema chairs, they are far from scary, but very much impressive, particularly the display created by next-door neighbour Mr Chu (Ken Jeong).

One of the more interesting sub-plots of Goosebumps 2 concerns Sonny any his science project, based on the work of Nikola Tesla. In some ways this kind of overshadowed the main plot which does not have much substance. But it doesn't have to...

There are shades of Jumanji and even E.T. in this film; nevertheless, it's a great family film that has come to the big screen in perfect time for Hallowe'en. There are quite a few laugh-out-loud moments, both for children and adults alike.