goosebumps movie review for parents

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• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure , Comedy , Horror , Kids , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• October 16, 2015
• Jack Black as Mr. Shivers/R.L. Stine; Dylan Minnette as Zach Cooper; Amy Ryan as Gail Cooper; Odeya Rush as Hannah; Ryan Lee as Champ; Jillian Bell as Lorraine; Halston Sage as Taylor

Home Release Date

• January 26, 2016
• Rob Letterman

Distributor

• Sony / Columbia

Movie Review

The problem with moving into a new house is you never know what the neighbors are going to be like. Sometimes they’re nice. Sometimes not so nice.

Sometimes … both .

High schooler Zach Cooper isn’t thrilled about moving with his mom, Gail, from New York City to miniscule Madison, Del., after his father’s death. But Mom thinks the change of pace will do them good, and she’s already getting geared up for her new job as Madison High School’s vice principal.

And Zach’s dour assessment of the somnolent hamlet brightens the moment he meets his next-door neighbor, Hannah. She’s a precocious teen who’s instantly as into him as he is into her.

Then … there’s her dad.

Mr. Shivers’ instructions to Zach couldn’t be more clear: “Do you see the fence?” he bellows. “Stay on your side of it. Stay away from my daughter.”

Maybe Zach would have. Had he not heard the man yelling at Hannah, that is. And when a call to police fails to straighten things out to Zach’s satisfaction, the impetuous teen takes matters into his own hands.

Zach and a new friend, insta-wingman Champ (who’s anything but a winner), sneak into the house to make sure Hannah’s OK. She is. But they don’t make that discovery until after they make another one: A huge bookcase in Mr. Shivers’ house is filled with locked manuscripts of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps stories. Dozens and dozens of ’em. Books like The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight and The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena , among many, many others.

And then they find a key. Even as Champ wonders aloud if Mr. Shivers might, in fact, be R.L. Stine himself, Zach unlocks the latter book. Just like that, a big, angry, hungry Abominable Snowman pops out.

Hannah shows up just in time to tell the guys they’ve made a massive mistake. The only way to capture the despicable beast, she says, is to suck him back into the story he came out of by getting very close to him with the open book.

Capturing one seriously grumpy Abominable Snowman would be a daunting enough task (“I read what it did to Pasadena,” Champ quivers. “It’s no joke, man”), but things get exponentially more complicated when said rampaging Snowman knocks over the bookcase holding the manuscripts on his way through the wall, unleashing a myriad of nasty nemeses straight from Stine’s imagination.

By the time the horrified horror author returns home (yep, it really is him), his nightmarish creations—the devilish Slappy the Dummy, aliens wielding freeze rays, a phalanx of smiling-but-vicious gnomes, a horde of zombies, a gargantuan praying mantis and a slobbering werewolf, for instance—have begun to lay waste to unsuspecting Madison.

All our heroes have to do now is force those beasties back into their books. Against their will.

Positive Elements

Zach is instantly smitten with Hannah. So when he hears the girl and her dad having what sounds like a violent argument, he wants to defend her. Zach’s impulse to make sure Hannah’s OK after the police visit is a noble one, then, even if his decision to break into her house isn’t.

Once the Abominable Snowman gets loose, Zach, Hannah and Champ do everything they can to corral the mythical misbehaver. And when the rest of the crafty creatures get loose, the four main characters (joined to some extent by Gail’s slightly loopy sister, Lorraine) hatch a desperate-but-brave plan to contain the horde of horrors.

Several tender themes emerge by the conclusion. We learn that R.L. Stine has had problems interacting with real people since he was an adolescent, and he admits that he needs to spend less time in his fictional fantasy world and more time in the real one. (He eventually becomes a high school English teacher). Stine and Zach develop a kinship as well, with Stine (it’s suggested) becoming a father figure in the absence of Zach’s deceased dad.

Spiritual Elements

The magical backstory for the monstrous shenanigans in Goosebumps goes like this: R.L. Stine tells his young friends and daughter that as an adolescent, he was the victim of bullies who mocked him. R.L. responded by writing about all manner of horrible creatures wreaking their revenge on his teen tormentors. “Monsters, demons, ghouls,” he says, “terrorized my neighborhood. Eventually they became real to me.” And through some unspecified magical means, one day they started crawling right out of Stine’s writing. “My monsters literally leaped off the page,” he says.

At that point, he realized he had to contain them, and his life since then has involved making sure none of his dastardly droolers get loose. [ Spoiler Warning ] It turns out that Hannah is also one of Stine’s characters, someone he wrote into a novel and allowed to enter the real world so he could have some companionship.

Later, Stine adds that the supernatural occurrences have something to do with the old Smith Corona typewriter he uses. It’s a “magical typewriter,” he says, one that “has a soul of its own.” Indeed, that magical typewriter goes on to play an important role in combating the creatures rampaging through Madison.

Lorraine says, “I should listen to my psychic: Stop dating losers and never go on a plane.” Characters exclaim “Thank God” several times.

Sexual Content

After Zach and Champ meet at a school assembly, Champ asks if Zach wants to go to the dance with him—then clarifies quickly, “Not like together together.” Obviously, Champ’s girl-crazy throughout, and his adolescent ardor is rewarded with a kiss from a popular girl (who’s wearing a cleavage-baring dress) whom he saves from a werewolf. Zach and Hannah briefly kiss twice.

Lorraine, meanwhile, is on a mission to find a man. At one point she says of a guy, “Is he handsome? Is he single? Is he thinking about leaving his wife and needs a push?” Also, someone mistakenly confuses the word audiophile with pedophile . A teacher keeps hitting (albeit benignly) on Zach’s mom.

Violent Content

Once the Abominable Snowman gets loose, Goosebumps is a mildly scary Halloween-themed ride the rest of the way. Sir Snowman busts out of Stine’s house and does a number on an ice rink’s scoreboard, a Zamboni and a vending machine. He chases after the three teens, too, pursuing and swiping at them with simian strength.

A ginormous praying mantis bats at school buses and the school building itself, snatching a boy through a window. (We later see the lad in a neck brace.) A snarling werewolf chases our heroes through a grocery store … before Champ sends the gym-shorts-wearing wolfman howling away by biting him with his silver fillings. The lycanthrope also gets clocked by Lorraine’s truck.

The humans take on a horde of crazed ceramic gnomes, smashing them again and again and again while dodging their wickedly hurled projectiles. Gnomes also fall prey to a gauntlet of bear traps in Stine’s basement. Other “casualties” include many (if not most) of the townspeople getting frozen (but not killed) by aliens. A shortcut through a cemetery awakens a phalanx of half-decomposed zombies. A demonically red-eyed (and levitating) poodle terrifies Lorraine.

Slappy slams a typewriter case closed on Stine’s fingers, breaking (the author says) most of them. And all of the monsters, under the direction of Slappy, ultimately converge upon a high school dance, sending students running for cover, with a few trying to hold them at bay until Stine and Co. can figure out a way to vanquish their foes. A frenetic finale includes explosions, a massively oozing blob and an unmoored Ferris wheel rolling through a forest—with Zach, Hannah and Champ still onboard.

Crude or Profane Language

One use of “h—.” Ten or so misuses of God’s name, two of “oh my gosh.” R.L. dubs Champ an “imbecile.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

None. But someone says of Zach, “That kid’s on drugs.”

Other Negative Elements

There are several jokes about Stine’s body odor. A student passes gas loudly. We see someone picking his nose and hear a corresponding joke about the “boogieman.”

I had mixed expectations going into Goosebumps . R.L. Stine’s mega-franchise is massively popular, having sold more than 400 million copies, according to his onscreen doppelgänger, played by Jack Black. But introducing young ‘uns to supernatural horror-lite has never struck me as the best idea. And plenty of other concerned parents have felt the same way over the years, sometimes even pushing Stine’s tomb-minded tomes onto banned-book lists in libraries.

What we get onscreen does end up meeting those mixed expectations. On the troubling side of things, there’s a lot of supernatural mischief and mayhem. There’s talk of ghouls and demons. Go-to horror heavyweights like clowns and dummies and werewolves get screen time. Close-ups of a snarling werewolf, especially, seem worthy of mention as images that could easily leave young viewers concerned about turning out the lights when families get home from the Cineplex.

But it’s only fair to say that Goosebumps resides not in an occult-minded plane, but rather in a darkish fairy-tale land, albeit with a kitschy 1950s-style horror shtick. We’re in Jumanji and Once Upon a Time territory here. It’s not The Little Mermaid , but it’s certainly close to Sleeping Beauty .

On top of that, Goosebumps is as much screwball comedy as it is tween horror. It’s as funny as it is perilous, wearing its lighthearted zaniness on its sleeve. No one dies. The werewolf runs away when he gets chomped on by a nerd with silver teeth. The gnomes are never really scary, not even when they’re hurling knives. In 2012, Slate writer Katy Waldman characterized the books themselves similarly, writing, “Classic Goosebumps : funny, icky, and just a bit menacing.” Their purpose, she argues, is “provoking and assuaging fear all at the same time.”

That’s certainly more than you can say about the Brothers Grimm. And the movie hews to the same vibe. A handful of jump scenes might have very young moviegoers surging backward in their chairs. But in the end, you know everything is going to turn out all right, just like those children’s movies back in the ’70s or ’80s before everything was about how graphic you could go and still toss it to kids.

Jack Black said in a roundtable interview that Plugged In attended, “R.L. Stine’s recommendation was that we stay mindful of the audience. It’s OK to scare, but not to traumatize. So there’s no blood, for instance. And I have kids, a 7- and a 9-year-old, and they loved it.”

So is it all in good fun then? Will your kids “love it” too? Does the film’s emphasis on developing relationships in the real world instead of fleeing to dark fantasy offset the presence of those unearthly villains?

Well, I did find myself enjoying Goosebumps more than I expected to as a 45-year-old father of three. But I’m not as sanguine as the film’s star regarding the appropriate age to see a movie like Goosebumps .

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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GOOSEBUMPS: A Delightful Horror Movie For Kids

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David is a film aficionado from Colchester, Connecticut. He enjoys…

Horror movies geared towards the younger generation are sometimes hard to come by, likely because a large portion of kids do not like to be scared. To make a horror movie for kids, then, you have to somehow tread the line between scary and lighthearted. Luckily,  Goosebumps  finds that balance, managing to capture not only the charm of Stine ‘s work, but the scares as well, without straying too far in either direction.

A Clever Take on Stine’s Work

Goosebumps is set in the town of Madison, Delaware, where Zach Cooper ( Dylan Minnette ) has just recently moved along with his mother ( Amy Ryan ). Originally from New York City, the two likely needed a change of scenery after the loss of Zach’s father a year prior. Zach soon meets a girl named Hannah ( Odeya Rush ), who lives with her ominous father ( Jack Black ) in the house next door. After investigating a scream one night, a discovery is made: the father is long-forgotten author R.L. Stine , who likely stayed out of the public eye for one reason – whenever his original manuscripts are opened, the books come to life!

For those of you like me that grew up in the 90’s, you are probably all-too-familiar with  R.L. Stine ‘s work already. For a time, his books were strewn through the aisles of every bookstore and library (much like Harry Potter a decade later), and the anticipation of a new entry was something I sometimes counted down the days to. So, other than a relatively short-lived TV show, why has such a financially successful series never been brought to the big screen until now? The most likely reason was this lingering question: which of the many stories would you adapt?  Goosebumps solves that dilemma in a simple, almost too-obvious way: adapt them all!

Once the Goosebumps  books have been opened, every monster written within its pages comes to life. Among them, there is the Yeti from  The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena , the werewolf from  The Werewolf of Fever Swamp , the invisible boy from  My Best Friend is Invisible , the crazy clown from The Horror at Chiller House , and, the ringleader of them all: Slappy the Dummy from Night of the Living Dummy . You have to hand it to both  Scott Alexander and  Larry Karaszewski (the screenwriters): they really did their homework on this one.

Directed by  Rob Letterman , this adaptation of the  Goosebumps  stories easily retains its YA status. Though never excessively scary, the monsters aren’t wimpy creations either. Some highlights of the film include an all-out battle versus the abominable snowman on an ice rink, an aggressive fight with a werewolf in a supermarket, an attack by a horde of conniving garden gnomes, and a chase through the town by a giant praying mantis.

But the real scene stealer is Slappy the Dummy (who are you calling dummy?!). Wickedly menacing, yet also witty and sarcastic, the character (also voiced by Jack Black ) could easily head his own film in the future. He was always my favorite creation by  Stine in his books, and in this adaptation they have thankfully done him justice.

Thanks to an exuberant soundtrack done by none other than  Danny Elfman,  and some impressively wieldy special effects (though sometimes a little too heavy on the CGI), the story of  Goosebumps  soon increases tenfold in its overall wackiness. By the conclusion, when all the monsters have converged upon the remaining inhabitants of the town, there is an overwhelming abundance of creepy crawlies, supernatural beings, and various monstrosities from  Stine’s novels.

Even being a long-time fan of the books, I often had difficulty pointing out who was who, and from which novel; which for some reason only added to the experience. And even if unaware of the books from which they are adapted, the scenes will likely be just as eye-poppingly fun. (Though I didn’t see it in 3D, I could see it being worth the extra cost).

Actors, New and Old

Young actor Dylan Minette leads the cast of  Goosebumps , along with his less-than-capable sidekick Champ ( Ryan Lee ) and Hannah, played by  Odeya Rush . The three, and especially  Rush , who seems to have an almost  Mila Kunis -sort of charm, hold the film together with their measured performances, even though with such a script (and some excessive CGI), it could get hokey or unbelievable.

In actuality, I found that it was more-experienced actor Jack Black  that tended to overact in his role as R.L. Stine ; perhaps forgetting that, although playing a real person, he was also starring in a kids movie. Thankfully, it is not enough to distract from the overall enjoyment of the film (plus he plays Slappy the Dummy much better than Stine himself).

As a longtime fan of  R.L. Stine ‘s work, I likely got more enjoyment out of  Goosebumps   than some other people my age. As I mentioned, it’s primarily for kids and young adults. But, like other YA-oriented work ( The Hunger Games series, for example), I could see adults getting something from it as well, especially if you are in need of a break from the heavier, more frightening horror films that come around this time of year. Just try not to take it too seriously, as it’s meant to just be an hour and a half of relaxed, comfortable entertainment.

Do the Goosebumps books hold the same kind of nostalgic value for you? 

(source: Columbia Pictures)

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David is a film aficionado from Colchester, Connecticut. He enjoys writing, reading, analyzing, and of course, watching movies. His favorite genres are westerns, crime dramas, horror, and sci-fis. He also enjoys binge-watching TV shows on Netflix.

Horrific Inquiry: THE OMEN (1976)

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"Monsters from the Id"

What You Need To Know:

(BBB, C, O, LL, VV, M) Very strong moral worldview with some redemptive elements including family and parents extolled and honored, love extolled, anger and revenge rebuked, people thank God after being rescued or surviving harrowing experiences, with some magical elements that are able to make monsters come alive or banish them, but the elements are also metaphorical and symbolize good and evil and reveal the consequences of negative feelings and bad behavior; two or three obscenities and nine or 10 light exclamatory profanities such as OMG and one “Good God!”; some scary violence and action violence includes werewolf bares its scary-looking canines and lunges at people, monsters chase people, little garden gnomes come alive and attack people with knives and other sharp objects, but no one is cut, and people smash gnomes into pieces, giant insect smashes buildings, aliens use guns to freeze people, zombie-type ghouls come out of graves and menace people, magical books release or suck up monsters in whirlwinds, villains set books on fire; no sex but two teenage couples kiss, and dance floor is crowded with dancing teenagers, plus principal warns teenagers before dance about not dancing in a lewd manner; no nudity but high school cheerleaders show their legs in uniforms; no alcohol; no smoking or drugs; and, revenge and anger but rebuked and father seems a bit over-protective of his daughter and appears mean but he’s not really.

More Detail:

GOOSEBUMPS is a horror comedy about a teenager accidentally letting loose all the monsters from author R.L. Stine’s popular series of children’s horror books. It stars Jack Black as a fictional version of Stine, who’s depicted as an angry recluse who grew up mad at the world and created the monsters for revenge but now regrets his decision. The movie opens with Zach Cooper and his mother, Gail, moving to the small town of Madison, Delaware from New York City, so she can be vice principal of Zach’s high school. Zach is still grieving over his father’s death, but he’s trying to put on a happy face for his concerned mother. While moving into their new home, Zach has an encounter with their grumpy neighbor, who tells Zach to stay on his side of the fence. However, Zach also notices the man’s teenage daughter, Hannah.

One evening, Zach sees Hannah and her father having a terrible argument. Zach gets concerned and calls the police, but when the goofy sheriff and his tense, rookie female deputy show up, everything appears to be fine. Zach isn’t satisfied, however. So, he lures Hannah’s father out on a wild goose chase and sneaks into their house late at night through the cellar door while his new nerdy friend, Champ, stands guard. Zach becomes even more concerned when he finds the basement floor is covered with bear traps. Scared to be alone, Champ comes with him. Upstairs, Zach and Champ discover a bunch of locked books by GOOSEBUMPS author R.L. Stine on the bookcase, and a key lying on a desk nearby. They unlock one of the books and out pops a real Abominable Snowman. Hannah comes rushing into the room, and Hannah, Zach and Champ manage to scare the Snowman away.

Hannah tells Zach they have to use the book to recapture the Snowman, or else he’ll destroy the town. What they don’t realize is that, in the fight with the Snowman, one of the books fell on the floor and popped open. They find the Snowman in the local hockey rink, where Hannah’s father appears at a crucial moment to send the monster back into the book. Zach is surprised to learn that Hannah’s father is the real R.L. Stine. Stine tells Zach that, when he was a boy, he had lots of allergies and was bullied by the other children. So, he grew up mad at the world and created the GOOSEBUMPS books out of revenge. However, his anger and his mysterious, magical typewriter somehow made the monsters real, so now he and Hannah have to make sure the monsters remain locked up between the covers of his original manuscripts.

When they all return to Stine’s house, they discover that Slappy the Dummy, one of Stine’s most clever and most scary incarnations, has escaped and taken all the books and the key that unlocks them. Slappy tells Stine and the teenagers he intends to unleash all the monsters and lead them in a plan to control the world. To ensure his plans for world domination, Slappy will burn the books to make sure the monsters can always roam free. Stine and the teenagers try to stop Slappy, but he evades their clutches and escapes in a “haunted” car released from one of Stine’s books. The only way to stop Slappy is for Stine to write a new story to trap the monsters using his typewriter, which Stine donated to display at the high school. So, the question becomes, Can they get to the typewriter in time and distract Slappy long enough for Stine to write the new story? GOOSEBUMPS the movie is a wild, fun ride.

It has some scary moments, of course, which include an extensive encounter with a scary looking werewolf on the loose in a grocery store. However, there are also a lot of funny, clever, exciting moments. The whole concept in the movie of the monsters being created by the anger and hurt that R.L. Stine felt as a lonely child is brilliant. It evokes memories of the “monsters from the id” in the classic science fiction movie FORBIDDEN PLANET, where an invisible monster is unleashed by a man’s mind, fueled by a technology so far advanced that it’s almost like magic. Of course, Slappy the Dummy is Stine’s alter ego, his shadow, and this fact is helped by the decision to have Jack Black do the character voice for Slappy as well as Stine.

These are all potent metaphors that give GOOSEBUMPS more gravitas than your average horror comedy. GOOSEBUMPS is also just as much an exciting adventure story as it is a horror comedy about monsters on the loose in a small town. As a horror comedy, however, it evokes the power of both classical comic structure and classical horror movie structure. Thus, the unleashed monsters in GOOSEBUMPS have disrupted the natural order of society, including the lives of the characters and the town where they live, to create comical chaos. The chaos is also scary and terrifying, however, so, eventually, as in many horror movies, the heroes must find a way to banish the monsters by either killing them or by sending them back to where they came.

There’s a theological parable to all this too. For example, in the story, it is Stine’s anger and desire for revenge – in effect his sin – that make the monsters real in the first place. However, it’s his love for his daughter and desire for good that also give him the power to create a new story that can banish the evil monsters once again. All that said, GOOSEBUMPS is not a perfect movie. It’s a bit over the top, including part of Jack Black’s performance as R.L. Stine and Slappy. Even so, that’s part of the fun of this kind of movie. Despite all its brilliant subtext and powerful metaphors, GOOSEBUMPS isn’t meant to be a serious, boring drama for art house aficionados, but a movie designed to entertain a mass audience. It pretty much succeeds in doing that.

GOOSEBUMPS has some incidental foul language. The language includes some light exclamatory profanities, but there are also several exclamations saying, “Thank God!” when the heroes are saved from a monster. Furthermore, while GOOSEBUMPS does have its fair share of scary moments, it’s not on the same level as a monster movie like JAWS. The monsters are intended not to be too scary or too horrifying. The scariest moments are when the Abominable Snowman or the werewolf bare their teeth or lunge at people. Zombie graveyard ghouls from the cemetery are also a bit scary. Finally, a giant preying mantis terrorizes the town and the people. In addition to all this, Zach shares a kiss with Hannah at the end, as does Champ and a cheerleader whom he saves from the werewolf.

All in all, therefore, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children for GOOSEBUMPS. Unlike some of the GOOSEBUMPS books, the movie eschews a lot of occult content.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

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Is Goosebumps (2023) Kid Friendly? Parents Guide

By: Author tanialamb

Posted on Published: October 13, 2023

Wondering if Goosebumps (2023) is ok for kids? The new series debuts on Disney+ and Hulu on Friday the 13th. The perfect date for some spooky fun. Parents need to know that the Goosebumps series is more mature than the books. In this Goosebumps Parents Guide, we break down the age rating, language, and scary content.

Goosebumps Parents Guide

Inspired by R.L. Stine’s worldwide bestselling book series, Goosebumps follows a group of five high schoolers as they embark on a shadowy and twisted journey to investigate the tragic passing three decades earlier of a teen named Harold Biddle – while also unearthing dark secrets from their parents’ past.

Age Rating: Why is Goosebumps (2023) Rated TV-14?

Goosebumps is Rated TV-14 for strong language, intense violence, and sexual innuendo which means some content is not suitable for kids under 14.

Language in Goosebumps

There is some language including uses of damn, bi*ch, , jacka**, hell, and words of Deity. 

Violence: Is Goosebumps Too Scary for Kids?

There is a dark, supernatural theme to the show. A teen who was killed is out for revenge and wants to take it out on the kids of those responsible. There are a lot of jump scares and suspenseful moments. Different monsters and zombies appear. Tense and scary music lead to creepy scenes. It’s not a slasher series, so blood and gore are at a minimum. 

Weird events like kids exploding and monsters on fire may be too scary for young kids. 

Mature Content: Is Goosebumps OK for Kids?

There is some teen romance and kissing with same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Nothing too passionate. However, there are some sexual innuendos and words like humping and porno are heard. A male character is seen shirtless. A married adult is having an affair.

Some characters drink alcohol. 

Is Goosebumps Appropriate for Kids Under 13?

In Goosebumps , you should expect to see some violence, scary scenes, supernatural forces, innuendos, and profanity used by some of the characters. To sum it up, Goosebumps is kid friendly for ages 12 and older. This isn’t Stranger Things level of scare and creepy, but in some instances, it does try. And all the main characters are in high school, so the series skews more towards older tweens and teens.

Goosebumps definitely gives the chills and is an entertaining series for older kids. It’s more mature than the previous Goosebumps series and the books. If your kids can handle some horror, then they’ll be ok, but for little ones, beware of nightmares. 

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Screen Rant

Is the new goosebumps show suitable for kids.

2023's Goosebumps reboot might share some behind-the-scenes talent with the 2015 movie, but is this RL Stine adaptation suitable for young children?

• The 2023 Goosebumps reboot is not intended for a younger audience, signaling a departure from previous installments aimed at children.
• The show is rated TV-PG and contains violence, scary moments, adult themes, and references to extramarital affairs and sexual innuendos.
• The darker tone and increased focus on scares and teen subplots may scare younger viewers and disappoint those expecting a lighter, comedic approach like the Goosebumps movies.

While 2023’s Goosebumps reboot might be based on a series of children’s books, that doesn’t necessarily mean the show is intended to be viewed by a younger audience. The Goosebumps franchise has been through many iterations, but most of them have one thing in common. From the original novels by RL Stine to their TV show adaptation in the ‘90s, to the two live-action horror comedy movies based on the Goosebumps books, all the franchise’s installments have been aimed at a relatively young target audience. However, Hulu’s reboot of the series seems destined to buck this consistent trend.

While 2023’s Goosebumps reboot isn’t canonically connected to 2015’s Goosebumps or its 2018 sequel Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween , the show’s pilot episode is directed by the director of the former. However, although Rob Letterman returned to helm the pilot and had a hand in producing the series, this doesn’t mean that the show and the Goosebumps movies were both made with the same target audience in mind. Ever since its earliest teaser trailer, a disquieting clip that featured the show’s teenage stars staring with empty, black eyes, 2023’s Goosebumps reboot has been signaling its appeal to an older audience.

The Goosebumps TV Reboot Is Rated TV-PG

2023’s Goosebumps reboot is rated TV-PG due to some violence, scary moments, and occasional adult themes. Since this Goosebumps reboot features two generations of main characters, the show touches on themes that affect its teen heroes and their parents. As a result, there are references to extramarital affairs, sexual innuendos, and some dark humor. There is also a lot of cartoony violence in some episodes, although these scenes are more akin to the fantasy-inflected chaos of the Goosebumps movies than the gory horror of Stine’s most recent screen adaption, Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy.

More than anything, the dark tone of the new Goosebumps show is the element that will likely put off younger viewers. Although the show features very little in the way of intense horror, there are a lot of jump scares and many moments that depict ghostly or demonic figures. This, combined with the dramatic weight of the teen subplots, means that very young viewers might be scared by the ghosts and bored by the relationship talk. Goosebumps learned from Fear Street and focused on the show’s characters more than its monsters, but this means that small children hoping for something like Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween will be let down.

Goosebumps’ Darker Tone Is Likely Too Scary For Younger Viewers

The darker tone of Goosebumps might also explain why the reboot is airing on Hulu since its tone is a touch too dark for Disney+. The streaming service’s earlier Stine adaptation, 2021’s Just Beyond , was more explicitly aimed at the same demographic as the live-action Goosebumps movies. However, Goosebumps 2023 opted to take the author’s most famous franchise in a new direction that is darker, scarier, and more self-serious than the movies. Where those blockbusters featured Jack Black playing a parody of RL Stine himself , 2023’s Goosebumps is a more grounded, creepier affair that relies on scares and love triangles over comedy set pieces and meta-jokes.

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Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween Parent Guide

A fun-filled introduction to the horror genre for kids..

In this family adventure, R.L. Stine's GOOSEBUMPS books bring real Halloween monsters to life.

Release date October 12, 2018

Run Time: 90 minutes

Official Movie Site

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by heather daybell.

I am not the target audience for this movie. I am not ten. And I did not see the first Goosebumps movie (2015). In addition, I was relying heavily on the truism that sequels are worse than originals (except for The Empire Strikes Back ). So my expectations for this film were set quite low. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween was not what I expected.

The story starts with a family. Sarah and Sonny Quinn (Madison Iseman and Jeremy Ray Taylor) live with their mom, Kathy (Wendi McLendon-Covey), in a sleepy town in New York. Sonny and his best friend Sam (Caleel Harris) run a junk business and they are hired to clean out a dilapidated house with the promise they can keep whatever they find as payment. The boys discover a secret room with a chest and a locked book inside. After they open it a strange ventriloquist dummy, Slappy, appears. Then the fun really begins.

Heading into the theater I expected to spend 90 minutes rolling my eyes while I tried to grin and bear it for the duration. What I got was a mildly spooky Halloween film that had me laughing out loud and put me in the seasonal mood. The cast was great with secondary roles being filled with first rate comedians Ken Jeong and Chris Parnell. And the script was authentic as possible given the far-fetched plot. The child actors were believable and enjoyable to watch and Madison Iseman again proves she can handle the outrageous ( Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ) without straining credulity too far.

This is a nice introduction into the horror genre for kids. There were spooky, suspenseful moments, and lots of creepy editing and music, but nothing that older children couldn’t handle. But for younger or sensitive children (which mine are both) I’d probably save this one for a few years. Mostly because I don’t want to spend the rest of October waking up in the night to soothe my daughters after their nightmares.

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Heather daybell, watch the trailer for goosebumps 2: haunted halloween.

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween Rating & Content Info

Why is Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween rated PG? Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween is rated PG by the MPAA for mild action and some terror

Violence: A boy falls from a ladder. Boys on bikes are lifted up into the sky by witches and their bikes are dropped on the ground after a few seconds. One boy drops from the sky into a bush and is unharmed. Throughout the movie there is some fighting with Halloween objects that have come to life (like kicking and punching gummy bears). A character hits the head off of an animated skeleton with a shovel. There are lots of jumpy moments, and it’s a little scary for younger kids. Sexual Content: A teen couple kisses in a club. Profanity: Two instances of mild profanity. Alcohol/Drug Use: None

Page last updated January 15, 2019

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween Parents' Guide

This movie can be a little bit scary - were there any parts that scared you? Do you like the feeling of being scared? What do you like about it? Why do you think people like that feeling?

Loved this movie? Try these books…

R.L. Stine spawned a massive publishing phenomenon with the first Goosebumps book, Welcome to Dead House, published in 1992. If your child or tween enjoys watching Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween , there are several books in the series that might appeal to them. Slappy Birthday to You is full of creepy stories about Slappy the ventriloquist dummy. (Take note: there is an entire Slappyworld series in the Goosebumps universe.) For kids charmed by the whole Halloween-brought-to-life thing, try Attack of the Jack-o-lanterns. A quirky tale of inanimate objects brought to life is told in Goosebumps: Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes.

If you want to move beyond the Goosebumps universe for kids in the 9+ age range, try Neil Gaiman’s award winning novel, The Graveyard Book which tells the story of a boy raised by ghosts and werewolves.

For lighthearted Halloween fun, Bruce Covill’s The Monsters of Morley Manor: A Madcap Adventure introduces readers to every magical, monster cliché in a great kid-friendly story. (In fact, any novel by Bruce Covill is almost guaranteed to provide magical fun to readers.)

News About "Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween"

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween was formerly called Goosebumps 2 .

The most recent home video release of Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween movie is January 15, 2019. Here are some details…

Related home video titles:.

If your kids enjoy this film, they will probably have a good time watching the original 2015 Goosebumps.

If you want to go a bit scarier, The House with a Clock in its Walls will be out in DVD in December 2018.

A film that deals with the risky proposition of re-animation is Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie.

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, disney+ reboot of goosebumps slides from promising horror into ya soap opera.

If your overbearing parents prevented you from watching scary movies or reading scary novels you were too young to consume during childhood, R.L. Stine's " Goosebumps " series was the perfect alternative for kids to get their spooky fix. Whether it was the novels or the FOX Kids anthology series—which came out admittedly before my time, but I watched reruns through the defunct Discovery Kids channel—Goosebumps introduced generations of horror fanatics to the genre. Much like Kix's old slogan, it was "Kid-Tested. Parent-Approved." Side effects did include trauma, for the family-friendly supernatural stories were unabashedly dark, but it developed a loyal fan base. In the case of the Hulu/Disney+ update developed by Nicholas Stoller (" Bros ") and Rob Letterman (who also helmed the fun 2015 feature romp starring Jack Black ), there's something strange in seeing Stine's classic figures getting a facelift to appeal to the "Stranger Things" crowd, even if it starts off promising.

Set in the foggy, coastal town of Port Lawrence, paranormal events start to surface upon the arrival of the new English teacher, Nathan Bratt ( Justin Long ), who moves into the cursed house where owner Harold Biddle ( Ben Cockell ) died in a fire in 30 years prior. After a chance crossover event at a Halloween party thrown at the old Biddle house by high schoolers, abandoned relics—a polaroid, a cuckoo clock, a possessed mask, and worms—make their way into several students' lives. Those affected are a jock football star named Isaiah (Zack Morris), his geeky neighbor friend Margot (Isa Briones), his best friend James (Miles McKenna), also serving as comic relief, rebellious dim-witted daredevil Lucas (Will Price), and lonesome tech wizard Isabella ( Ana Yi Puig ). Those designated items throw the kids into horrific situations they must come to on their own to face. Once they realize all the ends lead to the Biddle house, the teens band together to uncover a mystery that involves the sins of their parents.

"Goosebumps" plays all the hits for modern horror TV aimed at teens. The lead characters fit into the typical high school archetypes—jock, nerd, rebel, comic relief, and loner—full of angst, filtered through a gothic, melodramatic approach to storytelling. It unabashedly features profanity, mature themes involving adultery and grief, and doesn't stray from showing various horror beats from body to creature on screen. Its plotting follows a continuous eight-episodic structure, with each episode often ending in a cliffhanger designed to get you to binge the whole season at once. I can see through the ruse. Unlike Slappy, I ain't no dummy.

This "Goosebumps" iteration gets close to Stine's spirited tone primarily thanks to the teen ensemble cast, all adding a distinctive charm to their lively performances and camaraderie. Specifically, Zack Morris and Miles McKenna's buddy dynamic provides a nuanced refreshment in a straight-jock and gay class clown act as best friends. Their shared charisma creates an equilibrium for comedy that adds fun to the dramatic beats. On the other end of the realism spectrum, Justin Long, whose Bratt gets possessed by Biddle's spirit at the end of its initial episode, acts completely unhinged, relishing in comical movement and cringe-inducing gross-out gags. He's a joy whenever he is on-screen.

Despite the familiar story structure, the season's first half puts a fun spin on the source's anthology nature. Each episode is titled after an iconic "Goosebumps'' book, clarifying what featured item will be centralized. The first five out of eight episodes center around one of its five leads and how a relic they find at the Biddle's haunted house Halloween party affects them. Each episode centers on a teen, the social issue they have, their strained relationship with their parents, the Biddle-baggage their parents are gaslighting their kid from uncovering, and how their possessed artifact challenges them to face their demons. And everyone's problems are simultaneous, making the timeline fun to follow while setting up the mystery in the background without overstepping too much to the frontward spotlight. It's tonally consistent with the newfound direction, and the writing does a decent job of blending with its other counterparts without trying too hard to say something like "Riverdale" did.

Alas, when the series hits the midpoint and everyone's timelines converge, the writing then leans into all the tropes seen in every teen drama with the same unappealing mundanity as other teen supernatural shows from recent memory. The scares are thrown to the backseat while the dramatic beats are doused with soap, prominently focusing on the interpersonal relationships between the kids and the adults. The small-town coastal setting gives way to a tight-knit mystery that has the potential to further its developing theme of generational trauma, but its intentions to abide by the "hot topic" horror bible becomes prominent above anything else. By the moment the plotting, as James points out, "gets a little too cis-het in here," involving a forced love triangle—that also does the only Black female character dirty—I felt as if I was transported back to the 2010s when YA genre/soap opera film adaptations pandered to the young masses. What starts as an enjoyable, mature take on Stine's classic series with some inventiveness in its structure and storytelling becomes a generic horror series built to keep the "Stranger Things" crowd happy as they wait for their favorite show's final season.

Whole series was screened for review . "Goosebumps" p remieres on Disney+ on October 13th.

Rendy Jones

Rendy Jones (they/he) is a film and television journalist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. They are the owner of self-published independent outlet Rendy Reviews, a member of the Critics' Choice Association, GALECA, and a part time stand-up comedian.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Goosebumps’ on Hulu, A Creepily Funny Re-hash of The ‘90s Horror Show That Terrified A Generation

Where to stream:.

• Goosebumps (2023)

‘Interview With the Vampire’ Season 2 is a Dark and Lush Triumph — Even If It Could Use More of Sam Reid’s Lestat

Stream it or skip it: ‘fiasco’ on netflix, a mockumentary series about a disastrous film shoot, stream it or skip it: ‘the veil’ on fx/hulu, where elisabeth moss is a spy who gains the trust of a french isis agent, stream it or skip it: ‘boiling point’ on netflix, a pulse-pounding restaurant drama that’s a british cousin of ‘the bear’.

R.L. Stine has been synonymous with kids horror for nearly four decades thanks to his Goosebumps book series . Though his stories have been translated to the screen already, in a mid-1990s series that read as a Twilight Zone for kids and a 2015 Jack Black film , the newest series, which premieres on Disney+ and Hulu this week, is a modern update featuring ten episodes that all interconnect the lives of a group of teens who are now paying for a terrible secret harbored by their parents for 30 years. Darkly funny and just as spooky, it’s a welcome addition to the Halloween canon.

GOOSEBUMPS : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: It’s 1993. We know this because it says so onscreen, but also because R.E.M.’s “Drive” plays as a young man named Harold Biddle walks from school back to his home. Once he arrives to the empty house, Harold heads to his basement where he settles in for the afternoon to draw in a sketchbook and take creepy Polaroids of a mask he has on display. Afternoon turns to dusk and when Harold goes to answer a knock at the door, no one is physically there, but a spirit enters the house and soon the place is enveloped in a fire with the teen inside.

The Gist: The opening scene of the new Goosebumps series sets up what you need to know for the rest of the episode and season, which takes place thirty years later in the same town, Port Lawrence, and features students who attend the same high school as Biddle, Port Lawrence High. In the present day, our story focuses on Isaiah (Zack Morris), a star quarterback at the school who is failing history class and won’t be allowed to play ball unless he aces the next test. His friend and neighbor Margot (Isa Briones) lets him cheat off of her, and it’s clear she will do anything for him, to the dismay of his actual girlfriend, Alison. When Isaiah’s friends decide to throw a Halloween party, he suggests holding it at the Biddle house, which wasn’t completely destroyed in the fire, but has been vacated since Harold’s death in 1993.

The house is not completely abandoned though: Nathan Bratt, played by Justin Long, will be moving to town to live in what’s left of the home soon enough. After young Harold Biddle died in the basement of the home, his parents disappeared, and Mr. Bratt was the closest living Biddle relative, so he inherited the place. When Isaiah and his friends arrive to the house for their party, Isaiah finds Harold Biddle’s old Polaroid camera in the basement and takes a couple of photos of his friends before the party begins. As the party is in full swing, Mr. Bratt shows up to break it up, and the students all scatter. Alison runs off alone into the woods, and while she’s there she sees a vision of Harold Biddle, his body burning in flames, and she slips and falls. The next day, Margot sees Biddle’s silhouette in the hallway of the school and she simultaneously has an allergic reaction that causes her to nearly choke.

Isaiah finds the Polaroid photos of Alison and Margot in his backpack, but the photos are not from the party, they depict both of the young women in distress, Alison lying in the woods after having seen Harold, and Margot choking. Isaiah becomes convinced the camera is haunted and that whoever appears in a photo will have something bad happen to them. When his friend James takes a photo with the camera, it shows Isaiah lying on the ground. Thanks to Margot’s test answers, Isaiah is allowed to play at his big football game that night, but during the game, he falls to the ground and breaks his arm. His season and his chance to be scouted for college are now over.

Nora (Rachael Harris), who is the mother of Lucas (Will Price), one of Isaiah’s classmates, takes Isaiah’s father Ben aside at the hospital to tell him what she thinks is really going on: the ghost of Harold Biddle is back, and he’s seeking revenge on the children of his own former classmates. “I saw Biddle,” she says. “He’s come back, Ben. He’s come back to make us pay for what we did to him.” Just what Nora, Ben, and their friends did though, remains a mystery which will unravel over the course of the next nine episodes.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Despite the fact that they’re both based on R.L. Stine’s book series, Goosebumps has less in common with its 1990s-era predecessor of the same name than it does moody, murder-y teen thrillers like Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin , Chilling Adventures of Sabrina , and Cruel Summer .

Our Take : Developed by Nicholas Stoller (who is responsible for directing comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and co-writing The Muppets ) and Rob Letterman, who previously directed the Jack Black-led Goosebumps film, this new Goosebumps is filled with modern, clever jokes and entertaining performances that seem directed not just at the teen audience the show seems to appeal to, but their parents, too. The fact that it begins in 1993, when many of us parents would have been in high school just like Harold Biddle (and would have been listening to R.E.M.’s Automatic For The People on repeat) is the first hint that this show was made partially by and for Gen X, the first generation that also grew up reading Goosebumps books. It also helps that performers like Long, Harris, and Rob Huebel, have been cast to add some humor and name recognition, especially for us oldies watching.

While the show feels akin to Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin with regard to the sins of the parents being visited on their children, it also pays homage to its source material: most of the episodes are updates of classic Goosebumps stories, like The Haunted Mask and The Cuckoo Clock of Doom . As each episode unravels and offers the sequence of events that transpire from a different character’s point of view (each one tinged with an odd supernatural event), we learn more about the mystery that currently plagues the town, as well as the events that led to it. While there’s no shortage of fantasy anthology series out there, Goosebumps is set apart has a narrative woven throughout, isn’t just standalone stories, but an anthology-meets time jumps-meets Rashomon show where everyone has a different story to tell as the mystery unfolds.

As we all reach for the remote in search of Halloween frights this month, Goosebumps offers a smart, well-crafted way to scratch that itch we all get for the small screen scaries.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: [SPOILER ALERT} Mr. Bratt sits in his new home when the fire in the fireplace goes out. Thinking it’s the local teens playing a prank, he gets up to investigate and is faced instead by Harold Biddle’s spirit, which goes up in a puff of smoke and enters Bratt’s body. Bratt smiles slyly, now possessed by Biddle, as Travis Scott’s “Goosebumps” starts to play.

Performance Worth Watching: Long is great as Mr. Bratt, a 40-something English teacher trying to be cool and hip to appeal to his teenage students, who also happens to be possessed.

Memorable Dialogue: “Um, what if this place is, like, actually haunted?” Alison asks when she enters the Biddle house. Like, it totally is.

Our Call: STREAM IT! While the ’90s version of Goosebumps was geared toward pre-teens and had a spooky-but-still-sorta-cheesy vibe in the way that ’90s syndicated programming often did, this version is updated with interesting plots, clever dialogue, and lots of pop culture references. While some pre-teens will enjoy it, it feels like the target audience skews a touch older thanks to some genuine creepiness throughout.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction .

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A parent's guide to 'Challengers': Is Zendaya's new movie appropriate for tweens or teens?

As a former Disney Channel kid, Zendaya has a fanbase that's grown up with her as an actress and she appeals to a younger generation. The 27-year-old is also beginning to take on more mature roles, like in HBO's "Euphoria," that may not be appropriate for everyone.

Which brings us to " Challengers " (in theaters now), her new R-rated tennis drama co-starring Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor. The trailer shows Zendaya's character when she's 18, so tweens and teens might think, "Hey, this is for me!" It also shows her in her 30s, as the movie tracks three people in a sporty love triangle that unfolds over more than a decade, so it's a little complicated.

Here's what parents of Zendaya-loving youngsters need to know about "Challengers":

What is the new Zendaya movie 'Challengers' about?

Zendaya has her most adult role yet in director Luca Guadagnino's sports movie: The film opens with her character Tashi as the 31-year-old coach, manager and wife of pro tennis player Art (Faist). After recent losses, he needs a confidence boost and she enters him in a lower-level tournament, where he faces rival Patrick (O'Connor), a financially struggling athlete from their past.

The movie then flashes back to the trio as teens, when the prodigal Tashi and doubles partners/friends Art and Patrick have a three-way makeout session in a hotel room that sparks evolving relationships between them.

Why is 'Challengers' rated R?

The movie is officially rated R for "language throughout, some sexual content and graphic nudity." Let's break that down: Yes, there are plenty of four-letter curse words and also sexual situations, though the latter aren't too steamy. O'Connor and Zendaya are in their underwear for one intimate scene, but that stuff on the whole veers more PG-13.

What parents might be more concerned by is the male nudity. After the aforementioned hotel hookup, Art has an erection in his boxer shorts that Patrick playfully smacks, while in a locker room scene, there are a couple of moments of full-frontal male genitalia, though not in a sexual context.

Is Zendaya's tennis film appropriate for children?

Not really, especially in regard to younger teens and under. Aside from the language, sexual content and nudity, "Challengers" explores a lot of headier themes that older teens might understand and appreciate more – among them, identity, sexuality, power dynamics and how people use strong feelings to manipulate one another. If your son or daughter is dying to see it, the official R-rated restriction applies nicely: Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Even if they've already snuck in a "Euphoria" binge watch.

What are some kid-friendly movies featuring the 'Challengers' cast?

The littlest Zendaya fans can stream her earlier Disney Channel comedy series "Shake It Up" and "K.C. Undercover" on Disney+. As for her film output, the musical "The Greatest Showman" (also starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron) has a wide appeal; the Marvel Spider-Man movies with her boyfriend Tom Holland ("Homecoming," "Far From Home" and "No Way Home") are all top-notch; and a "Dune" double feature would be good for tween and teen sci-fi fans.

Faist played Jets leader Riff in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated "West Side Story" redo – and was in the best supporting actor conversation – plus stars in the Amazon streaming series "Panic." While it might not be for your whole household, at least your royals-loving teens might want to check out his co-star O'Connor as a young Prince Charles in the third and fourth seasons of Netflix's " The Crown ."

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Bon Jovi docuseries 'Thank You, Goodnight' is an argument for respect

Eric Deggans

Jon Bon Jovi at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., in 2013. David Bergman/Hulu hide caption

Jon Bon Jovi at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., in 2013.

Hulu's docuseries Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story , spends a lot of time building up the Bon Jovi legend — exploring the band's almost unbelievable 40-plus-year run from playing hardscrabble rock clubs in New Jersey to earning platinum albums and entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

But what moved me most in the four-part series was something more revealing: its close look at the struggle by lead singer Jon Bon Jovi to overcome vocal problems which nearly led him to quit the band.

Footage of the singer croaking through vocal exercises, undergoing laser treatments, enduring acupuncture and finally turning to surgery is sprinkled throughout the series, which toggles back and forth between his problems in 2022 and a chronological story of the band's triumphs and tragedies from its earliest days.

Refusing to be Fat Elvis

Jon Bon Jovi was interviewed for Thank You, Goodnight . Disney/Hulu hide caption

Jon Bon Jovi was interviewed for Thank You, Goodnight .

Through it all, a question hangs: Will Bon Jovi ever recover enough vocal strength to lead a 40th anniversary tour?

"If I can't be the very best I can be, I'm out," he tells the cameras, still looking a bit boyish despite his voluminous gray hair at age 62. "I'm not here to drag down the legacy, I'm not here for the 'Where are they now?' tour ... I'm not ever gonna be the Fat Elvis ... That ain't happening."

Filmmaker Gotham Chopra — who has also directed docuseries about his father, spiritualist Deepak Chopra, and star quarterback Tom Brady — digs deeply into the band's history, aided by boatloads of pictures, video footage and early recordings provided by the group.

Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora in Thank You, Goodnight Disney/Hulu hide caption

Former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora in Thank You, Goodnight

Chopra gets folks from the group's tight inner circle to speak up, including former manager Doc McGhee and guitarist Richie Sambora, who quit the band in 2013. ("Are we telling the truth, or are we going to lie, what are we going to do?" Sambora cracks to his offscreen interviewer. "Let's figure it out.")

But anyone expecting gossipy dish will walk away disappointed. Even major scandals in the band's history are handled with care, including the firing of founding bassist Alec John Such in 1994 (and the admission that his replacement, Hugh McDonald, already had been secretly playing bass parts on their albums for years), drummer Tico Torres' stint in addiction treatment and Sambora's decision to quit midway through a tour in 2013, with no notice to bandmates he had performed alongside for 30 years.

Alec John Such, a founding member of Bon Jovi, dies at 70

Sambora's explanation: When issues with substance use and family problems led him to miss recording sessions, Bon Jovi got producer John Shanks to play more guitar on their 2013 record What About Now . And Sambora was hurt.

"[Bon Jovi] had the whole thing kinda planned out," Sambora says, "which basically was telling me, um, 'I can do it without you.'"

Building a band on rock anthems

Jon Bon Jovi with guitarist Phil X. Disney/Hulu hide caption

Jon Bon Jovi with guitarist Phil X.

The docuseries shows how young New Jersey native John Bongiovi turned a job as a gofer at legendary recording studio The Power Station – owned by a cousin — into a recording of his first hit in the early 1980s, Runaway . His song eventually caught the ear of another little-known artist from New Jersey called Bruce Springsteen.

"The first demo I got of Jon's was a good song," says Springsteen, a longtime friend of Bon Jovi. "I mean, Jon's great talent is these big, powerful pop rock choruses that just demand to be sung by, you know, 20,000 people in an arena."

Music Interviews

Rock star jon bon jovi comes full 'circle'.

Thank You, Goodnight shows the band really took off by honing those rock anthems with songwriter Desmond Child, while simultaneously developing videos that showcased their status as a fun, rollicking live band. Hits like You Give Love a Bad Name, Livin' on a Prayer and Wanted: Dead or Alive made them MTV darlings and rock superstars.

Through it all, the singer and bandleader is shown as the group's visionary and spark plug, open about how strategically he pushed the band to write hit songs and positioned them for commercial success.

"It wasn't as though I woke up one morning and was the best singer in the school, or on the block, or in my house," he tells the camera, laughing. "I just had a desire and a work ethic that was always the driving force."

I saw that dynamic up close in the mid-1990s when I worked as a music critic in New Jersey, spending time with Jon Bon Jovi and the band. Back then, his mother ran the group's fan club and was always trying to convince the local rock critic to write about her superstar son – I was fascinated by how the band shrugged off criticisms of being uncool and survived changing musical trends, led by a frontman who worked hard to stay grounded.

Bon Jovi was always gracious and willing to talk; he even introduced me to then-New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman at one of his legendary Christmas charity concerts. (And in a crazy coincidence, the band's backup singer Everett Bradley is an old friend from college.)

I think the docuseries captures Bon Jovi's skill at leading the group through challenges musical and otherwise — from metal's slow fade off the pop charts to the rise of grunge rock — something the singer rarely gets credit for achieving.

Still, much of Thank You, Goodnight feels like an extended celebration of the band and its charismatic frontman, leavened by his earnest effort to regain control of his voice. If you're not a Bon Jovi fan, four episodes of this story may feel like a bit much (I'd recommend at least watching the first and last episodes.)

More than anything, the docuseries feels like an extended argument for something Bon Jovi has struggled to achieve, even amid million selling records and top-grossing concert tours – respect as a legendary rock band.

The audio and digital versions of this story were edited by Jennifer Vanasco .

• Cast & crew

Ryan's World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure

Ryan is back for his most epic adventure yet. When his twin sisters, Emma and Kate, get sucked into a mystical comic book, Ryan has no choice but to rise up as the great big brother he is an... Read all Ryan is back for his most epic adventure yet. When his twin sisters, Emma and Kate, get sucked into a mystical comic book, Ryan has no choice but to rise up as the great big brother he is and jump in after them. Adventures, battles, and hilarious debacles ensue, as Ryan and his f... Read all Ryan is back for his most epic adventure yet. When his twin sisters, Emma and Kate, get sucked into a mystical comic book, Ryan has no choice but to rise up as the great big brother he is and jump in after them. Adventures, battles, and hilarious debacles ensue, as Ryan and his friends navigate the Titan Universe and bring everyone back home safely before his parents ... Read all

• Albie Hecht
• Rose Frankel
• 1 nomination

• Delivery Guy

• Magician Dan Rhodes
• Combo Panda …

• Dark Titan …
• Ryan's World Fan
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• August 16, 2024 (United States)
• United States
• Pocket.watch
• Sunlight Entertainment
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 23 minutes

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