R.L.
Stine's Monsterville: Cabinet Of Souls
(2015/Universal DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: D Film: C
In
the wake of the new Goosebumps from Sony about to land in
theaters, Universal brings us the direct to video feature length film
Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls (2015). Created for a young
audience, the film delivers as such but fails at really being more
than a Disney Channel-esque preteen adventure, which I fear could
happen with the big budget Goosebumps as well with a cookie
cutter script, and pretty teens that can't act their way out of a
box.
There
was something about the original Goosebumps show from the '90s
that was more effective (or was I just younger?) that I feel is lost
now in these more modern R.L. Stine movies, especially the episode
The Haunted Mask, which I found to be quite creepy and cool.
I'm actually surprised that the original series hasn't been released
on Blu-ray yet as I would be interested in revisiting them again but
only time will tell.
The
film stars Dove Cameron (Descendants), Katherine McNamara
(Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials), Ryan McCarten (Liv and
Maddie), and Tiffany Espensen (Kirby Buckets) who are all
up and coming teenie boppers.
When
a traveling Hall of Horrors show arrives in the town of Danville, the
high school friends can't wait to get spooked. The monsters,
zombies, and ghouls are completely lifelike; and the villainous
showman, Dr. Hysteria, and his enchanting assistant, Lilith, really
know how to turn up the scares. But when Beth discovers a haunted
cabinet backstage that traps the souls of lost teens, it's up to the
gang to stop the mayhem before they are trapped forever.
The
film was directed by Peter Deluise, who also directed the other R.L.
Stine film, The Haunting Hour a few years ago which if you
liked that then you probably will like this as well. As far as
makeup and production design go, this as I said feels more like a TV
movie geared towards a young audience. It could be worse but could
also be better.
Presented
in standard definition with an anamorphic widescreen presentation of
1.78:1 and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track, the film looks fine on
DVD but like anything else could benefit from a Blu-ray upgrade.
No
extras and a rather simple menu are all we get here.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
