“Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” is one of those sequels where the first movie gets retold in a new way, but bigger and crazier than before. Except for the “bigger and crazier” part.
That first “Goosebumps” movie still feels like an instant cult classic, with earnest characters and an imaginative storyline that never skimps on the scares. “Goosebumps 2” plays like a somewhat ambitious straight-to-video retread. The script is more contrived than ever, the characters are largely underwritten, and the monsters look cheap and get very little to do.
That’s not to say that “Goosebumps 2” is entirely without its charms.