Goosebumps

The first big-screen adaptation of the prolific R.L. Stine's best-selling series of horror stories for kids features the writer himself—or a version of him, played by Jack Black—who swings into action when his daughter (Odeya Rush), his new neighbor (Dylan Minnette) and the neighbor's nerdy pal (Ryan Lee) accidentally release the author's monsters from the books where they're imprisoned, causing them to descend like a plague on their small Delaware town. Darren Lemke's script (from a story by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski) makes a clever introduction to Stine's books (assuming there are any young readers out there who haven't read any of them yet), and Rob Letterman's surprisingly sprightly direction deftly walks the tightrope between comedy and genuine scares—just the way Stine's books do. J.L.