Topic: Father/Daughter Marathon Review: R.L. Stein

[addicted2dvd]

Father/Daughter Marathon Review

R.L. Stein

This weekend my daughter Brittany and I decided to watch some of her DVDs... something we could both enjoy. So we decided to watch some of the DVDs we have that were created by R.L. Stein. The creator of such material as Goosebumps and The Nightmare Room. Like the "Secrets of Isis" review we did before... you will get to see both Brittany's and my thoughts on each show we watched. So... this weekend we watched...

R.L. Stein's Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It
For 13-year-old goth girl Cassie, fitting into a new school and neighborhood isn't easy, but she entertains herself by playing pranks on the "popular" kids and her little brother, Max. As Halloween approaches, Cassie's search for scares leads her to a mysterious Halloween store and an unusual book called The Evil Thing. When Max begs her to read the book to him, Cassie finally gives in, ignoring the warning "Do Not Read Aloud." But it's when they get to the last page of the book and its clear warning about the Evil Thing - "Don't Think About It" - that the spooky adventure really begins.

Starring Emily Osment and Cody Linley of Hannah Montana, Brittany Elizabeth Curran of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and the quintessential movie villain, SAW's Tobin Bell, R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It is sure to put a shiver in your spine!

Brittany's Thoughts:
I for one loved this movie. I have been reading  R. L. Stein's books since I was little. Now the stories keep getting better and better. I was really surprised when I heard that he wrote all of those Goosebumps books and he doesn't know how to type and he does it all with only one finger!!! I found this out by watching the interview with him on this DVD.

My Thoughts:
This is a cute Halloween movie that is fun for the whole family. Not something to watch if you are looking for something actually scary... but a good way to spend Halloween night with your kids. I know that Britt and I will be watching it every year now. I also liked the fact that Tobin Bell is in it... I really liked him in the Saw movies. I must say.. I did get a kick out of the young boy (Cassie's brother).. he was such a scaredy-cat... I think the boy was even afraid of his own shadow.

[addicted2dvd]

Goosebumps: Cry of the Cat
In the light of the full moon, I saw the cat sprawled on its back, its head twisted to one side, its four paws straight up in the air. Even from my bedroom window high above the ground, I recognized the cat. The cat named Rip. And I knew without going down there that I had killed it again. Killed it for a third time.

Brittany's Thoughts:
This episode was a two parter. I liked it but I think the special effects could use a little work. The giant cat looked like a giant rat. Although I have to say the cat make-up on the mother was a nice touch, along side of the twist ending.

My Thoughts:
A decent episode of Goosebumps... though not the best I ever seen. But either way.... something fun to watch with your kids. I did like the cat makeup that was used on the mother.

[addicted2dvd]

Goosebumps: It Came From Beneath the Sink
IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SINK
Kat finds a strange sponge under the kitchen sink at her new house, a sponge that has eyes and fangs, that makes bad, unlucky things happen whenever it's around. When Kat, Daniel, and Daniel's friend Carlos get rid of the sponge, they learn from research that whoever finds the sponge and gets rid of it, will die...

STRAINED PEAS
Nicholas has a new baby sister, Grace. But one day she makes a message that says "only me" with her blocks and Nicholas realizes that Grace is no normal baby. She wants to be an only child and she'll do anything to get rid of him...

Brittany's Thoughts:
I personally got a kick out of both episodes. In "It Came From Beneath the Sink", all of the bad luck and stuff was cool, and I liked the ending with the vampire potato, but I really got a kick out of the little bedroom she made for it. "Strained Peas"  was cool too with the killer baby, only it lost me at the end when both babies were that weird, especially showing the first baby's parents. It just lost me.

My Thoughts:
This disc contained 2 fun episodes... I enjoyed them both... but I have to admit I personally enjoyed "Strained Peas" a bit more... it was fun seeing the baby doing all that weird stuff and try to get rid of her older brother. The first episode was good too... but I thought that the look of the sponge was a bit over the top. I did get a kick out of the vampire potato though.

[addicted2dvd]

Goosebumps: Say Cheese and Die
Say Cheese And Die
Greg Banks, and his friends, Doug and Shari, decide to sneak into the old Coffman house. While exploring, Greg stumbles onto a hidden cabinet with a rather large and odd camera inside and decides to take a picture. Greg soon begins to realize that this camera takes pictures of the future and causes bad things to happen...

Say Cheese And Die...Again
Greg's English teacher, Mr. Saur, is a real grouch. He just gave Greg a big fat "F" on his oral report about the camera he found last summer. He didn't believe the stories about the pictures it took and the evil things that happened. Now Greg has dug up the camera and bad things are happening, really bad things...just like the first time.

Brittany's Thoughts:
I thought that this was an okay couple of episodes. What happened in the episodes were awesome, but I had trouble with the believability of it. One thing I also didn't like was how all of the horrible stuff happened and all that happened to the teacher was that he lost his hair. I think it was stupid to dig it up for an A on a school assignment (in the second one) anyway.

My Thoughts:
These episodes were ok... but far from great. putting aside the believability that Brittany talked about... the continuation from one episode to the second was almost non-existent... at least with the answer to the problem.. as they didn't even try to save themselves the way it worked in the first episode... you would think that would have been the first thing they would try.