GOOSEBUMPS (PG, 103 mins)

Director: Rob Letterman

3 stars

There’s a nice joke somewhere in the middle of this pleasing family horror to the effect that Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine has sold way more books than even Stephen King. It’s testament to the enormous popularity of young adult fiction, while also making you wonder why, with 400 million sales, there’s never been a Goosebumps film until now.

A popular TV show in the 90s was already adapted from Stine’s books, and while there's just about enough that’s entertaining here to get by, it's a concept that probably lends itself better to short story anthology than one all encompassing grab-bag.

Here the temptation, and probably the necessity, has been to throw everything at it, to cram in every single one of the monsters and ghouls that Stine created, even if it’s sometimes to the film’s detriment.

Jack Black plays Stine himself, who lives reclusively in a small town with his teenage daughter Hannah (Odeya Rush), of whom he’s very protective. When new neighbours Zach (Dylan Minnette) and his mother move in, Hannah and Zach become friends, with repeated warnings from Stine to Zach to stay away from her.

This is all part of a solid set-up that tries to be a bit Spielberg, a bit Dante, and generally does a decent job as it goes, providing a nice vision of suburbia where something is going on behind the curtains.

That something kicks off when Zach hears screaming and thinks Hannah is in trouble, and breaks into the Stine house to discover shelf after shelf of Stine’s Goosebumps books. Each book is locked, but when one is accidentally unlocked, the creatures written about on the pages come to life.

This unleashes a narrative flow that could often best be described as sketchy. It’s variations on the same play over and over, as one particular monster at a time (an abominable snowman, a werewolf) attacks them and they're forced to evade it.

It also has a major pacing issue, going from nothing really happening to full throttle in the blink of an eye, as the entire town – or at least the school - comes under siege from all manner of creatures.

But it’s strong on atmosphere and Black is on good form when Stine is being prickly and mysterious at the start. He also voices chief monster menace Slappy, a ventriloquist’s dummy who provides some gentle chills.

And that might be where Goosebumps finds its niche; not too scary, not too violent, but still spooky enough to work as a gateway horror for kids who’re maybe not quite ready for Poltergeist or Gremlins.

See it if you liked: Jumanji, Night at the Museum, The Hole

POINT BREAK (12A, 114 mins)

Director: Ericson Core

2 stars

Though it’s surely no one’s idea of a masterpiece, 1991’s Point Break remains a much loved cult classic in many quarters, thanks to its stirring Bigelow-directed action sequences and the winning pairing of Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.

This plodding and pointless updating replaces those stars with the far less engaging Luke Bracey as FBI trainee Utah and Edgar Ramirez as his quarry, a dull eco-criminal masterminding flashy robberies around the world.

As before surfing and skydiving are the movie’s bread and butter, but it also tries to up the ante by throwing in snowboarding, rock climbing and all manner of extreme sports that serve no narrative purpose.

There’s some good stuff in the skydiving, but more often than not we’re subjected to completely computer generated characters surfing on improbably big waves, or real stuntmen with the main actors’ faces grafted onto them, so that what was real and dangerous before now has no weight or impact - think Vin Diesel being chased by an avalanche in xXx.

Combine that with howling dialogue and there’s very little here that works. And though their partnership has often been much derided, it sorely misses the presence of Reeves and Swayze and their cheesy and overblown bromance. When it comes to this sort of nonsense, it’s much better to be silly than dull.

See it if you liked: Point Break (1991), The Fast and the Furious, xXx

TRUMBO (15, 124 mins)

Director: Jay Roach

4 stars

A shameful period in 20th century American history is covered in absorbing detail in this fine drama recounting the abuses of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Opening in 1947 and running into the 50s we meet Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston), a Communist Party member already established as a successful screenwriter but looked upon with suspicion in Hollywood because of his political leanings.

Sides are being taken and lines drawn between a roster of stars (most prominently John Wayne on the right), with the belief that anyone who is a communist is collaborating with the Russians to overthrow the government.

It’s a fine view of men of principle and men of lies, while also working as a behind the scenes expose of the Hollywood of the period, with Trumbo forced to write under a pseudonym as the only way to keep working.

Through hearings and prison and blacklisting, it’s a long and hard road for Trumbo to endure, and though the film does have a tendency to slightly deify him, the excellent, Oscar-nominated Cranston guides us through with his rousing speechifying.

See it if you liked: The Front, Guilty By Suspicion, Hitchcock