William Bibbiani Reviews 'Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween'

Slappy the evil ventriloquist's dummy is back, and once again he's bringing R.L. Stine's monstrous creations to life in "Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween." The sequel to the 2015 hit family/horror hybrid stars Madison Iseman ("Still the King"), Jeremy Ray Taylor ("It") and Caleel White ("Castle Rock") as teenagers who have to defeat Slappy (voiced by Jack Black) and save Halloween from an invasion of scary creatures.

In his review at The Wrap, William Bibbiani calls "Goosebumps 2" a "major step down for this burgeoning franchise," critiquing the film for retracing the steps of the original film, but praising Wendy McLendon-Covey for her supporting performance as the protagonist's mom.

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween" at The Wrap

Top Photo: Sony

Critically Acclaimed #48: The 'Scream' Movies

Wes Craven's "Scream" revitalized the entire horror industry in the late 1990s, returning the genre to its box office glory, earning Craven some of the best reviews of his career, and spawning a four film franchise (and tons of imitators). 

It's a series of slasher films about people who know all about slasher films, and it's not just a funny joke; the "Scream" movies are rich in character and subtext and speak volumes about the genre and the people who both make and inhabit these popular stories.

How do the "Scream" movies hold up? William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold delve into the whole series on this week's Critically Acclaimed! They also review the new releases "Venom" and "The Hate U Give!"

Give it a listen at Podcast One!

Witney Seibold Dares to Defend 'Venom'

Critics hated "Venom," the standalone superhero movie about Spider-Man's greatest nemesis, starring Tom Hardy as a newspaper reporter who becomes attached to an alien symbiote and eats living lobsters. But audiences have flocked to the film in droves, making it an enormous box office success.

Witney Seibold, film critic though he is, finds himself in the interesting position of defending "Venom" for many of the same reasons why other critics deride it. In his latest editorial at IGN, he praises the film's modest scale, oddball humor and 1990s nostalgia value.

Read: Witney Seibold's "In Defense of Venom"

Top Photo: Sony

William Bibbiani Declares 'Venom is More Interesting Without Spider-Man'

"Venom" is tearing his way through the box office, in a film that many people said would never work without Spider-Man. But although Venom was created to be Spider-Man's arch-nemesis, as a character, his connection to Peter Parker was always holding him back.

In his latest editorial for IGN, William Bibbiani explores how Venom's most interesting qualities have nothing to do with Spider-Man, and argues that he's far more intriguing on his own.

Read: William Bibbiani Says "Venom is More Interesting Than Spider-Man"

Top Photo: Sony

Canceled Too Soon #117: 'Nightmare Classics' (1989)

After the success of Shelley Duvall's award-winning children's series "Faerie Tale Theatre," she produced a short-lived horror anthology called "Nightmare Classics," featuring all-star adaptations of classic gothic tales like "The Turn of the Screw," "Carmilla" and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." It was an ambitious series that aired on Showtime, and then completely vanished from the popular consciousness.

"Nightmare Classics" starred big names like Amy Irving, Balthazar Getty, David Hemmings, Ione Sky, Meg Tilly, Roddy McDowall, Laura Dern, Rue MacClanahan, C. Thomas Howell, John Stockwell and Daphne Zuniga, and yet nobody ever talks about it. Is there a reason? Or could it be that "Nightmare Classics" was... Canceled Too Soon?

You'll find out in this all-new episode of the Canceled Too Soon podcast, hosted by film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold! And stick around, because we've got more terrifying failed TV shows all this month, in an event we call SCARYTOBER!

William Bibbiani Reviews 'The Hate U Give'

Amandla Stenberg ("The Darkest Minds") stars in "The Hate U Give," an adaptation of the bestselling YA novel by Angie Thomas, as Starr, a teenager who lives two different lives. In her home life she's a member of a low-income black community, but at school she fits into an affluent white social class. Those two worlds come crashing together when Starr witnesses the murder of an innocent, unarmed childhood friend by a white police officer, forcing her to decide who she really is and what actions to take.

In his review at IGN, William Bibbiani describes "The Hate U Give" as "a story that's epic in theme, intimate in character, and which translates powerfully to the big screen," and says the film "may one day be required viewing for adolescents."

Read: William Bibbiani Reviews "The Hate U Give" at IGN

Top Photo: 20th Century Fox

Critically Acclaimed #47: The Universal Frankenstein Movies

Scarytober begins with the latest episode of Critically Acclaimed! This week we're reviewing all of the original, classic Universal Frankenstein movies, including the ones everyone love and the ones nobody watches anymore. Are they still horror classics, and what do they have to teach us about the way movies work now? 

Plus, we've got reviews of the new releases "Hell Fest," "The Old Man & the Gun," "Monsters and Men" and "All About Nina!"

Joining us this week is special guest M. Lopes da Silva, a writer and illustrator whose latest short story, "Seams," appears the new book "NightScript: Volume IV." You can also find her work in "Glass and Gardens: A Solarpunk Anthology," "The Dog Next Door and Other Disturbances," and many other fine publications!

Give it a listen at Podcast One!