Movie Review: R.L. Stine’s Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls (2015)

The Clown in Monsterville Cabinet of Souls 2015

A spooky film with magic and monsters and friendship that is fun entertainment for kids with a twist and a happy end. 

  • Entertainment factor: ★★★★☆
  • Scare factor: ★☆☆☆☆
  • Fun factor: ★★★☆☆
  • Monster factor: ★★★★☆
  • Halloween factor: ★★★★☆
  • Suitable for kids: from 9 years and up

Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls is another made-for-tv film from R.L. Stine although it’s a standalone story. With some fun variety of monsters, from zombies to ghouls, hags and all sort of monsters and a great haunted house tour, this is a fun watch for Halloween. It stars Dove Cameron, Braeden Lemasters, Katherine McNamara< Casey Dubois, Tiffany Espensen, Ryan McCartan, Andrew Kavadas. Directed by Peter DeLuise. Written by Billy Brown, Dan Angel, R.L. Stine.

Duration: 1h 26m

Plot

Kellen has a crush on Beth his neighbor since ten years. They are best friends but he’s afraid to ask her out. When the Harvest and Halloween festival starts he and Luke, Beth and her friend Nicole have a good time. When they participate in the dance contest suddenly a man with a top hat and a girl show up to invite them all to Dr. Hysteria’s Hall of Horrors. 

The next day a new guy Hunter shows up at school and Beth is charmed by him, to great horror of Kellen. But while Beth is charmed by Hunter, Kellen is intrigued by the girl from the Hall of Horrors, Lilith the Enchantress. The four of them go to the festival the next night and its haunted house tour and Beth invites Hunter to come along. When Beth gets separated from the group she finds herself lost in the hallways and rooms backstage. There she finds out that the monsters of this act are in fact real monsters. When she tells the others nobody believes her. She does some research and finds out that a girl in another town disappeared last year at the same time Dr. Hysteria’s Hall of Horror was in the town. 

Hunter agrees to take another look with her and then she discovers the Cabinet of Souls. When she opens its doors there are people trapped inside, standing there motionless. At the same time Kellen, Luke and Nicole are being shown something special inside the Hall of Horrors, their wants and dreams through an illusion. Soon they will be Dr. Hysteria’s new assets, unless Beth can stop him. 

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Short Review

This film isn’t part of the Goosebumps series or The Haunting Hour series and is a standalone story. The story involving the four friends is a bit thin. Luke is a bit annoying and overacting. He constantly makes lame jokes and nobody ever laughs. After he has seen his dream he becomes a clown, which is befitting and livens up his story. The clown is creepy and fun. 

Nicole has a crush on Kellen who doesn’t even notice her. She doesn’t have a noticeable personality and her dreams and what she becomes feels a bit off. She becomes a witch who doesn’t want to stand in the shadow of Beth. Kellen wants to be noticed by Beth. He wants to become strong and powerful, that’s why he turns into the Beast. While Kellen and Beth both like each other but neither one of them wants to take the first step. Beth is the only one not falling for the illusions and the only one who is a true loyal friend who can’t be manipulated. 

Although the story starts with Kellen, Beth is actually the real main character. Because she is a good student, when she goes to her teacher and the sheriff they believe her and go to the Hall of Horrors with her. But once there it seems it was all a trick. She is a proactive protagonist who becomes more brave and likable during the film. Still, the story of the four friends remains a bit thin and boring. 

Luckily the Hall of Horrors brings in the fun and some fun variety of monsters. The haunted house tour is very detailed and backstage is like a whole theater. It’s bigger on the inside and contains real magic. Dr. Hysteria and Lilith bring more life to the story. And of course there’s a twist. 

In the end the story is about friendship, although Beth seems the only one who honors that truly. 

Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls is an entertaining scary story mainly because of the many monsters and the Hall of Horrors. It has some fun Halloween vibes, although the background story of the four friends is a bit tenuous. 

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