Goosebumps: Episode 10 Night of the Living Dummy II

(note: For anyone unfamiliar with Goosebumps custom, the tv series remained consistent with the book titles. So, this episode is Night of the Living Dummy II because that’s the book it was adapted from. The original Night of the Living Dummy was never adapted.)

For the episode that gave this series’ most memorable villain his first on-screen appearance, wow this is crap. Slappy (Ron Stefaniuk) is appropriately charismatic, but nothing else really works. In this particular episode even Slappy seems a bit weak, showing little ability to actually do anything particularly horrible (his later episodes give him the power to turn people into Dummies, bring other dummies to life, possess people, and make him a far more overt pedophile than in this appearance).

To be fair, I don’t think the family in this episode is supposed to be especially likable. I get the impression we’re supposed to see them as a family of dorks living in the land of sunshine and rainbows. You don’t hate them, but I think you are supposed to see them as far too sensitive.

The parents (Gina Clayton and Richard Fitzpatrick) are intent on having daily family time when everyone in the family stands up and…does something. The father sings, the son Ted (Andrew Sardella) shows a video he made of the family, the older sister Sara (Caterina Scorsone) shows her painting, and our protagonist Amy (Maggie Castle) fails at ventriloquism with her dummy “Dennis.” After Dennis’ head comes off, Amy’s father reveals that he bought her a new Dummy by the name of Slappy, who has a magic incantation written down in his pocket that Amy conveniently takes out and reads aloud.

However, when Amy tries to perform with Slappy, the dummy begins spewing insults at the rest of the family, which they all believe to be her ventriloquism (why they think she suddenly became competent at throwing her voice is beyond me). However, to me this scene really highlights the entire problem with this family: they apparently can’t deal with even the slightest thing getting out of line. Slappy’s jokes are basic-level standup comedy: Dad can’t sing, Sara can’t paint, Ted is stupid, and Mom is fat. The jokes aren’t even terribly original.

Saying “Slappy is alive” would be pointless unless I was talking to someone who not only knew nothing about this series, but had no ability at all to see obvious plot twists coming…oh, and didn’t read the title of the episode. Over the course of the episode Slappy does destroy a painting, and nearly hit Amy’s father with a guitar (resulting in the guitar being destroyed), before going on a rampage through the house attacking Amy and Sara. However, there’s never any indication that he poses any form of threat that would not be posed by a small person of his size. He might teleport once or twice, or he might just be nimble and quick on his feet.

Slappy asserts that saying the words made Amy his slave, but we’re never shown any evidence that it did anything more than bring him to life. Furthermore, he’s defeated by…having his head smashed on a hard surface. That’s it, and he’s gone. The twist? He was destroyed by the other dummy, Dennis (he talks, but I’ve tried and cannot find any record of who voiced him)

In spite of his ineffectualness, Slappy is still creepy here. However, the rest of the cast lets him down, Castle most of all. I often glace at the IMDB page of these episodes to see if any of the child actors are still working. I was utterly shocked to find that Castle is. Maybe she gets better, but in this episode she’s just terrible. Every line sounds unnatural and rehearsed, and I didn’t feel a single emotion coming out of her. Most of the other actors are, at best, meh.

Watching this episode seems less like an enjoyable nostalgia trip, and more of a history lesson. This episode is clearly inferior to less remembered stories like The Phantom of the Auditorium and Return of the Mummy. It’s an important part of the development of my generation of horror fans, and it introduced those of us who didn’t regularly read the books to a great icon, but that’s far from the same as being good.