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    The Monster Squad

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    If you love the Universal Monster movies and you HAVEN’T seen “The Monster Squad” you have no idea what you have been missing. It’s a perfect homage to the movies you’ve come to love, and a terrific horror comedy.

    Sean (Andrew Gower), Patrick (Robby Kiger), Horace a. k. a. Fat Kid (Brent Chalem), Rudy (Ryan Lambert) and Eugene (Michael Faustino) are “The Monster Squad”. I was exactly like them when I was a kid. They hang out in their tree house and discuss the various ways in which one can kill a wolf man, whether “Frankenstein” is the name of the doctor or the monster, what the best Godzilla movie is, that kind of thing. There is another member of the monster squad, Phoebe (Ashley Bank, quite adorable) but she’s Sean’s younger sister and kind of annoying, so forget her. One night, destiny calls. Count Dracula (Duncan Regehr) has assembled the vilest creatures in existence to destroy an amulet of concentrated good: Frankenstein’s Monster (Tom Noonan), a Werewolf (Carl Thibault), The Gillman (a swamp creature played by Tom Woodruff Jr.) and a Mummy (Michael MacKay) The adults are ill disposed to handle this threat, so it’s up to these horror savvy kids to save the world.

    This film is a pitch-perfect homage to the old Universal movies... without actually being a universal film. The designs of the monsters are clearly recognizable, but tweaked so as to not infringe on any copyright laws. The extent of the love for those old films isn’t just the villains; it’s little details here and there, like the inclusion of armadillos in Dracula’s crypt. This is one of those pictures that you want to watch with your remote handy because there are so many scenes where you want to pause the picture and just look at the background. That’s a Godzilla poster in the tree house, but which one is it advertising? Is that an advertisement for “Return of the Living Dead”? I hope those kids aren’t watching THAT movie at their age! It’s a blast just looking at the movie without actually watching it; doesn’t that speak volumes about how much care and love was put in it, and how much enjoyment you can have if you’re actually paying attention to the story?

    One of my biggest gripes in horror movies is when the heroes make stupid mistakes because they have never seen a horror movie in their life.  Spoiler alert - click to reveal textCome on, you brain-dead nitwits, everyone knows you kill a zombie by shooting it in the head! Why do we have to waste precious minutes of running time waiting for heroes to get to the same level as the audience? In “Monster Squad”, these kids haven’t only seen all the horror movies that are relevant to the plot; they’re obsessed with them. The struggle between the monsters is never due to the heroes being stupid. These kids know exactly what to do... it’s just a struggle because they can’t read ancient inscriptions or do grown-up stuff like drive a car. I loved following these heroes. They’re kids that feel like real people. They talk over each other in heated discussions, they call each other names (and not politically correct ones), they are both excited and scared at the idea of fighting off vampires, werewolves and other undead creatures, they tease the little sister (who’s tough enough to take it by the way) and you feel like they could be your friends from when you were that age.

    When it comes to the monsters, there’s a lot of fun to be had as well. I really appreciate that this movie uses practical effects extensively. I realize that back in 1987 they had few other options, but there’s something so satisfying about seeing a guy walking around in a rubber suit threatening the peaceful inhabitants of a suburban setting. Some of the monsters don’t have much of a personality, mostly because they can’t talk, but they still have a presence on-screen. I’d say that in terms of look, the Gillman is my favourite (he’s always been) but in terms of personality; I have to go with Frankenstein’s monster. They give that creature a lot to do, and not just obvious stuff either. I must admit that I didn’t really care for the look of the Werewolf/Wolf Man, but they do some really clever things with the creature, so I can overlook that easily.

    “Monster Squad” caught me by surprise because I had heard of it, but never actually sat down and watched it. I’m glad I finally caught up to this one because I had an absolute blast. I loved seeing how all the heroes found clever ways to tackle the monsters it has many memorable and laugh-out-loud moments, it’s a fitting and loving tribute to the classic movies of the past, and it will find itself a home right next to those movies on my DVD shelf. It also manages to bring in some new material and be genuinely inventive. I hope that like me, the people out there who will fall in love with this film have an opportunity to discover this underrated horror comedy. (Theatrical version on the big screen, February 1, 2015)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  6.12.2015 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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