Writing about Movies, TV, Comics & Toys. Critically and creatively.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Movie #10 The Monster Squad

If there ever was a movie that could be described as "Adventure" its The Monster Squad (and The Goonies).

The movie is about a group of misfit kids that love horror movies and monsters, and it turns out all those monsters are real and how they have to thwart their plans to rule the world.

Like my previous review it is a horror movie composed mostly of children and it works surprisingly well. All of the characters have their own charm and humor about them, and thats what make the movie so watchable before the monsters get here. I cannot stress enough how good I thought these kid actors were, and the script is so well written. The dialogue comes off as genuine, and even in tense monster fighting situations you believe it (one instance I found myself cheering under my breath after the delivery of one line). The back and forth banter about monsters and monster movies doesn't seem forced, which is a good thing, because in my opinion most movies that talk about movies don't sound real, but by god this movie does.

The monsters were designed by the late Stan Winston, which when I saw in the title screen I knew would only mean the movie had win written all over it. His design for the monsters stays true enough to their original conception that purists (is there such a thing as monster purists?) won't naysay them but Winston brings new elements to them all to make them scarier for an audience that only laughs at the monsters from the 40s. For instance, the Gil-Man looks like he did in the original except now he essentially has a piranha face, and a mouth that moves and growls at you. The Wolfman is a hulking brute, and his transformation is top notch (a good thing to see in this day and age where all werewolves transform via CGI).

Out of all the movies I've watched so far, this is the one that I knew immediately after watching it that I would go buy it on DVD as soon as I had the money. Do yourself a favor and watch this very fun horror adventure.

2 comments:

  1. This movie sounds cool. A group of kids takes on classic movie monsters? Sign me up. Definitely something I would have loved as a child.

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  2. awersome post man i love this ;)

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