Dracula is alive. In fact, he plans to rule the world. But to pull it off, he requires the help of other monsters. However, a bunch of kids regarded by their peers as losers uncover the devious plan and prepare for a counter strike.
The Goonies Meets The Munsters in a Great Classic '80s Monster-Fest
It's safe to say that today's audiences are all familiar with the original movie monsters, especially around this time of year. There's commercials and costumes and food products, not to mention the string of remakes Hollywood is going through lately. There was Hollow Man, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Dracula 2000, The Mummy trilogy and most recently The Wolfman with Anthony Hopkins and Benicio del Toro.
But none of them were fair to their source material, with only a couple being decent films on their own. But back in the '8os, there was The Monster Squad, reuniting all the classic horror movie monsters in one movie, to take over the world. And only a band of kids calling themselves The Monster Squad can stop them!
Okay, it's incredibly cheesy. And yes, it's basically The Goonies all over again. But really, the difference here is that instead of exploring caves and dodging traps, these kids are fighting Dracula and the Wolfman. Does that not sound awesome? There's nice subtle nods to horror fans too; don't agree? That's a poster for Lucio Fulci's Zombie in the clubhouse there. The special effects are all there in great '80s style, and it's nailed the atmosphere of the golden age of horror movie monsters to a T, something that modern remakes have all but forgotten about
. It's really cool seeing all these monsters in color, with real prosthetic effects and to top it all off, it's all in a modern setting. An honorable mention has to be made to Duncan Regehr as the Count Dracula, who still to this day, is an overwhelming favorite portrayal of the character. And that's even comparing him to Lugosi and Christopher Lee, although that's entirely up for personal reference.
The biggest problem with the movie is that it can't quite find the middle ground between scary and family-friendly. It isn't pulled off badly, but it needed work and feels awkward sometimes. Some people can't connect with the movie because of this, and the somewhat-outdated feel of the movie only pushes people further away. But younger audiences are much easier to amuse, and The Monster Squad is just enough to pique their curiosities.
Overall, it's a fun movie that really embodies what horror fans have loved for years, without overdoing it with CGI and Asian ghosts. The closest thing we've had to seeing a remake of this movie was Van Helsing, which was laced with poor CG effects, lacked any sort of suspense or scares, and was so synthetic and fake you could almost taste it. And here's this quaint little underdog of a movie from the 80's, that in one scene, has more heart and love for its source material and its audience that Van Helsing did in two hours.
The Monster Squad is 3 Wolf Gnards out of 5.
23 days until Halloween!
- Directed by Fred Dekker
- Written by Shane Black and Fred Dekker
- Starring Andre Gower, Robby Kiger, Stephen Macht, Duncan Regehr, Tom Noonan, Brent Chalem
- Rated PG-13 for creature violence, scary moments and adult language
- Running time: 82 minutes
- Available on Netflix DVD Queue
Caleb Laulusa - I began writing video game reviews for an international website that sadly, went under before any of my work was published. I also found ...
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