Little Monsters (1989)

Howie Mandel and Fred Savage star in "Little Monsters," a tale that features the "Monsters under the bed" delusions and reality.

In 2001, the world witnessed a great monster tale unlike any other: "Monster's Inc.," a computer-animation film featuring the voice talents of Billy Crystal and John Goodman, as well as James Coburn and Steve Buscemi.

"Monsters Inc." achieved what "Little Monsters" was trying so obviously to do. Make a funny and endearing monster film. Unfortunately, due to too much "cuteness" and predictability, "Little Monsters" was sadly left to gather dust by most people.

I'll admit, "Little Monsters" is nowhere near as fun, entertaining or smart as "Monsters Inc.," but it still deserves more credit than it receives.

So it's predictable and cute: I've seen worse. Howie Mandel is pretty funny, and Fred Savage is a lot better of a child actor than Macaulay Culkin ever was.

I recommend "Little Monsters" to you, because despite its flaws, it's still a good, clean family film.

3/5 stars --

John Ulmer

Fmovies: The 1989 Fred Savage and Howie Mandel vehicle, "Little Monsters", is a children's/kid's film. While it was a childhood favorite of mine, I recently had a chance to re-watch it, and I have to say, it just doesn't hold up. It suffers from a loose plotting and a disturbingly cruel nature, and I'm shocked my parents actually let me watch it.

Savage stars as Brian Stevenson, a young boy who has just moved to a new neighborhood, and is feeling sad because he lost all of his friends. When strange pranks appear, set up all over his house during the night, he is blamed by his parents for setting them up, even though he denies it. In addition, his younger brother claims to have seen a monster that comes out from under his bed at night. Soon, Brian encounters the monster- Maurice (Mandel), a playful and nutty humanoid with bright blue skin, who introduces him to the world of monsters underneath his bed- a massive land with all sorts of creatures who do nothing but play pranks, scare kids and play video games.

However, over time, Brian realizes that the pranks and fun have consequences, and he and Maurice are forced to help his brother Eric, whom is subsequently kidnapped by "Boy", the evil leader of the monsters.

To give credit where it is due, the film has a strong atmosphere. Although it's meant to be fun, the introduction to the film and the third act are meant to be creepy and unsettling for the audiences, and I will say, this film is oozing with atmosphere and the general creeps. It is well paced and well-shot, and it is very eerie for children. Particularly some of the earlier jumps and some of the monsters.

In addition, the script (by future "Pirates of the Caribbean" scribes Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio) is quite imaginative, although it has been long-rumored that many scenes were cut and re-written, and that the final product differs greatly from the first draft.

Finally, the music is incredible. It's very haunting and has an air of sorrow, mixed with hints of joy. It gives a good tone and emulates the up's and down's of the story magnificently.

However, there are two huge, looming problems with the film.

First, despite the imagination, the film isn't well-written. Characters are established well, but are not necessarily likable. And the plot is just a mess. In fact, the "plot" doesn't really exist until the last half-hour. Up until then, it's more of a series of skits and pranks. The villain ("Boy") and his motivations are not made clear, and the climax, without spoiling anything, is a non-sensical, sloppy mess. It brings the film down a few points, and takes away from the scenes that do indeed work.

Secondly, this is a very dark, cruel film. Many scenes involve pranks played by the monsters, which become increasingly dark and morally questionable. Scenes involving tricking young children into drinking urine, scaring infants, tampering with food, destroying property, etc. break past the border of bad taste. And there is a great deal of violence in the film, including characters being kidnapped, burned, beaten up, and even a creepy scene where a monster is decapitated and has its head replaced with a pumpkin. It's very dark, and it's inappropriate for children under 12, I'd say. (Which is the target market, as kids who are any older are probably not going to like it) And the bigger problem is that there are no real consequences for the cruelty and violence, makin

Little Monsters is a funny and moving family comedy that reminds me of my childhood days when I first saw the movie. I thought that the cast was perfect, the script was hilarious, and the special and make-up effects were outstanding.

Brian Stevenson (Fred Savage) has just moved into a new house with his parents and little brother Eric (Ben Savage). He has no friends and is not doing well with grades. That is until he discovers that a monster named Maurice (Howie Mandell) has invaded his room. He starts out scared of Maurice, but quickly becomes best friends with him. Maurice takes Brian to a world of Monsters under his bed and shows him the time of his life. Brian finds out though that the world is ruled by an evil monster (Frank Whaley) who terrorizes people and has not been seen latley. Together, Brian and Maurice embark on an adventure of a lifetime to put this monster away.

Fred Savage (The Wonder Years), Howie Mandell (Bobby's World), Ben Savage (Boy Meets World), Rick Ducommun (Blank Check, Scary Movie), Frank Whaley (Pulp Fiction, Field of Dreams), Devin Ratray (Home Alone 1 & 2), Daniel Stern (The Wonder Years).

Directed by Richard Greenberg of R. Greenberg/Associates in New York who design titles to movies and optical effects.

This movie is a must see for sure!

Little Monsters fmovies. Being a kid is always going to be tough. Mischief and mayhem is all normal. At night they are afraid to sleep because of monsters. An early stage of common childhood fears. But what if the monsters they encounter are childish themselves? Yes, they are scary, that doesn't mean they are also mean. That's where Brian and his brother Eric are about to find out in this movie, "Little Monsters". It stars "The Wonder Years'" Fred Savage, and his brother, future "Boy Meets World" star, Ben. Fred plays Brian, Ben plays Eric. Brian gets blamed for the the accidents and mischief in the family home. He insists there's a monster who did it. His father(Daniel Stern) doesn't bite. In some reason, he does speak the truth. He meets a very mischievous monster named Maurice(Howie Mandel, "St. Elsewhere", "Bobby's World" & "Deal or No Deal") who lives underneath his bed. Knowing that he was telling the truth, he goes into Maurice world and sees that not all monsters are bad. They just like to have a little fun. Both he and Mo bond, and create all the trouble they want. They even help Brian with the bully by sabotaging his lunch: replacing the tuna with cat food, and Maurice drinks all the apple juice and pees into the bottle to p--- him off! However, he went too far by destroying his favorite girls school project. Brian got very mad! There is one monster who bullies the other ones and breaks Maurice's horn. Brian and his friends help him by taking out the mean monster, and his cronies. Life is tough for a kid, having a friend that's not human is everlasting. I liked this movie a whole lot, it was a lot of fun. 3 out of 5 stars!

Its one of those movies you remember forever... it sounds cheesy but i recall it from my childhood , one thing that stuck in my mind was the peanut butter and onion sandwitch.. so i decided i had to buy it,

I've had it for almost 6 months and watched it religiously. There's something about it that screams childhood and simplicity but also has that black satire comedy style to it, which makes it one of the greats, not to mention Howie Mendel and Fred savage together, i think there great especially the scene where they are at Ronnie Colman's house lol hysterical ( great improv Fred) Love this movie always will .... My absolute favourite !

This movie has always been a favorite of mine . It's one I always want to see and would let my kids see . OK so maybe that might be for me too. It never gets old and always keeps you smiling. I didn't realize this move came out when it did, because it stays with you like you just seen it.

I can still see parts from the movie in my head that make me laugh. My kids would love this movie. I just need o get it now. If I did get it it would be playing all the time .It's not a movie that is gonna scare kids . It's a good family film for the whole family of all ages .The move is always gonna be a favorite with me!!