The Monster Squad (1987)

Back in the late 80s, Sean (Andre Gower) and his friends were middle school kids with a fascination for monsters. Their love of old fashioned Horror ran so deep that they started a club in their tree house, calling themselves, The Monster Squad. Everything is just child's play until one day, real monsters start showing up in their small New England town, and it's up to the Monster Squad to stop them. When this film came out, not many people took notice of it, it wasn't until Lionsgate bought the rights and re-issued it. that Monster Squad became somewhat of a cult classic. This film is pure 80s, a time when kids were actually played by kids. Today, we're so afraid of traumatizing these kids, that we have 16-19 year old teens playing much younger kids. Back in the 80s, when the part called for a kid, they found a kid, and being that this was the first film for the vast majority of them, the amount of energy and excitement they brought to the film really kept it going, in what is otherwise a ridiculous story. The actors were the age of the characters they were playing and when they cursed or talked about adult themes, I found it hilarious, it was so much better because it was real. The story isn't anything to write home about, just a bunch of cheesy lines and bad special effects, and I'm sure you could figure out what's going to happen from the description on the box, but to me the best part of the film is the realism given by the cast in a movie that was anything but real. The dynamic between brother and sister, the kids who actually did something imaginative, instead of just playing video games all day. It isn't until you see a film like this that you realize just how much family films have changed. This would be a great film for kids to watch, but if it came out today, the kids would be played by college students and it would get an R rating for some of the language. In the 80s, this would have been the textbook definition of a family film, by today's standard's, it's rating has been upgraded to PG-13 and it's filed under Horror. The more things change, the more they stay the same, what was unacceptable in the 60s and family friendly in the 80s, is now not suitable for children under 13, a sign of the paranoia of the times we live in.

Fmovies: This is one of those movies where all the details come together to make something a lot more fun than it should be. A great late-night popcorn seller. The monsters are done well, the dialogue is funny, the F/X are competent, and the mood of the film is consistently creepy-yet-upbeat.

I don't understand comparisons to "The Goonies" . . . about the only similarity is that both movies revolve around a group of "outsider" kids, which is hardly a concept new to Hollywood.

Another film that just screams for a DVD release.

I saw this film a couple of years ago and it still remains to be one of my most favorite monster/comedy films of all time.

It has an easy to follow plot, people you can root for and some pretty good special effects. If your a real monster film buff, you'll enjoy some good trivia throughout.

A good score for all involved.

Out of 10..........9/10

The Monster Squad fmovies. One of the quintessential vintage monster movies. Inspired in part by the "The Little Rascals", "The Goonies" (this film and that Richard Donner movie obviously giving rise to Abram's "Super 8") and the all-time champion Universal classics. This movie is pure awesomeness, headed by Fred Dekker and with special effects by none other than Stan Winston (the man behind "Jurassic Park" and other legends, enough said). If you, like me, saw Stephen Sommer's "Van Helsing" and felt your favorite monsters had been turned into CGI monstrosities, then this is for you.

Every monster is somewhat updated, but for the most part they retain their classic features. The make-up and animatronics are done quite awesomely. Duncan Regehr is so great as Dracula ("Meeting adjourned"Â….BOOM!!) and Tom Noonan is just fantastic as Frankenstein's Monster. The 'Gill Man' and the Mummy look pretty bad-ass as well. Enhancing these beasts are great sets and a spectacular score by Bruce Broughton.

Andrew Gower, Ryan Lambert, Stephen Macht, Leonardo Cimino are all very good in their simple but very enjoyable characters. Brent Chalem will always be remembered as Horace, R.I.P.

The tone of the film is odd but that's what makes it so memorable. I can see why at the time of its release why audiences may have been put off by the movie. After all, plenty of swearing, strong content, but the leads are children. Who exactly was the target audience? The dialogue is snazzy, the comedy well-staged and yet these characters feel very real to us. That's really where the audience is; anyone who is willing to embrace the characters really. And no worry, all along there is some excellent carnage. After all, if nothing else, the film answers the age old question if a silver bullet really is the only way to kill a werewolf.

Loads of fun and a classic that's for damned sure. In honor of Fat Kid: "Wolfman's got nards!!"

This is a great and imaginative kids adventure film. Well acted, well written and the monsters look great. I'm sure that many parents would be conserned by the cursing in this film done by 12 year olds (most likely the reason this gem hasn't hit DVD yet) but I have never understood how some people think that cussing will destroy your kids brain and turn him into a drug addict. It's good wholesome fun for everyone.

Having grown up a child of the 80's crazes, I happen to love just about anything 80's...even if for no other reason than to now poke fun at it. Monster Squad is no different. I absolutely LOVED this movie when it came out and watched it over and over again. A few years back I decided to watch it again and, well, I still loved it. Ok, so it was a lot cheesier than I remembered, but it's still great fun.

Monster Squad has some great dialogue and really entertaining scenes. Plus, you've got all the classic monsters which truly make this film worth watching.

I highly recommend anyone who has a love for anything 80's, or just like fun, simple movies to check this out. It really is worth it!