The Monster Squad (1987)
Directed by Fred Dekker
Starring Andre Gower, Duncan Regehr, Stephen Macht, Stan Shaw, and Tom Noonan
Every century, there is a chance for the forces of good to banish the forces of evil into a Limbo dimension. With an ancient amulet, an incantation can be read that will open a wormhole to this dimension and take all the evil monsters with it. Prof. Van Helsing tried to do such a thing and failed. One hundred years later, the time has come again. Count Dracula and his monstrous henchman-Wolfman, Gill-Man, a mummy, and the Frankenstein Creature- are trying to destroy the amulet before the portal can be opened. The only thing standing in their way is a group of children obsessed with horror movies. Sean and his friends Patrick, Horace, and Eugene, formed their own club dedicated to all things horror: The Monster Squad. Together with older cool kid Rudy, Sean’s younger sister Phoebe, and their old German neighbor, the squad will gather the diary of Van Helsing and the amulet to combat Dracula’s plans. It comes down to four ancient monsters versus a group of preteens for the fate of the world.
This is one of the horror gems to come out of the 1980s, directed by the underrated Fred Dekker. The script written by Dekker and veteran comedy/action screenwriter Shane Black is killer. The dialogue and one-liners are stellar, keeping you laughing from the start. While they do certain things to keep the rating below R, there is still quite a bit the two get away with. Words like “dork” and “gnards” are used in place of harsher language to keep the rating down. At first it is a little grating, but it quickly becomes just another element of the movie’s humor. Once you hear the kids discussing a Wolfman’s genitalia in those terms, the film becomes awesome. The action and scares do not hit until a little into the movie. But once they do, it becomes a lot more fun. Teenagers are turned into vampire consorts, a werewolf tries to kill the squad multiple times, and Dracula has a big rampage scene that is at the pace of a calm stroll. This all makes for some highly enjoyable horror comedy.
The kids are all likeable and have some really good moments. Phoebe gets some touching scenes with Frankenstein’s creature, Rudy gets to show the club why he belongs, and Horace proves that no one should mess with him. Sean has a nice little ark where he finally proves himself a worthy threat to the Count. The monsters also have their own little defining moments. Frankenstein’s creature builds a relationship with Phoebe that reminds you of E.T. while visually referencing the Universal classic. Dracula has one of the most hilariously over the top reactions to the squad foiling his plans, doing something you would only expect from an 80s action movie villain. The characters are all pretty interesting and help move the story along quite nicely.
The creature designs and the special FX are serviceable and charming. Dracula and the Wolfman get the short end of the aesthetic stick. Dracula still looks like he did when Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee played him: he looks like the pimpest Count there ever was. But there is nothing new added to the overall look. The Wolfman ends up looking more like a shrew that Hulked out. But, his transformation sequence is quite nice. The Gill-Man has the best of both design and implementation. The suit looks decidedly fishy and imposing, invoking the Black Lagoon look while being its own thing. The battle effects look good even by today’s standards. These baddies are blown up, staked, and kicked in the gnards to great effect. It is as visually pleasing as one could hope.
Your childhood is not complete without a viewing of the Fred Dekker classic, The Monster Squad. Essentially, the movie is a mash up of the Universal monster classics and a more white bread version of The Goonies. If you have seen Dekker’s other classic 80s horror film, Night of the Creeps, than you should check this out. If you have not, this is still an excellent choice for your movie night.
8 out of 10
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