The Monster Squad is a 1987 horror comedy directed by Fred Dekker and was written by Shane Black who also wrote Iron Man 3 and Lethal Weapon. If you do not know my thoughts on those films well it's simple, I love them. It stars Andre Gower, Robby Kiger and Stephen Macht. It is the story of four classic Universal monsters, Dracula, The Wolf Man, Gill Man and The Mummy trying to get an amuliet so they can control the world. However, a group of horror loving kids (like myself) along with Frankenstien's Monster have to try to stop them. You know how that 2011 movie Super 8 was a mix between The Goonies and Cloverfield? Well this is like The Goonies and monsters. And still in the 80's. Now, this movie is a Halloween classic and I watch it every October. Is it as good as I remember it being all of those previous years? Not completely. I do really enjoy this movie. There is just some stuff they could've taken out. There are a lot of scenes that feel like they're lagging a little bit and some of the effects are pretty bad. I can get by the effects as it was the 80's, it's just a little nitpick of mine. Some of the humor and lines don't really hold up, but once again, this was the 80's. In fact some of the cheesieness actually makes the movie a little more fun. Now for the good stuff. These are probably my favorite representations of these monsters in any movie. Their make up is great. Really great. They're truly a pleasure to watch and it is very cool to see all of them on one screen. The main characters in this movie are also very good child actors, maybe some of the best I've ever seen. A vast majority of the jokes are really funny, especially anything with the Eugene character. Looking back on this movie, there are actually some pretty suggestive and mature things in there. For example, the kids are at this german guy's house because they need him translate something and they're getting ready to leave and the german guy says something about Dracula or something and then the main kid is like "Wow! You know a lot about monsters!" And the german guy says "Now that you mention it, perhaps I do." And he closes the door and you see a holocaust tattoo on his arm and I was just like "Woah." Also a lot of sexual refrences that'll fly over most kids' heads and one particuarlly gory sequence involving a werewolf. But I love all that stuff to be honest and I'm not Common Sense Media. In the end, Monster Squad is a fun 80's horror comedy with solid acting, a great writer, nice visuals, cool monsters, a Halloween feel and some truly hilarious moments. While some of the jokes do fall flat and it lags in some parts, if you're looking for a fun non-scary Halloween movie from the 80's, this just may be for you. Thanks for reading!
SCORE: 8.8/10
