Review of Hotel Transylvania (2012) by Jeff B — 27 Sep 2015

Thanks to some frightfully cool animation, Hotel Transylvania scares up a monster mash-up that's definitely worth booking into. No need to approach this creature feature with torches and pitchforks - it's universal fun for the whole family ... Universal Pictures, that is. Granted, it runs schmaltzy at times and force-feeds an all-too-familiar modern 'toon moral (it's OK to be different and blah, blah, blah), but this check-in still comes with a lot of amenities, namely monstrous humor. The zippy jokes will get adults' inner werewolf howling with laughs while the constant pratfalls will keep the kids in Frankenstein-sized stitches. Indeed, this is this laugh-out-loud comedy that Disney's Haunted Mansion wanted to be.

In this PG-rated animated comedy, Count Dracula (Sandler) runs a five-stake resort that caters to monsters like Frankenstein (Kevin James), the Wolfman (Steve Buscemi), and the Invisible Man (David Spade), but things go awry when a human (Andy Samberg) stumbles in and develops eyes for Drac's 118 year-old daughter (Gomez).

If his CV serves as any indication, Adam Sandler and his friends have been zeroing in on family entertainment for years. The difference is, Hotel Transylvania aims for an immature audience whereas Grown Ups is just plain immature. However moviegoers stake it, this latest project gels thanks to a winning combination of sophomoric humor, classic monster movie nods, and A-List animation. Indeed, without acclaimed animation director Genndy Tartakovsky (Cartoon Network's Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars), this Sandler vehicle would warrant an early check-out. Tarakovsky imbues Transylvania with such verve that you might never want to leave.

Bottom line: A Graveyard Near-Smash.