Review of Monster House (2006) by Thomas W — 20 Jan 2012

Set in a world apart, the incomplete realm of a child's limited understanding (yet infinite imagination) this film is far, far more than a mere ghost story. The setting is indeed incomplete...pieces held together by scenes that seem to defy conventional explanation, and yet perfectly representative of the fears that held us as kids. Sometimes it was not so much the monster that frightened us, but the feeling of being alone, apart from the events and people around us, that truly terrified us most.

It is much the same here - the police, we are told, are who we are to go to when we need help. But what if they don't believe us...or worse, are rendered incapable of doing so? What is we are facing a monster, in the middle of a seeingly populated neighborhood, but no one bothers to look out and even offer us a soothing hint of their existence, a note that we are not alone? Those sort of claustrophobic atmospheric elements are all in place here, and play well with the uneasy feeling that comes with that first realization of self-reliance. It is a hard lesson indeed, and is told with subtle craft that I find very little of in conventional cinema, let alone animated features.