Review of The Monster Squad (1987) by Mack E — 13 Apr 2008

This isn't a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but it did manage to completely capture my childhood mind. Dracula, The Wolf-Man, Frankenstien, The Mummy, and a swamp creature (ala Creature From The Black Lagoon), all converge on a small suburban town some time in the 80's. Dracula is attempting to bring about the end of the world(never mind why or how), and it involves Frankenstien, the stroke of midnight, and a magical amuelet. Thankfully some junior high kids find a book by Van Hlelsing, and since they already have a horror themed monster club, they decide they are best suited to save the town.

Bieng a boy who watched an innapropraite amount of horror films for his age, I ate this film up, devoured the frames repeateadly for years, and though I am clearly biased, I think alot of it still holds up very well. I can't imagine a time when "Wolfman's got nards!", or "...they call me...(shotgun cocking sound)...Horace!", wouldn't bring an easy smile to my face. All and all it's an imaginative and witty little children's horror film, from the director of "Night Of The Creeps" a hilarously bad 80's throwback to 50's drive in zombie/alien movies. Anyway, it's good kids adventure stuff, with a little more sex/voilence than your average childrens film (or maybe it's just 80's children's film's in general, Artex dying in NeverEnding Story, etc), but still fairly acceptable for all ages. So if your babysitting an eccentric child or feeling that synthesized dayglo 80's nostalgia, Monster Sqaud is good way to kill some time.