Review of The Monster Squad (1987) by Jesse O — 07 Sep 2015

Whenever I say that a review won't be long, it ends up being the exact opposite. It's a bit of a running joke, apparently, but I honestly don't think I have much to say about this film. Honestly, while I thought overall the film was fun, I think the film really kicks it into the next gear once the monsters and the kids finally meet up for the final act, which is where the film really shines.

Again, the film is always fun, but there's just something about the last act of the film that really clicks for me. I just thought that the kids and the monsters doing stuff separately wasn't as interesting.

I mean there's some cool moments, like when they meet Scary German Guy and the interactions between the kids themselves and Frankenstein was pretty cool. But you just wish that the there was more interaction between the kids and the monsters themselves.

It would've definitely made the movie more entertaining than it was. Though, to be honest, with the film being less than 78 minutes long, not including credits, it's not like the film wastes a lot of time getting into things.

The film is well cast. All the kids are pretty good. It's not like they have any depth, but there's a fun chemistry between them. I do think Frank Dekker, a man who certainly knew his horror, did a good enough job at incorporating a large variety of monsters into one film and letting them all, even if they had very little time on screen, stand out.

I know I've said this a lot, but there's a certain charm about 80s horror movies that makes them fun to watch even if they're not particularly good. I think the 80s, for horror, was a far simpler and lighthearted time than the 70s was for the genre.

While 70s horror clearly had its own identity, it was more bleak, realistic and exploitative, those films are clearly not as fun to watch nowadays, even if they're technically better films than 80s horror was.

Though I still do think that this movie was pretty good overall. With that said, it's not really what I would call a perfect movie, but I did have a good time watching it. It's just a fun little tribute to monsters from old horror movies.

It's 78 minutes long, so you can't really go wrong with this. It's good and it goes by quick. Maybe too quick, but I'm not complaining, it doesn't overstay its welcome. Definitely recommended, but it's not an enthusiastic recommendation.