Monster House

One of my earliest movie memories stems from the day when my two older brothers took me to see the original Gremlins back in the summer of 1984. My mom dropped us off at the theater, thinking we were set to see a movie about cute furry little creatures. She was wrong. The film that I saw that day ended up terrifying, yet fascinating me, at the same time. I may have had nightmares for the next couple nights of little green monsters attacking me in my sleep, but it was worth it, as it introduced me to the wonderful emotions and effect that films can have on me. What is the point of this obscure nostalgic rant, you may ask? I have a feeling that a lot of the children in my screening of Monster House this afternoon were having the same experience I had 22 years ago.

In a year crammed full of carbon copy or just uninspired animated films, Monster House shines like a beacon of creative energy and wild imagination. Here is a family film that remembers something that so many other movies for children tend to forget - kids love to be scared. The movie is scary, but not so scary that kids should stay away, and it never forgets to have a sense of fun about itself. First-time filmmaker Gil Kenan has created a memorable film that I think will become required viewing at many children's Halloween parties for years to come. With its heavy Halloween theme, the most obvious question is what in the name of the Great Pumpkin is this movie doing being released in July? Only the obviously clueless heads at Columbia Pictures know the answer to that. All I know is hopefully the fact that this movie is being released during the wrong month will not keep families away.

The film's plot has much to do with the fact that in just about every neighborhood, there's one spooky old house that the kids speak of only in whispers, and silently dare each other to muster the courage just to ring the doorbell. In the neighborhood of preteen D.J. (Mitchel Musso), that house just happens to be right across the street from him, and it belongs to a crotchety old man named Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi) who chases away anyone who dares set foot on his front lawn. The action picks up when old Nebbercracker suffers a heart attack, and is rushed off to the hospital. Almost instantly, D.J. begins to notice strange things happening across the street. The spooky old abandoned house suddenly takes on a life of its own, snatching and pulling in anyone and everything that happens to draw near, seemingly devouring them whole. Knowing that Halloween is only one day away, D.J. must find some way to destroy this possessed house before any unsuspecting Trick-or-Treaters meet an untimely end. With his parents gone for the weekend, and his unsympathetic babysitter (Maggie Gyllenhaal) too interested in her new boyfriend to pay him much mind, D.J. must convince his cowardly best friend Chowder (Sam Lerner) and local girl Jenny (Spencer Locke) that the house is truly alive, and that they are the only ones who can stop it.

What sets Monster House so far apart from the multiple other animated films to hit theaters this year is its premise and tone. While there are plenty of jokes and pratfalls to keep youngsters entertained (though fortunately, the film keeps the toilet humor to a minimum, and no fart jokes can be found), the film takes its own bizarre and spooky premise with a certain amount of seriousness. There is a certain Tim Burton or Joe Dante (Gremlins, The 'Burbs) vibe to the house itself, and also to its bizarre background story when we eventually learn how this living house came to be. The movie knows how to expertly balance the laughs with the scares, and knows not to go too far with its own weirdness so that we are never brought out of the film's spell. Of course, due to the fact that this is a cartoon, the animators are able to go full force into making this possessed house into a living, breathing villain that is to be feared. The way they give this inanimate object its own character and a life of its own is almost worthy of applause. It's something that other animated films that tried to give personality to non-living objects should take into consideration. (I'm looking at you, Cars!) There are a number of thrilling scenes, such as when the children are trapped within the living house, and the grand climax which I dare not reveal. The movie is fast-paced, but never chaotic and annoying, and the screenplay by Pamela Pettler, Dan Harmon, and Rob Schrab know how to keep the laughs flying just as fast as the thrills.

But, more so than the strangeness of the plot itself, what ultimately won me over is how real and human the characters seem. This is a movie that remembers that brief awkward period of pre-adolescence. You're too old to Trick-or-Treat, but too young to fully understand girls. You feel like you're an adult, but everyone still treats you as a kid. The movie is honest in its dialogue and its depiction of this confusing and troubling time in everone's life, and it really offers a nice anchor of reality to the absurdness of the film's main plot. The three kids who drive the plot are all likeable and well developed. Although best friend Chowder may come across as odious comic relief at first, he never becomes annoying, and the writers remember to give him dialogue that a kid would actually say, so he doesn't sound like a stand up comic trapped in a small body. The supporting characters are not as well developed, and seem to come and go as the screenplay sees fit, but I actually did not mind. The kids and the accompanying voice performances are strong enough to carry the film. Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, and Spencer Locke are not only able to create likeable and believable characters, but the bond they form together during the film seems natural. Here is one summer blockbuster that knows how to mix incredible action and effects with characters we can care about. The fact that it's also only about 95 minutes long in a season full of 2 and a half hour+ blockbusters is the icing on the cake.

If there is anything I must object within Monster House, it is certain aspects of the look of the film. While the backgrounds are beautifully detailed, and the animation and movements of the characters are fluid (it uses the same technology created for 2004's Polar Express movie), some of the character designs looked a bit off to me. There seems to be nothing wrong at first glance, but the more I looked at them, it seemed like some of the character had an almost plastic look to them. Their hair looks like it's been painted on top of their heads, almost like a Ken doll. Plus, their skin sometimes has this weird unearthly shine. It wasn't bad enough so that I was taken out of the movie, but I did notice it from time to time, and it did annoy me during those times. Everything else about this movie is so top shelf, I wonder why the characters came out looking so unnatural?

Regardless, if that was the worst thing I had to say about every movie, I would be a much happier filmgoer. Maybe it was the fact that I saw the labored and boring Lady in the Water right before it, but Monster House put me in a better mood than just about any other movie I can think of this year. The kids in my audience seemed to be in agreement, and none of them sounded like they were in for a night of bad dreams, so I'm sure just about anyone can appreciate it. If your kids (or you) still hold a soft place in their hearts for old fashioned Halloween ghost stories, they definitely will. I don't say this very often, but I think Monster House could be a holiday classic in the making. Let's hope the studio's narrow-minded decision to release it in the summer doesn't bungle things.

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