I noticed a couple years ago and especially this evening
just how fast it flies by. When I want monsters and this film gives them to me,
I find it hard to complain too much. And this film is designed to appeal to the
kids of the 80s becoming reacquainted with the classics while their parents get
new versions of old favorites. And these monsters are well designed, too, but
very dedicated to the Universal creations that gave them their inspiration. We
get Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, Gillman, Wolfman, and The Mummy. Like I
said, Fred Dekker knows what audience he’s catering to and we thank him for it.
Still the dialogue can be a bit homophobic and of its time, certainly wouldn’t
make it through the initial stages in screenplay development today, I can’t
imagine. NO GIRLS ALLOWED clubhouse Dracula eventually bombs, the multi-sequel
slasher the kids want to see at the drive-in, the cop father struggling to find
time for his wife which has required marriage counseling, the punks picking on
the “token fat kid” until the shades-wearing leather jacket arrives to save the
day, and the hot blond who turns out not to be a virgin; The Monster Squad gets
in plenty of time for the kids and teens, including the adults who must deal
with such monsters running amok in their small town. The “scary German guy” who
knows all about monsters (see the numbers printed on his arm) and helps to
translate from Van Helsing’s tome, and Frankenstein’s Monster bonding with the
little girl who even helps to read from a book intending to vortex away into
limbo the evil looking to take over the world; the movie gets in a lot in its
quick running time. This film seriously hit the right notes with this Universal
Monsters fan, that’s for sure.
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