Every 100 years, the balance between good and evil in the world reaches equilibrium. 100 years ago, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Jack Gwillim) unsuccessfully attempted to defeat Dracula (Duncan Rehger) with an amulet that can tip the balance in favor of the forces of good. Dracula, however, did not gain possession of the amulet and it was hidden by allies of Van Helsing.
Flash forward to present day (or the present day of 1987), 12-year-old Sean (Andre Gower) and his friends have formed a “monster club” to entertain themselves. Rather than paying attention in school, they draw monsters and argue about very important topics such as whether or not the Wolfman had “nards”. While they are convinced that monsters can indeed be real, they are unaware that Dracula is leading a team of monsters – including The Mummy, The Wolfman, The Gillman, and Frankenstein’s Monster — to destroy the amulet which is hidden in the boys’ hometown.
Director Fred Dekker (Night of the Creeps), who co-wrote the script with Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), has an obvious love for classic horror icons as well as fans of the genre. The script, which reads like The Goonies meet Frankenstein, simultaneously pokes fun at and respects the thinly veiled representations of Universal’s movie monsters.
Although there are some cheesy special effects, I believe they’re intentionally done that way as a sort of tribute to the effects sequences of the 1940s films on which this material is based. The makeup work by Stan Winston is outstanding. All of the monsters look as close to their Universal Studios’ counterparts as possible without prompting legal action. The most notable difference is The Gillman, who is obviously representing the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The creature as presented here actually reminds me of a cross between the Creature and the Predator. Still, he looks great.
The film is obviously from the 1980s and carries the simultaneous blessing and curse of its date of origin. It’s blessed in that the kids are placed in truly dangerous situations; something that would never be allowed or accepted in a film made today. The curse can be exemplified in the soundtrack. A montage of the kids getting ready for their showdown with the monsters is marred by “Rock Till You Drop”, a terribly dated pop song by none other than Michael Sembello, the man responsible for “Maniac” from Flashdance.
Although The Monster Squad features children as the lead characters, it’s still enjoyable — even today — by adult standards. The dialogue is outstanding and there are a number of laugh-out-loud exchanges between Del (Stephen Macht), Sean’s policeman father, and his partner (Stan Shaw) as well as between the kids.
If you’re looking for some light entertainment, The Monster Squad is a short (82 minutes) and sweet homage to classic horror that’s actually better than it might sound. Even better, the recently released 2-disc 20th anniversary DVD set can be obtained for less than $10 in most stores. Check it out.
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
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