Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

cricketbat Sure, it's not as "cool" as I remember it being when I watched it two decades ago, but Monster Squad is still entertaining. This is a good watered-down horror film for younger audiences. Plus, it has surprisingly good costumes and special effects.

southdavid Unlike some of the other Eighties films that I've reappraised on here, I'd never seen "Monster Squad" before last week - and all I can say is that some of you have some very rose tinted spectacles on when watching this again now. The film centres on a bunch of school age children, who are obsessed with the classic Universal Movie monsters. When the actual monsters come to their small town, on the hunt for a medallion that would allow Dracula to rule the world, the boys, with the help of Van Helsing's notebook try to complete an ancient ritual that would cast Dracula into Limbo. I'm prepared to gloss over some aspects of the movies failings, really I am. It's filmed on an awful 80's film stock that makes the film look grainy and washed out. The script has quite a few homophobic slurs that are quite jarring to hear today (although probably realistic for the time) as is the fact that one character is called "Fat Kid" even by his friends. The revenge porn subplot also wouldn't make it into the movie, if it was made with our modern sensibilities. That said, Stan Winston's effects are pretty good, especially given that the film has a relatively small budget. The acting is a mixed bag, with the monsters doing quite well but the kids not so much. And I got a real "Evil Dead" vibe from the Skeletons and the portal that appear in the prologue . .though really that just made me want to watch "Evil Dead"One of the trivia points for the film says that the producers demanded 14 minutes of cuts to get the film to under 90 minutes - it feels like all the bits that were cut were the expositional sections or the motivational explanations. How does Dracula know where the pendant he's searching for is? If he's drawn to it, why has it taken a century for him to come to America? Who makes the call to the family that alerts Sean to the fact that Dracula is in town, and why? You feel like Van Helsing's book should have played a bigger part, leading all the characters to the house that used to be his, and the pendant . . . but if that is the case it's all up to you to surmise, because the film doesn't tell you. Also, Sean's parent's marriage is failing - but for no real story reason. The film doesn't use it as an excuse to, for example, explain why he's not noticed sneaking out but there's also no reconciliation at the end - it's just meaningless. A good idea, with good effects, but appallingly delivered. It cries out for a decent remake like few other films I've seen.

Fluke_Skywalker Plot; A group of young monster enthusiasts find themselves having to battle Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy, Frankenstein and the Creature from the Black Lagoon for the fate of the world. Lacks the pedigree and pop culture cache of The Goonies, but this beloved cult film certainly makes for a good double feature w/its higher profile 80s brethren. In fact, I'd dare say it's the better of the two films. Its spunky and likeable young cast is complimented by some of the best portrayals of the classic monsters ever. Yep, you heard me right. Ever. Duncan Regehr's Dracula is flat-out scary and Tom Noonan's Frankenstein is a delight. Clocking in @ a breezy 82 minutes, The Monster Squad is cult film worthy of the hype.

Geeky Randy A group of monster-savvy kids must rescue their city from Dracula (Regehr) and his monster troops. It's as stupid as it sounds, with some of the kids not even being likable, such as Gower's character, who is so underdeveloped that there's the need to flesh him out by dragging his parents and five-year-old sister into the mix, with the mom and dad's conflict being that he works too much and then we have Dracula actually calling the five-year-old sister a well, that part's worth seeing, so no spoilers there. Rightly earns itself a cult status for Stan Winston & Co reimagining the Universal Monsters but the terrible story still can't be redeemed by amazing SFX. Some versions of the film foolishly credit Noonan as Frankenstein when the movie itself points out the common misconception of it being the monster's name when it's actually the creature's creator's.★½ (out of four)