Monster House

'The Monster is the bed'

The year 2006 saw several high profile cg-animated films. This is not unusual since the number of releases of animated films has grown significantly since when I was a kid going to see Little Mermaid by Disney. Now there are the Fox films, the Disney films, the Disney-Pixar films, and the Zemeckis films, all of which are animated in the "cool" new style of computer graphics(CG). Out of these different production branches, Zemeckis films are perhaps the newest addition with only two titles to its name so far, Monster House and the previous Tom Hanks CG film, The Polar Express. Out of these two Robert Zemeckis has only directed the Polar Express and merely produced Monster House which was directed by first-timer Gil Kenan. And while most CG films of this nature are thought to be kids films, this one borders a bit close on the edge.

Essentially what has been created by director Gil Kenan and writers Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab is a horror tale for children on Halloween. I know that as a kid I had the option of watching silly non-scary movies such as Witches, which I admit is rather dark, or feasting my eyes on the gory spectacle of Jason, which at the age of 7-9 is not exactly a good thing. There simply isn't a film for Halloween for children of that age that kids could be afraid of because they are still too kiddie. Now maybe this is just my male I'm-not-afraid-of-anything bravado, but still, it's slim pickings on Halloween night and the kiddie stuff has to jostle for it's place next to adult horror classics like Psycho and Halloween. Monster House is one of those rare movies that is able to retain it's horror edge and still be able to be consumed by children letting it join the ranks of The Nightmare Before Christmas, except without all of the songs and creepy children. Perhaps my favorite reason for liking the film is how it is presented. It's portrayed in an old-fashioned way that I haven't seen in a while where a neighborhood is still closely knit and where friends live down the street and hang out at a moments call. It's essentially a suburban epic like Goonies or The Sandlot type setting of suburbia with one house being as old and creepy as its one inhabitant, Mr. Nebbercracker. As a movie with young boys at its heart, it deals with all sorts of fun topics about growing up and facing the world around you and what does it mean to be a grown up. The main character and his friend are both nerds, they both fight over the snotty private school girl, and the main character's voice is cracking. It is essentially a tale of coming into one's own self and surviving the scariness of early puberty wrapped into a tale of a giant eating monster house! BRILLIANT!?!?! I can't decide. Either way, the movie Monster House takes advantage of the fears of children at this age by providing truly scary moments including a section where the main character thinks he killed someone because of a heart attack. The director sticks to his guns to make a film that while not so terrifying to an adult, could easily scare a kid and the movie ends in a manner like most children movies except it is more like The Sandlot in its ending where the audience will have felt relieved by the coming-of-age tale being completed in a satisfactory manner and having dealt with some dark material.

With all of that good stuff being said, there are some very real drawbacks to the film. Now of course most of the film is aimed at children so it is usually portrayed in an amusing and light manner, when not dealing with the house or Nebbercracker. Yet, the police come off as either paranoid crazy people or as lazy and unwilling to help the kids. Plus, they get eaten due to their stupidity and we come to realize as one character says, that we cannot trust the government. Still a bit too young for such cynicism, even for me. In fact, if anything, this movie enforces the idea to little children that they are alone and can't depend on anyone else except people their own age and usually same geekiness because no one will believe and willingly take a chance on them. As a kid these films are great. Us against them! But looking back now as an adult, I am not sure of how great these films can be since they can easily support rebellion which is not always the path to enlightenment. Plus, this movie is scary, even as an adult I can connect to some of the opening scenes of fear at the monster house coming awake. Plus, the house turns out to be the soul of a previous giantess, portrayed as slightly simple and dumb, but one who has been mistreated so badly that she now will eat anyone who comes on her lawn. So of course in the end she is destroyed with dynamite by Nebbercracker who is so thankful to be rid of her. Very rarely is the audience allowed to connect with or feel sympathy for the poor misguided giantess and her unhappy rampage. It feels at some points like deformity is a curse, one which can only end in the deformed haunting a house and eating people. Not a good lesson for kids. But on the whole it is rather entertaining.

As for voice acting well, eh. The main children characters are all unrecognizable so I guess that is a good thing. Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a great performance as the rock-n-roll babysitter and even makes the character slightly human in her worry and desire to still be "cool". Steve Buscemi does his usual crazy scary voice over for Nebbercracker. Although perhaps one of the funniest and underused performances comes from Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara who play the main character's parents. They are only seen in the beginning and end, but GOD are they funny. Besides that, it doesn't really stand out which helps because it places all of the emphasis on the story and what is happening, which when a good portion is spent watching and waiting on a house to come to life, is necessary to build suspense. So I guess it was a job well done, just nothing that stands out as mind blowing.

Conclusion:
Monster House is an enjoyable movie at any age, but especially for children hitting puberty. It also fills in that age gap with an appropriate horror film. However, some of the script's material could come across as rebellious lessons and slightly prejudiced against certain types of people which is not so cool for kids. I'd say watch it with them with supervision, or let them watch en masse. Instead of the classic slow-mo NOOOOOOO! that I remember as a kid, I bet future kids will think of the name Nebbercracker and shutter. On the whole, a good movie and possibly a generational classic.

3.5 out of 5

Wannabe