"Monsters" (1988) TV series 1988-1990

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Directors:

John Gray
Debra Hill

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

22 October 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title | Monster | Anthology

Cast

John Bolger	...	Charles Poole (2 episodes, 1988-1990)
Pamela Dean Kelly	...	Bird (2 episodes, 1988-1990)
John Saxon		(2 episodes, 1990-1991)
Lisa Waltz		(2 episodes, 1990-1991)

Runtime:

30 min (52 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (some episodes) | UK:18 (one episode)

Filming Locations:

Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Laurel Entertainment Inc.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Not bad

It's easy 20 years later to forget this very low-budget horror anthology series ever existed. It was not up to competing shows of the period like TALES FROM THE CRYPT or even DARK VISIONS. But the occasional episode hit a home run, as readily evidenced by a recent rerun of many of the episodes on the CHILLER channel. There was usually a twist ending and some low-rent guest star or rising young star to liven things up. My favorite of those I saw recently: a middle-aged woman (Karen Valentine), not without her charms, is married to a crippled inventor. Her missing first husband, a real Tarzan type, shows up very much alive after years away, and the nasty fun begins. Valentine, who often played a goody two-shoes on TV, spends a lot of time in a flimsy negligee and has a silly yet oddly arousing sex scene with a headless body! Another truly creepy episode had two boys (one of whom, Matt LeBlanc, would go on to fame on FRIENDS) messing with alleged vampires in a barber shop. Better they should have stayed away. Or just gotten their hair cut. Yet another episode, starring a very young Tori Speling and Ashley Laurence of "Hellraiser" fame, has a quartet of teens conjuring up the long-dead and very evil owner of an old mansion. He soon returns to take back his mansion. The grue quotient for many of these episodes ran pretty high. MONSTERS may have appeared to be strictly for the kiddies, but not always. I recommend the series to all horror fans.