A teenager discovers that the newcomer in his neighborhood is a vampire, so he turns to an actor in a television horror show for help dealing with the undead.
Director:
Tom Holland
Stars:
Chris Sarandon,
William Ragsdale,
Amanda Bearse
This heartfelt documentary explores the power of cult film told through the lens of the 1987 classic The Monster Squad and the impact it has on fans, cast and crew, and the industry.
When two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies.
Ten teenagers party at an abandoned funeral parlor on Halloween night. When an evil force awakens, demonic spirits keep them from leaving and turn their gathering into a living Hell.
A deadly entity from space crashes near a small town and starts to consume anyone in its path. Panic ensues, as shady government scientists try to contain the horrific creature.
Director:
Chuck Russell
Stars:
Shawnee Smith,
Kevin Dillon,
Donovan Leitch Jr.
A group of small but vicious alien creatures called Crites escape from an alien prison transport vessel and land near a small farm town on earth, pursued by two shape-shifting bounty hunters.
Director:
Stephen Herek
Stars:
Dee Wallace,
M. Emmet Walsh,
Billy Green Bush
Dracula is alive. In fact, he plans to rule the world and that is why he seeks the help of other legendary monsters. However, a bunch of kids regarded by their peers as losers uncover the devious plan and prepare for a counter strike.Written by
Steve Richer <sricher@sympatico.ca>
One of the technological improvements devised for The Monster Squad was a cable controller that could be operated by fewer puppeteers. "Back in those early days," commented SWS creature mechanic Richard Landon, "those of us in the mechanical department were exploring the whole new science of how to build this stuff, including cable controls. There'd been cable-controlled puppets going all the way back to the giant squid in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. But we were trying to come up with much more sophisticated controllers. When I first started working for Stan, he'd been testing some new controllers, including one with ten levers that made ten fingers move individually. But that meant that ten people were required to move two hands." "For Monster Squad, I built a skeleton hand with a controller that moved all ten fingers. So a single operator could control ten cables at once to make the fingers flex. Going from ten operators to one was the kind of stuff we were doing in those days to improve the technology. It usually came down to necessity. Something would come up where we had to do it -- so we did." See more »
Goofs
In the beginning of the movie where the bat changes into Dracula, the character is wearing a wedding ring when his hands hit the floor that disappears as he is standing up. See more »
The TV print shown on TNT contains roughly four minutes of additional deleted scenes not included on the DVD release, including:
1. In the opening scene, immediately following the opening title, one of Van Helsing's men fights off one of the vampire women and accidentally pulls the stake out of Dracula's chest, resurrecting the Count.
2. An extended "comedy routine" scene between the two pilots flying Dracula and Frankenstein's coffins in the World War 2 bomber plane.
3. A scene between Phoebe and her mother in the kitchen. The mother tells Phoebe to go watch her favorite TV show, but Phoebe says her PTA won't let her on the grounds it contains "too much sex," which leads the mother to retort under her breath, "We could use a little sex in this house."
4. An extended scene where the boys are discussing whether or not they know what a virgin is, leading to them asking Rudy if he knows any.
5. When the boys and Frankenstein go to the mansion to retrieve the amulet, there is an additional scene showing them approaching the house where Horace expresses his fear.
6. A scene of Rudy putting his arm around Patrick's sister (to her disgust) as they observe the carnage following the movie's finale.
The Monster Squad is a terrific re-telling of the House of Frankenstein, set in the late 80s. A group of young boys unearth an evil secret within the diary of vampire hunter, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Dutch, not German, but forgivable). Dracula has returned, and has re-animated Frankenstein's monster, and brought along a innocent, but tortured werewolf, the frightening, Creature of the Black Lagoon-esque Gill-Man, and a 2000-year old Mummy.
The SFX are spectacular, and the make-up and costuming are very well-made. This movie closely follows the the myths and folklore of popular monsters (only wooden stakes and garlic are effective on vampires; even dynamite cannot stop the silver-prone werewolf; etc.)
The acting is somewhat lacking, but this is a kid's Saturday night drive-in type movie. Only Duncan Regehr (syndicated TV's Zorro) as the truly and unrelentingly evil Dracula is worth mentioning. However, Tom Noonan as the kindly and gentle Frankenstein's monster is a great departure from the malevolence of his counterparts.
Highly recommended.
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The Monster Squad is a terrific re-telling of the House of Frankenstein, set in the late 80s. A group of young boys unearth an evil secret within the diary of vampire hunter, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Dutch, not German, but forgivable). Dracula has returned, and has re-animated Frankenstein's monster, and brought along a innocent, but tortured werewolf, the frightening, Creature of the Black Lagoon-esque Gill-Man, and a 2000-year old Mummy.
The SFX are spectacular, and the make-up and costuming are very well-made. This movie closely follows the the myths and folklore of popular monsters (only wooden stakes and garlic are effective on vampires; even dynamite cannot stop the silver-prone werewolf; etc.)
The acting is somewhat lacking, but this is a kid's Saturday night drive-in type movie. Only Duncan Regehr (syndicated TV's Zorro) as the truly and unrelentingly evil Dracula is worth mentioning. However, Tom Noonan as the kindly and gentle Frankenstein's monster is a great departure from the malevolence of his counterparts.
Highly recommended.