31 on 31 for Halloween Day 26: The Monster Squad

Welcome back to 31 on 31 for Halloween! How has things been going? I know we have been having lot of things just kicking off this year. It's official that we, as horror fans, are spoiled this year. There is just so much good horror content coming. And we are not even at the end of the month yet. 

So to continue our countdown with Day 26 - The Monster Squad. 

This is an amazing film. It is one that was ahead of its time. But it is a unique entry to the horror genre. It's one that lets its freak flag fly. Its one that pays so much love, attention and homage to the Universal Monsters. 

By this point in time, the Universal Monsters were something that was super special. Don't get me wrong - they still are. It just seems that with time, they have lost their importance in the general public's mind. There used to be times where during the AMC Fear Fests and other Halloween movie marathons would take the time to showcase the Universal Monsters. These days it's about the Slashers. For today's generation and the public mind, Freddy, Jason, Michael, and the others have filled that place in the pantheon of horror. 

Now, the Universal Monsters have seen better days. They have had some missteps when trying to become relevant to modern times. But honestly, it was by studios attempting to follow the modern trend. Everything needed to be connected or have some massive attempt at recreating the Marvel Cinematic Universe's success. That's what happened with the now infamous Dark Universe that was first going to be started with Dracula Untold and then Tom Cruise's The Mummy. It probably didn't help that the third Mummy movie was a massive disappointment to many that loved the previous two entries in the Brendan Fraser series. But there is hope. Blumhouse is taking the steps to help and succeeded with 2020's The Invisible Man. 

The Monster Squad presents the Universal Monsters in a pretty iconic versions of themselves. For me, this was my first introduction to them. Yeah, they may have some differences to the versions seen in the original Monsters films. However, Dracula is practically taken from that original incarnation and plugged in. The Mummy is another that relatively plugged in with minor updates. The Wolfman updates from the Lon Chaney original into something more akin to American Werewolf In London. That's not a bad thing as this incarnation is pretty dang sleek. It even delivers on a few pretty cool wolf transformations. The Creature...sorry, The Gill Man is fantastically updated. It's just a cool take that adds some layers to the original creature design. I mean look at his back, he has some interesting quills that I hadn't noticed till the film was released on DVD. And then there's Frankenstein. He is really iconic in this incarnation even. He has such a childlike wonder and innocence from the original take. But he has a lot more personality now, it's to the point where we care about what happens to him. We go on a journey with him as he gets to learn more of the world and even some words. Plus the bolts that are usually seen on the neck have been moved to the upper cranium area. It's just such a subtle difference, but once notice it makes a lot of sense. 

I know, I have a lot of love for the Universal Monsters. It was right around when that Van Helsing movie was released. Yeah, you know the one. My Dad and I collected the various Universal Monsters collections that were being released. So then I spent my time watching Lugosi, Karloff, Lon Chaney amongst many others. It was a fantastic time. Something that I cannot wait to some day share with my son. He's not old enough yet as anything black and white kinda makes him feel like it's going to be a boring movie. Heck, recently he was able to watch the tv version of Halloween '78. I asked him if he originally thought he was going to be bored with it. He admitted he thought it would be boring, but he loved it. Again, those 70s-80s slashers have joined the pantheon of Horror in that same sense of where the Monsters resided. 

Now, The Monster Squad was made by Fred Dekker. It is a genre mashup to the best extent. It's like how they made Abbott and Costello meet the various Universal Monsters. Except this time around, it's been updated so that we have a group akin to The Goonies meeting the Monsters. When it was originally released, it had a hard time finding its audience. Thankfully with time, it has become a huge cult classic. 

All of the cast delivers so many fantastic performances. Andre Gower, Brent Chalem, Robby Kiger, and Ryan Lambert deliver such good performances as the main members of The Monster Squad - Sean, Horace, Patrick and Rudy. They help ground the film so much. I strongly believe if it wasn't for them the film could be seen as a massive parody instead of a heartfelt love letter to the Universal Monsters. Of course, we also can't forget Ashley Banks as Phoebe. She is such an integral character that helps befriend Tom Noonan's Frankenstein. They are so lovable in their genuine friendship. And plus it was also very cool that she gets to call her brother and his friends out on being chicken shits. 

Each of the different actors portraying the Monsters had a massive job to do. It is such a massive undertaking to deliver a performance that may pay homage to the original but make it your own. And each one of them do it so wonderfully. Those actors are Duncan Regehr (Dracula), Carl Thibault/Jon Gries (Wolfman), Tom Noonan (Frankenstein) and Tom Woodruff Jr. (The Gill Man). 

The story is also pretty simple. Dracula and the monsters are trying to get an amulet that will unleash a darkness upon the world. Sean and the Monster Squad have to step up and stop them before its too late. As that was what happened to Van Helsing in a wonderful opening. 

This film is just so good. It's a fantastic film to watch with family. I shared this one with my son. He loved it so much. It has literally become his go-to horror movie for this Halloween season. I am super happy to see that. It's literally helped him see a more classic take on the Monsters outside of the more family friendly take presented in Hotel Transylvania series. 

Overall, this film is a classic. There's no beating it. It's such a unique film that it would be so incredibly difficult to remake. Or even pay respects by rebooting in a Halloween 2018 way. Well, maybe in the Ghostbusters Afterlife way. 

Rating: 5 out of 5. 

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