This is an article I’ve been meaning to do for some time, but never could seem to get around to writing. Well all that’s changed, as you can plainly see. Since the 20th Anniversary Edition of the movie came out on DVD July 24th, I thought it would be somewhat appropriate to breathe new life into it with a Cult Classics review.

This movie focuses on a group of junior-high kids with an almost obsessive fixation for monsters. This fixation has joined them together into what they’ve called a “Monster Club”, with tree-house meetings and talk about monsters. Something every prepubescent boy would enjoy, right?

The story is prefaced with a sequence showing Van Helsing losing his fight with Dracula, being trapped in a time vortex opened by a small amulet that looks vaguely like an egg-shaped Ring Pop. Now Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, “Creature” from ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’, Wolfman, and a Mummy have all converged on the small town in which the Monster Club lives.

Naturally, being a rag-tag bunch of hairless men-children, they take it upon themselves to take down Dracula and his team. They do have help in the form of an “Old Scary German Guy” and Frankenstein’s Monster though.

I won’t give away any plot points beyond that in case there are some of you still in existence who haven’t seen this movie. I will, however, say that if you haven’t seen it you need to go rent it now.

The special effects haven’t aged as well as one would imagine, but it’s still a good flick nonetheless. As long as you can suspend disbelief for a couple of hours, of course. If you’re looking for authenticity though, I’ve got two things to say.

1. This is an 80’s comedy/horror. It’s not going to be realistic or scare you.
2. This is a monster movie you need to look elsewhere for authenticity. Let your imagination run wild.

If you’re a fan of monster movies, 80’s flicks, cult classics, or a strange cross-section of the three, this movie is a buy for you. If you’re only looking for a good chuckle and to see a wolfman get kicked in the scrotum, then this movie would be a rent for you. With the 20th Anniversary Special Features DVD you’ll have plenty of entertainment to last you whichever way you choose.

If you liked that, try...

1. Cult Classics: Six-String Samurai
2. Cult Classics: The Goonies
3. Cult Classics: Hackers
4. Cult Classics: The Princess Bride
5. Direct to Distractions - Feast II: Sloppy Seconds

1 Comment »

1. 
   Jacob Bond
   October 17, 2007 at 5:21 am

   My cousin and I were huge fans of this movie as a kid, watching every time it came on TV. I’ve always had fond memories of it.

   But I’ll be honest, when we watched it again it we found our childhood memories had betrayed us, and it wasn’t quite the movie we remembered. I recall we made fun of it the entire time for the cliches and plot holes.

   This is pure 80s: it had the fat kid who was always obsessed with food, the montage (gotta love the montage!), and the general idea that out of everyone in the world only this small group of kids had the ability to stop the bad guys.

   Then again, I felt the same way about The Goonies when I watched it again recently, so what do I know? :)

   I should note I’m not saying it isn’t worth watching. If you go into it like Migo said expecting some of the common elements of 80s movies and you can put aside some really out there moments, you’ll enjoy. But word to the wise: if you’re going to watch this expecting it to live up to your childhood memories… don’t.

   [Reply]

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