Monster House Review

"Monster House" reviews

Movie

Monster House

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-06-17 20:43:22

Rating

3/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

In the age of movies as financial entities, it's hard to see precisely which "group"--age or otherwise--Monster House appeals to. But one possible explanation is that, aside from the loud-criers "group," it may just appeal to everyone.

Story

It's Halloween Eve in suburbia, and while most of the neighborhood kids are gearing up for a candy extravaganza, two young'uns--DJ (voiced by Mitchell Musso) and Chowder (voiced by Sam Lerner)--are fretting and dreading. They're convinced that the decrepit house across the street is in fact a monster house inhabited by an old hermit named Nebbercracker (voiced by Steve Buscemi) that will lure kids in on Halloween night. But just as DJ's parents, who naturally don't believe him to begin with, leave for a vacation, DJ inadvertently sends Nebbercracker to his death--or so he fears. Now DJ believes Nebbercracker's monster house will seek revenge on him specifically, and to make matters worse, his negligent babysitter (voiced by Maggie Gyllenhaal) won't hear of his yapping. After DJ and Chowder are forced to take action, they, along with a girl peddling candy (voiced by Spencer Locke), discover how the monster came to be and just how unforgiving she is.

Acting

When it comes to animation acting, the main goal is to make audiences forget that the actors are giving their performances in a studio, possibly dressed in their PJs and sans makeup. That goal's usually achieved, but Monster House takes a gamble in supposing that child actors, comprising the lead characters, will be able to wrap their still-expanding brains around the concept. Somehow, Lerner and Musso grasp this despite sounding like they haven't even been in this world very long! The two are surrounded by a fail-proof supporting cast: it takes a while to recognize Buscemi's voice as Nebbercracker, but once it hits, it fits, and Gyllenhaal as the babysitter is great, if unpredictable, casting. Quasi-cameos from Jason Lee as Gyllenhaal's punk boyfriend, Jon Heder as a video-game god and Kevin James and Nick Cannon as slow-moving and -thinking cops garner the most laughs.

Direction

Not only does it help a film's box office performance to have Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis onboard as executive producers, it helps a film's director--in this case a rookie director named Gil Kenan. (Zemeckis directed '04's somewhat similar-looking The Polar Express.) While the animation doesn't quite stand up to, say, Pixar's earth-shattering visuals, Kenan makes up for it with a fun-filled story (from scripters Dan Harmon, Rob Schrab and Pamela Pettler) and an overall lively, involved effort--and it's not like the movie doesn't still look gorgeous. Besides, sometimes it's refreshing to not be so entranced by the CGI that you lose sight of the actual movie at hand. Kenan's film is one of the scarier animated movies in a while, but that still doesn't exclude many age groups. What the first-time director thrives on is stopping just shy of true horror moments, at which point he reverts to feel-good mode without ever being sappy.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 3 stars.

Movie

Monster House

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-08-09 00:00:00

Provider

MyMovies

Review

Three suburban teenagers find out that the housing market can be a true nightmare in this pretty frightening CGI outing. The action centres on DJ, Chowder and Jenny, a trio of friends who discover one Halloween that the house opposite is possessed by the child hating spirit of their miserly neighbour's late wife. Given that the property has shown off a propensity for eating toys, dogs and even local cops, the kids must find a way to try and exorcise the home before a horde of excited trick or treaters walk up the path to their doom.

Shot using the same motion-capture that producer Robert Zemeckis used on festive hit "The Polar Express", first time director Gil Kenan has crafted a fun and good looking little movie here - but be warned, it does get pretty intense and scary at times especially when the trio find themselves trying to escape from the belly of the beast. The characters may not be too original - DJ, Chowder and Jenny come are virtual mirror images of Harry, Ron and Hermione - but a few fun cameos from the likes of Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jon Heder add a bit of colour.

Things start to go downhill slightly towards the end as the house leaves it's foundations and waddles down the street, using trees for arms, but the action packed finale should keep notoriously fidgety younger viewers glued to their seats as the trio and an unlikely assistant try to bring the evil abode's reign of terror to an end. Scary and intense, "Monster House" may not be quite a penthouse but it's certainly a adequate Des Res.

Movie

Monster House

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-08-04 15:00:23

Provider

MRIB

Review

Originally conceived as a live-action film, then a feature animation, Monster House eventually became the ultimate happy medium - motion-capture animation. Thankfully Monster House's look is far less creepy and way more stylised than Robert Zemeckis's disappointingly soulless Polar Express.

It's the classic tale of a kid's fascination with the scary house at the end of the street, this one being owned by old man Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi). 12 year-old DJ (Mitchel Musso) knows the place is haunted, who wouldn't with second floor Amityville style windows glowing like eyes. But with his parents away, naturally, DJ and two of his mates find it hard to resist the temptation of finding out what it's like inside.

Monster House splices bits of classic Hammer horror, Hitchcock and well-worn fables into a 90 minute thrill-ride. Despite the contemporary technology being used, the movie has a timeless quality, something sorely lacking in other recent feature animations. It probably won't be suitable for the very young or easily scared, but older kids who enjoy the fun-house or ghost train at fun fairs will definitely get a kick out of this uncomplicated movie.

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