Monster House DVD Review (Steve Buscemi) Empire Movies

MONSTER HOUSE DVD REVIEW

Monster House
(Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

8/10

7/10

Liam

In Monster House, a boy named DJ lives across the street from the most feared house in the neighborhood, owned by Mr. Nebbercracker. DJ is convinced that there is something fishy going on at the Nebbercracker house, so much so that he spends his free time spying on the house from his bedroom window through a telescope. So, it's the night before Halloween and DJ is in his yard with his friend Chowder discussing their Halloween plans when Chowder loses control of his basketball and it rolls into Mr. Nebbercracker's yard. Although frightened at the prospect of getting the ball back, DJ sneaks his way into the yard where, as luck would have it, he is caught. However, while yelling at DJ, Mr. Nebbercracker collapses and it taken away in an ambulance. Thinking that he killed Mr. Nebbercracker, DJ becomes even more convinced that there is something going on with the house across the street. So DJ teams with Chowder and their new friend Jenny and they try to find out what exactly is going on in the "Monster House".

I don't think I'd be too far off comparing this movie to "The Goonies". Yeah, nothing could REALLY compare to "The Goonies" but there are some similarities here you really can't ignore. You've got this kid that nobody believes (DJ and Mikey), you've got the fat kid (Chowder and Chunk), you've got the cute girl (Jenny and Andy) and you have the bad guy (Mr. Nebbercracker and the Fratellis). And in "Monster House" you've got a monster house and in "The Goonies" you've got the legend of One-Eyed Willie. Okay, maybe the movies aren't all that similar, but I found myself reminded of "The Goonies" while watching and I'm the one writing the review, so there.

Anyways, it was a fun movie and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. If I had one complaint, it'd be that I found the movie a bit "mature" for the type of audience that might be seeing it because it's an animated flick. Really, this type of movie should be saved for ages 10-14 and not much younger. There are themes like puberty and such that I really don't think too many 7-8 year olds would understand. There's also the whole bitchy babysitter and her touchy-feely-boozy boyfriend story that I found a bit questionable for an animated movie.

Special features on this DVD begin with a filmmaker commentary. What sucked here was not knowing who was participating. Other than director Gil Kenan who introduces himself at the beginning of the commentary, there's no real indication anywhere (including the menus or the DVD cover) of who else is talking which ends up being just a little frustrating. Next, we get "Inside Monster House" which is a series of 7 brief behind-the-scenes featurettes looking at the making of the movie. These are actually quite interesting and give a really good look at the technology used to bring the characters to life. These are followed by an "Evolution of a Scene" featurette giving a multi-angle look at the opening scene from the movie. Again, this is fun if only to see all the work that went into creating this single scene. Finally, there's an "Art of Monster House" photo gallery which features concept art, characters and locations from the movie.

If you're like me and live in a place that'll likely be too cold to go out this coming Halloween, and if you've got kids the right age for this type of movie, this DVD just might make a suitable substitute. It's scary, but not too scary -- and it's really just innocent fun. What more could you ask for just in time for Halloween.

Features
Filmmaker Commentary
7 Featurettes including "Imaginary Heroes", "Beginner's Luck", "The Best of Friends", "Lots of Dots", "Black Box Theater", "Making It Real" and "Did You Hear That?"
Evolution of a Scene: Eliza vs. Nebbercracker
The Art of Monster House - Photo Gallery

Video
Widescreen (2.40:1)

Audio
English 5.1 Dolby Digital
French 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles
English
French
Closed-Captioned

Release Date
October 24, 2006

Rating
PG

Length
91 mins.

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