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"The Monster Squad" is a lot of fun. I wasn't surprised to see that it's become a cult classic. If I could give it 7.5, I would.

Why don't I score it higher than that? Unfortunately, I found some of the plot details needlessly obscure. Plot developments seem to happen off screen. It was like, suddenly the kids know about the monsters and are preparing to fight them, but I missed how they found out.

The movie has a lot of quotable lines. It's an example of a nostalgia trip done right: ie. Filled with affection for the movies the film references, and also filled with affection for its modern-day child characters, and thus they succeed in making a movie that nostalgic adults and kids could both enjoy.

Had very little in the way of expectations with this one, I'd heard a little here and there but nothing really praising or condemning it strongly. Actually watching it was a really pleasant surprise. It's super campy in all the best ways, it totally buys in and lives in it's own world and I really appreciated that. I totally see why this has cult status because it's absolutely the kind of movie that would get people to really fall in love with it's quirky charms. People should definitely give this a shot if they haven't seen it. At the very least, this should be added to people's Halloween repertoire but I think it's got a life outside of that as well.

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.

One hundred years ago, Dracula and other monsters survive to the attack of Dr. Van Helsing and his men to his castle with a magical amulet. In the present days, Dracula travels to the United States and arrives in a small town. He summons the Werewolf, the Mummy, the Swamp Thing and Frankenstein's creature to help him to retrieve the amulet.

In the town, a man claims that he is the werewolf and goes to the police station to ask to be locked up in a cell. Meanwhile a mummy vanishes from the local museum and police detective Del (Stephen Macht) is assigned to investigate the case. When his son Sean (Andre Gower), who is a monster fan, learns the news, he joins his friends Patrick (Robby Kiger), Horace (Brent Chalem) and Rudy (Ryan Lambert) in his monster club to read a Van Helsing's journal that was given by his mother. However the book is written in German and they are not able to translate it. So they asks for help from their weird neighbor that they call Scary German Guy (Leonardo Cimino) and they discover that they need to recover the amulet and a virgin to get rid off Dracula and the monsters. Meanwhile Sean's little sister Phoebe (Ashley Bank), who is unsuccessfully trying to join the club, befriends Frankenstein's creature. The unlike group brings Patrick's sister (Lisa Fuller), who claims that is virgin, to read the passage that sends the monsters to the limbo. Will they be successful in their intent?

"The Monster Squad" is a highly entertaining cult movie with a funny story that entwines adventure, dark comedy and horror. This film is also a tribute to the Universal Monsters. There is a touching moment when the Scary German Guy tells to the kids that he has experience with monsters and we see a concentration camp number on his arm. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Deu a Louca nos Monstros" ("The Monsters Have Gone Crazy")

Note: On 24 July 2016, I saw this film again.

Note: On 09 Sep 2018, I saw this film again.

Having grown up a child of the 80's crazes, I happen to love just about anything 80's...even if for no other reason than to now poke fun at it. Monster Squad is no different. I absolutely LOVED this movie when it came out and watched it over and over again. A few years back I decided to watch it again and, well, I still loved it. Ok, so it was a lot cheesier than I remembered, but it's still great fun.

Monster Squad has some great dialogue and really entertaining scenes. Plus, you've got all the classic monsters which truly make this film worth watching.

I highly recommend anyone who has a love for anything 80's, or just like fun, simple movies to check this out. It really is worth it!