THE MONSTER SQUAD

THE MONSTER SQUAD-United States-1987

Count Dracula

The Frankenstein Monster

The Wolfman

The Mummy

The Creature From The Black Lagoon

Directed by Fred Dekker

Written by Shane Black and Fred Dekker

When I was growing up I loved monsters. I loved them so much that I had anything about them that I could get my hands on. Posters, magazines, Aurora monster model kits; you name it and I had it. Every Saturday afternoon I would be in front of the TV for Shock Theatre to watch the classic films like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Wolfman. But even though I loved these creatures of the night I was no dummy. I knew that they could get me so I played it smart. Every night I would check under the bed to make sure there was no werewolf under there. Then the closet; I would open it up and make sure that the Frankenstein monster wasn’t lurking behind my clothes that were neatly hung up. That inhuman creature created from the bodies of the dead wasn’t going to get me, no way, no how.

But then something happened that made me stop loving the monsters. It was called growing up and you know what? It sucked big time. I stopped believing in the monsters and started believing in more logical things like girls and school and hanging out with my friends. I still watched the horror movies and read the scary books and magazines but the magic was just not there anymore. There were no monsters under the bed or in the closet. It was all make believe and special effects.

After watching The Monster Squad I get the strangest feeling that writer Shane Black and writer-director Fred Dekker felt the same way that I did at one time or another. They stopped believing and they knew that was wrong. The Monster Squad is their way of telling us that it’s perfectly okay to believe in Dracula or The Wolfman or the Frankenstein monster. Their film is a simple, cheesy reminder that even though we may be adults that it’s cool to act like a kid sometimes. The Monster Squad is one of those films that help me to understand the reason why I write these reviews and why I run this blog in my little corner of the world.

So what I want everyone to do tonight is very simple. When you get ready for bed I want you to close your closet really tight and lock it from the outside. That’ll keep the monsters trapped in there until daylight. After you do that I want you to look under the bed. Monsters love it under there. If you’re too scared to look then you need to get a running start and leap into your bed as fast as you can. The monsters can’t catch you if you leap really high. If you turn out your light and you still think there may be a Mummy or maybe a Gill-man lurking around somewhere then there’s only one more thing that you can do.

Call the Monster Squad. They make house calls.

TRIVIA

Dustin Diamond had a small role as a kid who tries to sell comic books to the boys, but this was later cut.

Liam Neeson was paid for a bit part that was never shot.

The scene where Dracula lifts Phoebe up and she screams was done in one take. Duncan Regehr wouldn’t wear his red contacts or fangs around the five year old Ashley Bank because it scared her too much. For the scene, director Fred Dekker just told Ashley to scream once the platform raised her. When she asked, “When?” Dekker told her, “Oh, you’ll know,” and proceeded to shoot. The terrified scream you hear when Dracula opens his eyes is Ashley’s genuine scream of fright.

In 2006, “Wizard” magazine made a list of the 100 Greatest Villains of All Time, Dracula was ranked as #30 on the list. But, surprisingly, it was for Duncan Regehr’s performance in this film. His performance was chosen over all other versions of the character. Regehr’s Dracula is still considered to be one the absolute best interpretations of the character.

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