Right off the bat, this movie treats us with a vibrant opening tracking shot, one of the many brilliant camera works to come. Monster House has fluid and artistically arranged shots rarely seen in American cartoons, with more camera movements than in your usual animated fare. It's really pleasant to see such effort finally being made. Even more so when you see it on 3D.
As many may already know, this film was made by the same people who did The Polar Express. One thing about The Polar Express that some people—including yours truly—found unsettling, was the creepy plastic texture that resulted from trying to create glossy photorealistic characters. Monster House went for the more traditionally stylized character designs, yet retains the incredibly realistic body language and expressions, creating one tremendously impressive CG animation.
What's most refreshing about the movie is that it doesn't brush away its horror story roots casually to make way for kiddie jokes. It's not Scooby Doo, where every scare is undermined by a punchline. It actually provides genuine horror movie scenes in-between the laughs (which, by the way, it has plenty, and they're darn funny), including a very morbid scene where the kids discover a corpse. The movie sets the tone early, separating it from any other animated children's films, by having the monster house owner, old man Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi), suffer a heart attack during an angry fit and DROP DEAD right on top of our hero D.J. (Mitchel Musso). The plot thickens when D.J. receives eerie phone calls a la The Grudge in the middle of the night from the supposedly empty house across the street. Trouble escalates further as D.J. believes that the house is possessed by old man Nebbercracker, seeking revenge on D.J. for causing his death and terrorizing the community by swallowing trespassers. He enlists the help of his best friend Chowder (Sam Lerner) and brainy girl scout Jenny (Spencer Locke) to exorcise the house before more people gets eaten.
Monster House pays tribute to classic 80s suburbia monster movies such as Monster Squad or The Lost Boys, and it could have very well been a Goosebumps book. The setting, characters and tone of the movie follow that of a cheesy 80s horror movie down to those same two neighborhood cops that are always around but never believe you when you tell them that some bad mojo is going down. While it never outright says so, there are many visible clues scattered in the movie that obviously leads us to believe that it's set in the 80s, such as the video games they play, the lack of modern technologies, and cassette players. While that might seem insignificant, it actually adds to the movie's charm.
In recent years, there have been worries within the animation circles that talented voice actors are being shortchanged for big A-list stars to draw in the big bucks. Dreamworks' movies are especially guilty in this. It makes sense, because it draws even the non-animation enthusiasts to check out a film, just to see Robert DeNiro play a talking shark. What's sad is that in their hungry name-chasing they often fail—or perhaps even purposely neglect—the other elements in the movie. Who needs a strong script when you've assembled the likes of Angelina Jolie, Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Bruce Willis, and so on as the cute animals? Monster House has its fair share of stars, though they're not your typical marquee whores, and most of them play very small roles. Jon Heder's character, for example, appears only in one scene, giving his Yoda wisdoms and then disappearing for the rest of the movie. In a smart decision, the film gives most of its screen time to the three kids, letting them carry the movie on their own. The movie feels more intimate that way.
"Monster House" opens July 21, 2006 and is rated PG. Animation, Children & Family, Horror. Written by Dan Harmon, Rob Schrab & Pamela Pettler.
