Caffeinated Clint
The plotline was rather thin – a bunch of kids team up to take on all those classic movie monsters – but it was the execution of it that worked. The production design; the energetic performances; the dialogue (Shane Black co-wrote the script with Dekker) and the sheer thrill of seeing all these movie monsters share the screen was a thrill for kids.
Andre Gower, Robby Kiger, Stephen Macht, Duncan Regehr, Tom Noonan, Brent Chalem, Mary Ellen Trainor, Stan Shaw
You never see a cult film coming.
OK, so, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, “The Blues Brothers”, even “A Clockwork Orange” you could see becoming loved favourites, because they were applauded upon release and commended for their exceptionally exclusive respective visions. But in this day and age, your film can be the biggest out-and-out flop upon its initial release, trashed by reviewers, and yet still be filed under contention for ultimate classic status in the years to come.
Case in point – “Showgirls”, it was an absolute stinker of a film, and bashed by critics and audiences alike upon release, yet now, all these years later, it’s considered a bonafide campy classic (not that it’s seemed to have helped Elizabeth Berkeley’s career at all). Go figure.
“Evil Dead” is another. It did nothing on its initial release, but over time (especially thanks to a new-fangled invention known as ‘the video recorder’) it found its audience – an audience that could appreciate home-made special effects and college kids in monster masks. It was what it was… and as time went on, we loved it some more.
I still remember seeing Mike Judge’s “Office Space” (1999) on opening day – the theatre was so empty I could freely sit there and eat hot fish and chips (no hot food allowed in most cinemas so this was a big thing). I laughed my arse off, too. Didn’t think to recommend the film to anyone though, or relay its jokes, because I just didn’t think it’d go anywhere… how wrong was I? It became a huge hit on both VHS and [later] DVD.
And then there’s “Spaceballs” (who ever saw that earning legendary status?); “The Big Lebowski” (‘The Dude’ is now on T-Shirts!); “Roadhouse” (it was Patrick Swayze with a mullet for Christ’s sake!), “Half Baked” (I forgot about it as soon as it had finished it was that memorable) and – drum roll – Tom Green’s “Freddy got Fingered” (man pulls off a horse = cult hit in the years to come).
“The Monster Squad”, a huge flop when it was released theatrically in 1987, is now considered a straight-up out-and-out cult classic. Lionsgate has put together a 2-disc collector’s edition DVD set to prove it. And unlike some of the abovementioned films, you can kind of understand why.
Unlike a lot of the so-called kid’s films today, “The Monster Squad” actually gives its audience – in this case, youngsters – what they want, and not just give in to what the studio executives believe kids want. Thanks to the ingenuity of its young writer/director Frank Dekker (“Night of the Creeps”), this one spoke straight to the kids – in the same way say, “The Goonies” did. But more so, this one let the kids swear… not many kids movies these days even feature a single ‘shit’ let alone an ‘asshole’ or ‘bitch’… and it’s not often you’ll find references to ‘virgins’ in the family film, either. It truly was a landmark film for its time – something that was seemingly made whilst big brother (in this case, Mr. studio head) turned his back.
The plotline was rather thin – a bunch of kids team up to take on all those classic movie monsters – but it was the execution of it that worked. The production design; the energetic performances; the dialogue (Shane Black co-wrote the script with Dekker) and the sheer thrill of seeing all these movie monsters share the screen was a thrill for kids.
Not to say it was a brilliant film, it definitely wasn’t/isn’t – as the Washington Post noted in their review (in 1987) it’s an “unapologetically scrambled mixture of “Goonies,” Hardy Boys adventures, “Ghostbusters” and Abbott and Costello monster films”. They’re right. It is. Its best bits from all those films stitched together. The paper may also have been right when they said it features “bad actors wandering around in bad makeup and rubber masks”… for the most part, the acting isn’t that stellar, and the make-up is pretty atrocious, but all these years later, I think it’s that cheap way about the film that’s part of the appeal. Oh, and they get to say ‘Shit’.
The Two-Disc DVD features a great five-part documentary chronicling the making of the movie – all the cast (bar one, who sadly died of pneumonia) are there; as is writer/director Fred Dekker, and they all seem absolutely ecstatic to be talking about a film that none of them ever saw becoming successful all these years later. Dekker, for one, seems a little sad… remarking that although his super proud of it, the film killed his career.
There are two commentaries, one with Dekker and cast members Gower, Lambert, and Bank that’s fun and insightful, and another with Dekker and his DOP that’s more technical but no less interesting.
Also among the extras is a rare vintage interview with Tom Noonan in full make-up as Frankenstein. There are also some trailers, some deleted scenes and storyboards to music.
And to think in twenty years time “Underdog” may be a big cult hit. Heh.
Rating : 
Reviewer : Clint Morris
