''The Monster Squad'' is a 1987 American

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

horror film directed by

Fred Dekker Fred Dekker (born April 9, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film director best known for his cult classic horror comedy films ''Night of the Creeps'' and '' The Monster Squad'' (written with Shane Black). He contributed the story ideas f ...

, and written by Dekker and

Shane Black Shane Black (born December 16, 1961) is an American filmmaker and actor who has written such films as ''Lethal Weapon'', ''The Monster Squad'', ''The Last Boy Scout'', ''Last Action Hero'', and ''The Long Kiss Goodnight''. As an actor, Black is ...

, who met as classmates at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Peter Hyams Peter Hyams (born July 26, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer known for directing ''Capricorn One'' (which he also wrote), the 1981 science fiction-thriller '' Outland'', the 1984 science fiction film '' 2010: Th ...

and

Rob Cohen Rob Cohen (born March 12, 1949) is an American director and producer of film and television. Beginning his career as an executive producer at 20th Century Fox, Cohen produced and developed numerous high-profile film and television programs, inc ...

served as executive producers. It was released by

TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...

on August 14, 1987. The film features pastiches of the

Universal Monsters Universal Classic Monsters (also known as Universal Monsters and Universal Studios Monsters) is a media franchise based on a series of horror films primarily produced by Universal Pictures from the 1930s to the 1950s. Although not initially conc ...

, led by

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some ...

. They are confronted by a group of savvy kids out to keep them from controlling the world. While being financially unsuccessful during its theatrical run and receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film has gained a positive reception from audiences and has become a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

in the years since its release.

Plot

The Monster Squad is a club of

pre-teens Preadolescence is a stage of human development following middle childhood and preceding adolescence.New Oxford American Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2005. Oxford University Press. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty. Preadolescence is c ...

who idolize classic monster movies and their non-human stars. Club leader Sean Crenshaw (

Andre Gower Jon Andre Gower (born April 27, 1973) is an American television and film actor. Life and career Born in Los Angeles, California, Gower began his career at the age of five years as a child actor. His first substantial role was as Brookes Prenti ...

), whose younger sister, Phoebe (Ashley Bank), desperately wants to join the club, is given the diary of legendary monster hunter Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (

Jack Gwillim Jack William Frederick Gwillim (15 December 1909 – 2 July 2001) was an English character actor. Career Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, he joined the Royal Navy at 17 and served for over twenty years, becoming one of the youngest men ever to ...

), but his excitement abates when he finds it is written in German. Sean and the rest of the Monster Squadhis best friend and second in command Patrick Rhodes (Robby Kiger), clumsy overweight Horace (Brent Chalem), tough older kid Rudy Holloran (Ryan Lambert) and little Eugene (Michael Faustino), go to visit an elderly man, known as the "Scary German Guy" (

Leonardo Cimino Leonardo Cimino (November 4, 1917 – March 3, 2012) was an American film, television and stage actor who in 1937 appeared in the original stage production of Marc Blitzstein's ''The Cradle Will Rock''. Cimino's most well known roles are in the 1 ...

), actually a kind gentleman and a former concentration camp prisoner, to translate the diary. The diary describes, in great detail, an amulet that is composed of concentrated good. One day out of every century, as the forces of good and evil reach a balance, the otherwise indestructible amulet becomes vulnerable to destruction. With the next day of balance happening within a few days, at the stroke of midnight, the kids realize they must gain possession of the amulet and use itwith an incantation from Van Helsing's diaryto open a wormhole in the universe and cast the monsters into

Limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...

. As shown in the film's prelude, Van Helsing had unsuccessfully attempted this one hundred years ago in order to defeat his old adversary

(

Duncan Regehr Duncan Peter Regehr (born October 5, 1952) is a Canadian writer, multimedia artist, and film and television actor. He was also a figure skater and a classically trained Shakespearean stage actor in his native Canada, before heading to Hollywood ...

); his apprentices then emigrated to the United States to hide the amulet, where it was out of Dracula's immediate reach. Nevertheless, Dracula seeks to obtain the amulet so that he can take over the world and plunge it into darkness. To this end, he assembles several of his most dangerous and monstrous allies: The Mummy (Michael MacKay), the

Gill-man The Gill-man—commonly called the Creature—is the main antagonist of the 1954 in film, 1954 black-and-white science fiction film ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' and its two sequels ''Revenge of the Creature'' (1955) and ''The Creature Wal ...

( Tom Woodruff Jr.), The Wolf Man (Carl Thibault), and in addition, three school girls (Mary Albee, Joan-Carrol Baron, and Julie Merrill) whom the Count transforms into his vampiric consorts. Dracula then steals a crate from a B-25 Mitchell in flight, containing

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...

(

Tom Noonan Tom Noonan (born April 12, 1951) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter, best known for his roles as Francis Dolarhyde in '' Manhunter'' (1986), Frankenstein's Monster in ''The Monster Squad'' (1987), Cain in '' RoboCop 2'' (1990), T ...

), thus completing his army. However, Frankenstein's monster is reluctant to aid Dracula, and wanders into the forest where he encounters Phoebe. Rather than being afraid, she shows him the kindness he has always sought, and they become friends. After Phoebe proves to the Monster Squad that Frankenstein's monster is not evil, he chooses to help the boys instead of Dracula. The Wolfman, when reverting to human form ( Jonathan Gries), is a recalcitrant follower of Dracula, and has been making calls to the police about the forthcoming carnage, which are dismissed as prank calls. The amulet is buried in a stone room beneath a house that Dracula and the other monsters now occupy and where Van Helsing's diary was found. The secret room is littered with wards which prevent the monsters from taking it. The Monster Squad break into the house and acquire the amulet and narrowly escape Dracula's grasp. They confer with The Scary German Guy who informs them that the incantation must be read by a female virgin. As midnight approaches, the Squad makes their way to a local cathedral to make their last stand. Meanwhile, Dracula destroys their clubhouse with dynamite, drawing the attention of Sean's father, Police Detective Del ( Stephen Macht), who has been charged with investigating the strange occurrences in town (as caused by Dracula's cohorts), but remains quite skeptical about their supernatural causes until he sees Dracula in person. Unfortunately, the doors to the cathedral are locked, so the incantation must be read on the stoop, leaving the Squad vulnerable. They enlist Patrick's beautiful elder sister Lisa ( Lisa Fuller) to help them, as she is the only virgin they know. However, the incantation fails since Lisa is actually not a virgin anymore. As the monsters close in, the Squad deduces that Phoebe must complete the task of opening the portal, and the German Guy attempts to help her read the incantation as the rest of the Squad fends off the monsters. In the ensuing battle, Dracula's consorts, the Mummy, the Gill-man, and the Wolfman are defeated. Dracula arrives to destroy the amulet when Frankenstein's monster intervenes, impaling him on a wrought-iron cross. Phoebe finishes the incantation, opening the portal which begins to consume the bodies of the monsters. Dracula, still alive, attempts to drag Sean in with him. Sean impales Dracula with a wooden stake as Patrick grabs Sean before he can be sucked into the portal. Having briefly escaped from Limbo, Van Helsing appears, gives a thumbs up to Sean on a job well done, and pulls Dracula to his doom. As Frankenstein's monster is drawn into the portal, Phoebe holds onto him and pleads for him to stay. Knowing he doesn't belong on Earth, Frankenstein's monster lets go of Phoebe's hand, but accepts her gift of a stuffed animal to remember her by. The portal then closes, ensuring the world's safety. In the aftermath, the United States Army arrives on the scene, having received a letter from Eugene earlier on asking for their help against the monsters. When the confused general fails to make sense of the situation, Sean steps forward and presents the man with his business card, identifying himself and his friends as "The Monster Squad".

Cast

as Sean Crenshaw * Robby Kiger as Patrick Rhodes * Stephen Macht as Detective Del Crenshaw *

* Brent Chalem as Horace * Ryan Lambert as Rudy Holloran * Ashley Bank as Phoebe Crenshaw * Michael Faustino as Eugene * Jonathan Gries as Desperate Man / The Wolf Man *

Mary Ellen Trainor Mary Ellen Trainor (July 8, 1952 – May 20, 2015) was an American character actress best known for her roles as LAPD psychiatrist Dr. Stephanie Woods in the '' Lethal Weapon'' films, newscaster Gail Wallens in '' Die Hard'' and '' Ricochet'', ...

as Emily Crenshaw *

as Scary German Guy * Stan Shaw as Detective Rich Sapir * Lisa Fuller as Lisa Rhodes * Carl Thibault as The Wolf Man * Tom Woodruff Jr. as

* Michael Reid MacKay as

Mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...

Abraham Van Helsing Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula'', is an aged Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows hi ...

* Adam Carl as Derek *

Jason Hervey Jason Robert Hervey (born April 6, 1972) is an American actor and television producer. He is best known for his role as Wayne Arnold on ''The Wonder Years''. Early life and acting Hervey was born in Los Angeles, the son of Marsha, a talent agent, ...

as E.J. *

David Proval David Aaron Proval (born May 20, 1942) is an American actor, known for his roles as Tony DeVienazo in the Martin Scorsese film '' Mean Streets'' (1973), Snooze in '' The Shawshank Redemption'' (1994), Siegfried in '' Four Rooms'' (1995) and as ...

as Pilot * Daryl Anderson as Co-Pilot * Mary Albee as Vampire Bride #1 * Brynn Baron as Vampire Bride #2 * Julie Merrill as Vampire Bride #3

Reception

Though the film was a financial failure on its initial release, it subsequently developed a cult following.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

, reports that 56% of 25 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 5.7/10 With the site's consensus stating, "A fun 80's adventure with a slightly scary twist, ''The Monster Squad'' offers tween-friendly horror with just enough of a kick". Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' wrote that it is "fun for the kid in all of us".

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it "a feature-length commercial for a joke store that sells not-great, rubber monster masks".

Home video

''The Monster Squad'' was first issued by

Vestron Video Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market. The name is now used for a collect ...

in 1988 on VHS and LaserDisc. It was the film's only VHS release. A 20th Anniversary Reunion of ''The Monster Squad'' was held with cast members and Dekker in attendance in April 2006 in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

at the

Alamo Drafthouse The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...

. This event was organized by the staff at ''

Ain't It Cool News Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book pro ...

'', longtime fans who, on a whim, decided to contact and try to connect the cast for a special screening. Two shows were held; both sold out with lines formed around the block; some audience members flew from as far as California. It was at this screening that Dekker had urged any interested fans to write the copyright holders via snail-mail. ''Ain't It Cool News'' also broke the news of the DVD release nine months later in January 2007. Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures approached

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

to produce and release the 20th anniversary edition. The 20th anniversary special edition was released as a two-disc DVD by Lionsgate on July 24, 2007, and contains a variety of special features, including a five-part retrospective documentary, two audio commentaries, deleted scenes, trailers and TV spots, animated storyboards and more. In 2007, a soundtrack was made available from the Intrada label; La-La Land Records issued another in 2015 with additional material, including the

Michael Sembello Michael Andrew Sembello (born April 17, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer and producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sembello was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his 1983 song "M ...

-produced songs. Lionsgate released a region-free

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

on November 24, 2009, containing the same extras as the DVD. This edition is now out of print. On February 19, 2013, Olive Films released a region A locked barebones Blu-ray. It became available via direct streaming on Hulu in October 2017.

Legacy

The Alamo Drafthouse held two further sold-out screenings on January 9, 2010 with Gower, Lambert and Gries along with Black and Dekker in attendance. The screenings were celebrated with a limited edition poster by artist Tyler Stout. Another event, with Gower and Lambert attending, will be held at the San Francisco branch on October 31, 2022. In 2018, Gower directed and co-produced ''Wolfman's Got Nards'', a documentary exploring the film's influence over thirty years and its evolution from cult favorite to cult classic. The film was distributed by Pilgrim Media Group in cooperation with Flitterpiper Entertainment and 1620 Media Group. It earned honors as an official selection for a number of

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

s, including Cinepocalypse and Salem Horror Fest.

Cancelled remake

In 2008, producer

said that the film rights were back with Paramount and there were plans to remake the film; however, he had no desire to direct. In 2010, it was announced that Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes had officially signed on to produce with Cohen to direct and

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

and Brian Gunn writing the screenplay. The announcement of a remake and Platinum Dunes' involvement was met with generally negative fan reaction. In 2014, Platinum Dunes producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form confirmed that the remake was no longer in development.

References

External links

* * *
''The Monster Squad''
at I-Mockery (also includes ''Monster Squad'' Commodore 64 game)
Q&A with cast and crew

''The Monster Squad'' at Comic Con 2007
at Dread Central {{DEFAULTSORT:Monster Squad, The 1987 films 1987 horror films 1980s comedy horror films American comedy horror films 1980s English-language films 1980s German-language films 1980s children's fantasy films Crossover films Dracula films Frankenstein films Mummy films American werewolf films TriStar Pictures films Films directed by Fred Dekker Films with screenplays by Shane Black Films scored by Bruce Broughton HBO Films films 1980s monster movies Taft Entertainment Pictures films 1987 comedy films Films about children American vampire films 1980s American films