Each year that one animated feature comes out that really sticks with me (Corpse Bride, Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Shrek). This year's been fairly boring, with mediocre to not-so-good movies coming out (Cars, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, Doogle, Over the Hedge, Barnyard, The Ant Bully). It is simply a great movie for kids. Not for ones that are too young but definitely a nice gem for boys who like to get spooked. It's a thrilling ride that's as entertaining as it is stunningly visual. Gil Kenan's directorial debut comes in as somewhat of a shock, with his excellent attention to detail and incredible sense of direction with the spook-fest that is "Monster House".
The movie centers around DJ and Chowder, two pre-teen friends who suspect the house across the street is evil. After losing their ball on the yard, Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi), the owner of the house, gets a heart attack while trying to scare the kids off. His sudden 'death' angers the house, making it turn into a creature with the windows as the eyes, and the door as the mouth.
The idea that a house has a face and walks around may sound stupid, but with the stellar animation it completely works. Kenan not only offers much laughter, but focuses on scaring us with what we all feared as kids (at least the ones who lived in Suburban homes), that one spooky house we were always afraid to go near. The house swallows people, blows steam from the chimney and plays dead when authority comes to check it out.
There's always some aspect of the film, at least in an animated feature that doesn't work. Take for example "Shrek" or "Shrek II". What bothered me is that they focused on making little children laugh (the donkey is NOT funny for someone who doesn't laugh at fart jokes). Or "The Incredibles", where the aspect of children having superpowers has been done to death. Aside from "Finding Nemo", "Monster House" is the one movie that has everything going for it. Though at times the humor is targeted at a much younger audience, there are instances where you know this is not a G-rated movie ('OK, let's cut the crap, I know that the owners left you some money... Now buy some Halloween candy').
DJ and Chowder are almost too realistic. Their mannerisms, their facial expressions, their behavior far reaches beyond any child star. The character of Zee (voiced by Maggie Gyllenhaal) is awe-inspiring, with her exaggerated body language that probably made Maggie herself blush. Nebbercracker is probably my favorite character. Voiced by the hilarious Buscemi, the seemingly rotten old man is both hilarious and scary. He's the heart of the story (pun intended) and the drive for the 'horror' aspect of the film.
We've all been there. We all loved to watch scary movies as kid. But not too scary, I'm talking about movies like "Goonies" and "Gremlins" and "The Addams Family". We all loved to watch scared kids taking on adults or monsters, with classics such as "Home Alone", and "Die Unendliche Geschichte (The Neverending Story)". This movie combines both of those in order to satisfy a younger audience and create a sense of nostalgia in the older demographic.
With one of the best animated scenes I've ever seen on the screen (at the end, with the dynamite being thrown), "Monster House" goes up there with "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Edward Scissorhands", and "Beetle Juice" as a Burtonesque type of film that defines childhood desire for fear. Definitely a movie that can be seen more than just once, and the best 3D Animated Feature since "Finding Nemo", "Monster House" is a sure contender at the Academy Awards in 2007, and perhaps the most fun movie of the summer so far.
The movie centers around DJ and Chowder, two pre-teen friends who suspect the house across the street is evil. After losing their ball on the yard, Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi), the owner of the house, gets a heart attack while trying to scare the kids off. His sudden 'death' angers the house, making it turn into a creature with the windows as the eyes, and the door as the mouth.
The idea that a house has a face and walks around may sound stupid, but with the stellar animation it completely works. Kenan not only offers much laughter, but focuses on scaring us with what we all feared as kids (at least the ones who lived in Suburban homes), that one spooky house we were always afraid to go near. The house swallows people, blows steam from the chimney and plays dead when authority comes to check it out.
There's always some aspect of the film, at least in an animated feature that doesn't work. Take for example "Shrek" or "Shrek II". What bothered me is that they focused on making little children laugh (the donkey is NOT funny for someone who doesn't laugh at fart jokes). Or "The Incredibles", where the aspect of children having superpowers has been done to death. Aside from "Finding Nemo", "Monster House" is the one movie that has everything going for it. Though at times the humor is targeted at a much younger audience, there are instances where you know this is not a G-rated movie ('OK, let's cut the crap, I know that the owners left you some money... Now buy some Halloween candy').
DJ and Chowder are almost too realistic. Their mannerisms, their facial expressions, their behavior far reaches beyond any child star. The character of Zee (voiced by Maggie Gyllenhaal) is awe-inspiring, with her exaggerated body language that probably made Maggie herself blush. Nebbercracker is probably my favorite character. Voiced by the hilarious Buscemi, the seemingly rotten old man is both hilarious and scary. He's the heart of the story (pun intended) and the drive for the 'horror' aspect of the film.
We've all been there. We all loved to watch scary movies as kid. But not too scary, I'm talking about movies like "Goonies" and "Gremlins" and "The Addams Family". We all loved to watch scared kids taking on adults or monsters, with classics such as "Home Alone", and "Die Unendliche Geschichte (The Neverending Story)". This movie combines both of those in order to satisfy a younger audience and create a sense of nostalgia in the older demographic.
With one of the best animated scenes I've ever seen on the screen (at the end, with the dynamite being thrown), "Monster House" goes up there with "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Edward Scissorhands", and "Beetle Juice" as a Burtonesque type of film that defines childhood desire for fear. Definitely a movie that can be seen more than just once, and the best 3D Animated Feature since "Finding Nemo", "Monster House" is a sure contender at the Academy Awards in 2007, and perhaps the most fun movie of the summer so far.