Countdown to Halloween - “Tarot” and “The Monster Squad”

For last week’s Countdown to Halloween series, I took a look at the 2019 movie “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” and the highly controversial “Terrifier” series. For this week, I wanted to take a look at last year’s moderate horror hit “Tarot” and the 1987 horror flick “The Monster Squad,” which gained a cult following after it bombed during its initial theatrical run.

In last year’s “Tarot,” when a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings - never use someone else’s deck - they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards.

One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death to escape the future foretold in their readings.

The 2024 horror flick “Tarot” received mostly negative reviews from critics and mixed audience reactions. While most of the initial reactions have agreed that the movie is predictable (which it can be), this 2024 movie is actually pretty entertaining.

“Tarot” delivers some interesting and creative monster designs and effective, yet simple, supernatural suspense and scares. Sure, the movie’s plot and most of the characters are a bit on the cliched side. But, nonetheless, it won’t stop you from having a fun time watching this movie.

There’s a standout, suspense-filled moment that’s really exciting. One of the characters (Paxton), who read “The Fool” card, gets trapped in an elevator and ends up getting stalked by a menacing clown version of the tarot card. That entire sequence is one of the few nerve-wracking moments that this movie delivers.

The supernatural horror flick has been generally panned by critics, yet it can also be a fun (and predictable) watch that offers a nostalgic dose of classic horror with creative creature designs and a unique premise involving tarot cards. Despite the critical reception, the movie earned roughly $50 million worldwide with a reported $8 million budget.

MPA: Rated PG-13 for horror violence, terror, bloody images, some strong language and drug content   (runtime 92 minutes)  (currently available on Netflix).

In the 1987 monster feature “The Monster Squad,” five youngsters find themselves up

against the combined might of Dracula, the Mummy, the Gill Man and Frankenstein’s Monster who arrive in town in search of a magic amulet.

“The Monster Squad” has a strong cult following that appreciates its fun and nostalgic take on classic monsters, despite the heavily mixed initial reviews. While some critics and audiences fount it either too scary for children and not scary enough for adults, its release on VHS and DVD (and ultimately streaming) helped its popularity grow, becoming a cherished 80s adventure and a cult favorite among horror fans for its humor and heart.

This cult favorite successfully combines a classic monster movie with a kids adventure, creating a rather unique and entertaining tone. The movie also featured a group of kids who were passionate about monsters, which actually resonates with viewers who share a similar love of the genre. It’s also really great that this movie is a love letter of sorts to the classic Universal monsters, bringing together many of the famous creatures in one story.

“The Monster Squad” also delivers some really fun moments, such as seeing the monsters coming together, the typical 80s montage where we see the kids preparing to fight the monsters and the infamous moment where the kids find out that “Wolfman’s got nards” after trying to defeat the creature. The movie also delivers a couple heart-felt moments, especially when Phoebe (the youngest sister of one of the members) befriends Frankenstein.

Like I stated before, “The Monster Squad” received mixed reviews upon its release and failed at the box office. Now that it gained a strong cult following, this movie is now considered a fun and exciting adventure that stands the test of time, appealing to both children and adults with its blend of horror, humor and heart.

Make sure to keep on checking my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page on Facebook to see what else I have planned for my Countdown to Halloween series and for the 10/15 edition, I have some good reviews planned for this series!

• Loosely based on the 1992 novel "Horrorscope", written by Nicholas Adams.

• The tarot card deck used in the movie was specifically created for it.

• 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.

• According to director Fred Dekker, Shane Black's first draft of the screenplay was so huge that the opening of the film featured Van Helsing accompanied by zeppelins and hundreds of men on horseback storming Dracula's castle. Dekker stated that this sequence would have cost more than the final budget of the film.

• Near the start of the movie the plane where Dracula first appears has "Browning" written on the side this a nod to director Tod Browning who directed "Dracula" in 1931.

• Due to licensing issues, the crew had to create characters that were suggestive -- but not exact copies -- of Universal's iconic monsters. "The challenge was to suggest those classic creatures, without really copying them," explained Shane Mahan, "because we didn't have permission or the license to use those specific images. So we could do a 'Gillman,' for example, but it couldn't look too much like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. It was frustrating for us at first, because, of course, we wanted to do the original designs! But we couldn't. We could only suggest those designs. So the Frankenstein monster looks a bit like the Karloff creature; but instead of bolts in the neck, he has bolts in the forehead. There was a certain percentage of changes we had to make to get away from any legal copyright infringement."

• 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 of the absolute best interpretations of the character.

• During the montage with the Monster Squad getting ready to stop Dracula, Sean points at where Shadowbrook Road is on the map to show his friend Patrick where the mansion Dracula is hiding out in is. On the other side of the map, it says Chaney College as a location. This is an homage to actor Lon Chaney Jr., who played Lawrence "Larry" Talbot in Universal's "The Wolf Man."

• The brief scene where Frankenstein meets Phoebe playing by the water is a clear homage to a similar (yet more tragic) scene in the original Frankenstein film. The way in which the scene plays out in this film is, according to previous interviews, more in line with the way Boris Karloff wanted to do the scene in the 1931 original.