THE MONSTER SQUAD REVIEW!!! (EXCLUSIVE SERIES)

Initial release date: August 14, 1987

Studio: TriStar Pictures

Tagline: You know who to call when you have ghosts. But who do you call when you have monsters?

Plot: Five youngsters find themselves up against the combined might of Dracula, the Mummy, the Gill Man, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's monster who arrive in town in search of a magic amulet.

Cast

Andre Gower - Sean

Robby Kiger - Patrick

Stephem Macht - Del (Sean's Dad)

Duncan Regehr - Count Dracula

Tom Noonan - Frankenstein's Monster

Brent Chalum - Horcace

Ryan Lambert - Rudy

Ashley Bank - Phoebe

Michael Faustino - Eugene

Mary Ellen Trainer - Emily

Carl Thilbault - Wolfman

Tom Woodruff Jr. - Gillman

Michael Reid Mackay - Mummy

Jack Gwillim - Van Helsing

Writer(s): Shane Black (The Predator; The Nice Guys)

Fred Dekker (The Predator; Robo Cop 3)

Director: Fred Dekker (Robo Cop 3)

Rated PG-13 (80 minutes)

With Renfield now showing at the Dietrich (which marks the big screen return of the world's most popular vampire), I wanted to take a look at a few throwback films that involve a vampire. And to start things off, I took a look at an 80s films that might've been forgotten over the years.

The Monster Squad is one of those kinda campy flicks that can deliver a few scares. When I first watched this as a kid many years ago, I thought it was really scary. Yet, it has a campy, corny feel that most 80s monster flicks are known for.

The effects are okay for their time and some of the monster sequences, including the ones that involve Dracula, can be quite entertaining. All the monsters are a slight variation of the legendary Universal monsters.

The Monster Squad is sort of cheesy at times, but is very entertaining. It's almost like The Goonies, minus actors that have star power and has monsters. You can find this 80s hidden gem on Paramount Plus and a few various VOD rental services.

Here are some interesting tidbits for The Monster Squad:

• According to director Fred Dekker, the 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've cost more than the final budget of the film.

• Liam Neeson was paid for a bit part that was never shot.

• According to Dekker, the film was cut by 13 minutes because some executives didn't want it to run more than 90 minutes.

• Due to licensing issues, the crew had to create monsters/characters that were suggestive - but not exact copies - of Universal's iconic monsters.

• The movie is said to be a blatant rip-off of the more well known adventure movie, The Goonies. Eventually, the movie gained cult status and popularity.

• The movie had a relatively quick development, being first discussed in 1985 and shot the following year.

• The Monster Squad opened in the US on August 14, 1987, generating $2.9 million in revenue in its first week, good only for 12th place. By its second weekend, the movie was averaging a dismal $696 per screen and was pulled from theaters with a poor domestic tally of $3.8 million.

• The movie's PG-13 rating may have prevented it from reaching the audience most likely to identify with its characters, while older teens were more interested in the R-rated The Lost Boys, which opened just two weeks prior.

• On April 16, 2006, Ain't It Cool News writer Eric Vespe organized two screenings of the movie at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, TX. The event was a sellout and marked a turning point in the movie's revival. It led to many more screenings and the letter-writing campaign for the movie's home video re-release.

• A remake was in development for a few years and since 2014, it was no longer in development.

https://youtu.be/7EU6hle3k1g