The Monster Squad (1987)

A little known fact about me is that as a child I was one of the founder members of the Monster Club. It was junior school; I had an imagination unblighted by social conformity and a group of friends (I hope they won't mind me saying!) equally as geeky. We would meet up in the playground and argue about who was the toughest monster, how we would kill them if they attacked and most importantly we made badges! Other kids might have thought they were cooler, playing football or kiss chase but we knew that our little club was the best thing in that playground.

Our inspiration came from my friend’s parent’s easy going attitude to allowing us to rent any film we wanted from the local video shop. Invariably they would be horror films. The Monster Squad was one of my absolute favourites. It acted a bit like a gateway drug, as cannabis might lead to heroin, this light film led us to Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street and anything else we could scare ourselves with.

Our Monster Club was ripped straight out of this film. The story revolves around a group of friends who meet up in a tree house, the door is brilliantly marked 'no girls allowed', to discuss all things monstrous. I loved the script, even on rewatching this many years later, the cast of kids do a top job of arguing with all seriousness about monster's powers. Then Dracula begins to gather a dream team including Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy and Wolfman in order to take over the world. Of course the job of stopping them falls to the unlikely heroes and a strange old German bloke from down the street. Why this takes place in suburban America I'm not sure but let's not let this little detail spoil the magic. The film is like a who’s-who of men in Holloween costumes! All very kitsch and very 80's.

It is this kitschness that adds real charm. Some people might find it ridiculous to see the strings on Dracula's bats as they bob up and down, or mock the zip wire just visible as he is sucked into a dodgy looking vortex. But you would be wrong to do this! Before CGI and mega budgets a film had to rely on any effects available to tell the story and needed a script capable of keeping your attention. While the story is tenuous at best the film is packed with enough nice touches (keep an eye out for the homage to the original Frankenstein film as Frankie meets the little girl) and the kids bring enough charm and likeability here to make up for the faults.

The Monster squad doesn't have quite enough charm to make it a classic but it works brilliantly as a light hearted kid’s movie. Never a rival to The Goonies or Stand by Me in the 'kids having a big adventure' film tradition, it still made me smile despite all the cynical years that have passed since I first fell in love with this. Oh and check out the rap which plays over the end credits courtesy of some genius on Youtube!

6/10