Monster Night

...if you're in the mood for a "spooktacular" Goosebumps-like horror film that's fun & silly and not scary at all. It's like Scooby-Doo but without the dog or "Casper" (1995), but without the goofy ghosts and blockbuster budget.

Released to video in 2006, the story has to do with a family who moves to a castle-like home in a new town, which turns out to be haunted and somehow linked to the creepy local school. When the parents (Robert Carradine and Vanessa Angel) go out for the evening the three kids have a Halloween party and the younger brother goes missing. To find him, the two older siblings team-up with the top jock of the school and his girlfriend; misadventures ensue.

The requirements of a film like this are obvious: A good assortment of youthful protagonists, from kids to late-teens? Check. An equally good cast of adults? Check. A quasi-horror ambiance? Check. A fun, silly spirit? Check. Corny, but amusing humor? Check. A simple story with a sense of adventure? Check. An assortment of good-lookin' women, young and older? Check. An energetic and rockin' soundtrack? Check. A runtime that doesn't overstay its welcome (like the Pirates of the Caribbean films)? Check.

Nuff said.

GRADE: B-

I like low budget kid thrillers, like goosebumps, or "The Monster Squad." This movie fails terribly on so many levels. Poor CGI, extremely poor music soundtrack which plays almost nonstop - and all but gives a drum beat at the end of each poorly written and executed joke. Scenarios staged as funny are just odd. The target audience is extremely narrow - ages 3-7 at most, maybe even 6 as an upper end limit. Acting is quite forced, over the top, and I'm not sure if it was due to poor acting or poor directing. I honestly can't recommend this movie at all, and I'm perplexed by the handful of reviews here on IMDb that can. I regret feeling greatly misled.

This movie can be predictable, since it is the usual story about a family moving into a creepy old mansion and the kids trying to convince the parents it's haunted, but they don't believe them until it's too late. To me, it was a little better than one of those others like it, it had some new sparks. The acting was pretty believable, and the jokes were actually funny. The story stayed on track and it moved along smoothly. Not saying any awards should be given, but the critics should have pounded it like they did. It was underrated. 8 out of ten stars.

Overworked plot wherein young teens are forced to move to a weird town. Their new home is a huge fully furnished mansion, clearly worth a million bucks, but they hate it because the door falls off its hinges, it has cobwebs and a spider and looks spooky at night. Its haunted by pathetically boring non-threatening ghosts. Furthermore, their new home town is patterned after the "Eerie Indiana" TV show of the 90's. Their school teachers, bus driver etc are all goofy and talk in rhyme, for no apparent reason. The school principal appears to be out of Harry Potter and wears a monks robe. All of which would be fine if any of the jokes were funny. The writers seem to think kids will laugh at anything remotely silly. Boring gag after gag falls flat until the fast forward key becomes the only salvation. Even young kids are likely to find this film dull and predictable. The producers have spared every expense here and even shun the modern aspect ratio, presenting this shoestring quickie in full screen format. The kid actors are not particularly appealing and are given trite and unconvincing lines. Very forgettable. Your kids deserve better.