Starring Andre Gower, Ryan Lambert, Tom Noonan, Leonardo Cimino, Ashley Bank, Duncan Regehr
Written By: Fred Dekker, Shane Black
Directed By: Fred Dekker
Studio: Lionsgate
Buy on Amazon.com link

“Wolfman’s got nards!” You’ve more than likely heard that memorable line from this cult classic at some point in your life. This movie has always been at the top of many film & horror geeks’ DVD list and now it’s finally out! I’m not sure why it’s a cult classic but I always ended up watching this movie when it was on cable.

Monster Squad is about a group of kids making a monster club. They talk about important things like, how to kill Dracula and if a Wolfman wears pants or not. One day they get the cool, older rebel kid to join their club and it’s a good he joins up, because they are going to need all the help they can get. The blood sucking vampire Dracula is reborn and is alive. He ends up in the United States and is on the look out for this amulet that will grant him power to conquer Earth. But it’s not just Dracula who shows up, all types of monsters are summoned to help out Dracula like Frankenstein’s Monster, The Mummy, The Gillman, Wolfman and some scary vampire bitches. Sean, the leader of the Monster Squad, comes across a special diary that given to him by his Mother. The diary ends up being from Van Helsing, and explains in detail how to get all these monsters back into limbo so they don’t rule the world. Only problem, it’s all in German. Lucky for Sean, there’s the “Scary German Guy” that lives next door to him. With the help of the German guy, and a very unlikely ally; they all plan on taking down Dracula and his evil companions before it’s too late! Dun Dun Dun Dun…..

I can’t believe this movie is finally out on DVD. There has been so many rumors and gossip about it for years and thankfully Lionsgate got everything all settled with rights & crap like that. Obviously the movie isn’t that great but as a kid seeing this movie, I loved it because it had all those monsters in it. Granted I was a complete wimp and still got scared. The most frightening thing for me as a kid was the Vampire chicks. I always remember I had to look away or change the channel when they came on the screen. Yeah yeah, sure laugh at me.

Everyone always quoted the “Wolfman’s got nards” line but the one I always ended up saying was “My name is Horace! *gun click*” The fat kid, aka Horace, had a lot of the best lines in the movie but it was Rudy who all the kids wished they were like. The kid got away with wearing white socks, rolled up jeans, dress shoes and still made it look cool. Of course the spiky black hair, leather jacket and smoking helped things out as well. Rudy actually had the majority of the kills in the Monster Squad. I guess it was a good thing he joined the group huh? That was definitely the best part of the movie, just seeing how bad ass Rudy, and ultimately Horace were. But Dracula was bad ass as well. Just kept walking and beating the crap out of police with one arm. I just love when he blows up the Squad’s treehouse and says “meeting adjourned.” Just a bad-ass line.

I’m sure the fans of the movie will agree with me, that we all could have done without the little girl Phoebe and Frankenstein’s monster storyline. It definitely made the movie cheesier. The one shot into the sunset of all of them walking was such a ripoff scene from ET. It would have been cool if Frankenstein betrayed Phoebe and and then ripped her apart. But maybe I’m just a morbid bastard. But as an 80’s movie, the film wasn’t THAT bad. It had some funny lines, the special effects were good at the time and the movie had quite a lot of memorable lines. Oh yeah, and it had a girl in her underwear haha.

Just having the movie on DVD is a treat in and of itself, but fans will also love the second disc of extras as well! They cover just about everything you can think of. You can watch all the featurettes in one viewing and it’s practically longer than the movie itself. Most of the main actors are there, plus the director/writer Fred Dekker, and some special effects guys. The actor who played Horace passed away in 1997 of pneumonia, which I didn’t know about until seeing the extras. It’s sad that he’s not alive to see how well received the movie is now. But actors Andre Gower (Sean), Duncan Regehr (Dracula), Tom Noonan (Frankenstein), Ashley Bank (Phoebe) and Ryan Lambert (Rudy) were there to talk about the movie. It’s great hearing all the behind the scenes stories, and how creepy Tom Noonan seemed. The guy would talk like Frankenstein’s monster all the time, and wouldn’t break out of character. And it was funny to hear how Duncan Regehr scared the living crap out of Ashley Banks when he had to pick her up and scream at her. “Give me the amulet you little BITCH!” There’s a lot more to see besides that so definitely watch all the featurettes when you get the chance.

If you like 80’s movies like The Goonies, The Lost Boys, Gremlins; than you’ll love The Monster Squad. It’s a kid film but not that kiddie when you think about it. Its got monsters and kids killing them. I know you wanted to be in the Monster Squad when you were little, I know I did!

Features:
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Fred Dekker and “Squad Members” Andre Glover, Ryan Lambert and Ashley Bank
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Fred Dekker and Director of Photography Bradford May
Monster Squad Forever! – A Five-Part Retrospective Featuring New Interviews with Writer/Director Fred Dekker, Actors Andre Gower, Ryan Lambert, Ashley Bank, Duncan Regehr, Tom Noonan and More!
A Conversation with Frankenstein – A Never-Before-Seen Classic Interview with the Monster Himself!
Deleted Scenes
Original Theatrical Trailer and TV Spot
Still Gallery

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo CC

Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
English, Spanish

Favorite Scenes: The montage when the kids are making weapons, Patrick’s sister unchanging in the window, The action stuff at the end.
Rating: NR
Running Time: 82 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: