Monster House

Monster House

Directed by: Gil Kenan

Starring: Mitchel Musso

Genre: Animated

Run Time: 91 min.

Release Date: July 2006

On The Web: Official Site

Teaser: Movie Trailer

Reviewed by Byron Merritt

The Golden Globes are over and their new Animation Category has been added (2007). And anyone who thought MONSTER HOUSE had even a remote shot at winning this award must’ve been smoking crack. Up against HAPPY FEET and the awesomely entertaining CARS, Monster House was the lemon in the animation ranks. Even though the animation was good (actually these things are more a cartoonish CGI than animation), the story missed by a mile.

More interesting than the story itself was the manner in which it was made. On the extra features of the DVD it shows how small, electronic balls were attached to actors as they read their lines and acted out their parts, allowing the CGI animators the ability to track every facial twitch and finger movement, thus making the animated characters move in a more life-like fashion.

I don’t usually mention the MPAA ratings of films, but here I’m going to make an exception because this supposedly kid-friendly film is rated PG, not G. My guess is that the violence and the one off-comment about female anatomy (“Oh. So it’s a girl house.”) forced this rating on the film (just something for those stickler parents to be aware of, although I’d be willing to bet your little kiddies get more information from the Victoria Secrets catalogue in your monthly mail and more bloody viewing on the nightly news).

The story is about a dank house on a quiet street. This house is inhabited by a crazy old coot named Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi) who guards his property with rabid ferocity. Any toys that end up on his lawn are immediately confiscated and never seen again. Across the street from Mr. Nebbercracker lives D.J. (Mitchel Musso). He’s infatuated with the dark and dreary house, and spies on it via a telescope from his upstairs bedroom window. And when D.J.’s parents head out for the weekend and put a babysitter in charge of D.J., things start to get interesting. The babysitter’s boyfriend vanishes, and D.J. instigates an argument with old man Nebbercracker, only to have the crotchety man fall over with an apparent heart attack. An ambulance takes Nebbercracker away and the house now sits vacant on the verge of Halloween eve.

D.J.’s best friend, Chowder, comes over, too, and when D.J. tells Chowder about the strange goings on at the vacant house, Chowder doesn’t believe him and decides to play doorbell ditch. But when he rings the bell, the house comes alive! The spirit of ...something lives in its walls.

As the boys try and figure out what’s going on, they also encounter an entrepreneurial young cookie sales-girl named Jenny whom both boys become somewhat enraptured with; Chowder and D.J. are, after all (so we’re told), approaching puberty.

Initially the boys and Jenny think that old man Nebbercracker is dead, but his unexpected return changes everything they once thought they knew about the old, scarey house.

Although loaded with plenty of action, scarey scenes, and funny buddy dialogue, the story is simply not up to par. The fact that D.J. is approaching puberty has nothing to do with the story’s end result and is given way too much emphasis throughout. The babysitter (Maggie Gyllenhaal) also has little to do with the story and appears more as filler than anything else.

Even so, the animation is interesting and the action will keep most viewers watching. Just don’t expect Happy Feet or Cars and you’ll probably do just fine with Monster House.