Monster House
Directed By Gil Kenan
Review by Douglas A. Waltz

Many of you have read Doug's reviews in the science fiction and cult film department. I figured as far behind as I am on movies, I would let him take a shot at this one. Not to mention he was going anyway. HA! Also Douglas is working on a new book, called Nahum dealing with a vigilante who kills rapists. I like that. So, here is a link to the first chapter of Nahum. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=96769932

I will be one of the first to admit that when I first saw the previews for this I said, "Huh?" The entire premise of the film sounded pretty stupid. Of course that all changed when I went to see the film under what can only be referred to as optimal conditions.
Recently the wife and I were fortunate to receive a 1981 Cutlass Custom Cruiser station wagon. One of the guys at church had a grandma who wanted it out of her garage and was willing to just give it up. This baby is the equivalent of a tank compared to the flimsy plastic things that they pass off as cars nowadays. So, with this classic car we loaded up the four kids and drove to the Sunset Auto Theater. The Sunset is one of the few remaining, fully functional drive ins left in the wilds of Kalamazoo County and, to be exact, it's actually in neighboring Van Buren county. They always show a double bill, tickets are 10 bucks a carload and they have a full kitchen in their concession stand. Sure, if you want to settle for popcorn and soda be my guest, but give me carcinogenic hot dogs, cheeseburgers and those delectable chili cheese fries any day of the week.
So, we got to The Sunset late on Friday. The temperature was perfect. We parked the station wagon backwards and put the tail gate down. The kids brought blankets and I remembered bug spray. We had even made a special trip to the candy store for that all important movie candy.
Then we settled in to watch the flick.
Monster House tells the tale of young DJ and his buddy Chowder. DJ lives across the street from a mean old man named Mister Nebbercracker (Brilliantly voiced by Steve Buscemi). Nebbercracker is always being mean to kids and taking any toys that land on his lawn. We think it's because he's mean and all alone, but there's another reason. His house is alive and mean as Hell.
DJ and Chowder, along with their new friend Jenny decide that they need to discover the secret of the house and get rid of it once and for all.
That's when the action kicks in full force.
Monster House is a non stop piece of work. There is very little character development to get in the way of the forward momentum of this film. The animation is wonky and slightly reminiscent of NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, but done with computers. It works very well for this particular tale. Better than standard animation would have. But the most amazing thing would have had to been where I saw it. As I mentioned before we were at the drive in, the night was clear and the stars were out in full force. Living in downtown Kalamazoo, the city lights tend to make the stars dim somewhat, but out in the middle of nowhere in a grassy parking lot the night was a deep, dark blue and the stars were bright and surrounded the huge drive in screen. It gave an added dimension to the film that even 3-D could do. It felt like we were there with DJ and Chowder and Jenny, regardless of the fact that they were just cartoon characters. Everyone says that you need to see this flick in 3-D. I think that everyone needs to see this movie in a drive in. Who would have thought that a film viewing concept from decades ago would be the perfect medium for this cutting edge technology? Find a drive-in and go see it. You can thank me later. Hopefully, your drive-in will have chili cheese fries.

---Douglas A. Waltz