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Monster House (2006)

DVD Cover (Sony Home Entertainment Widescreen)
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Overall Rating 66%
Overall Rating
Ranked #1,326
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Monsters under the bed are scary enough, but what happens when an entire house is out to get you? Three teens aim to find out when they go up against a decrepit neighboring home and unlock its frightening secrets. --TMDb
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Review by Tobes
Added: May 20, 2010
Usually, I try to preface my reviews with a little introduction paragraph that ties into the movie, but there's only one really easy way to start this one.

Monster House is the first (and only) "horror" kids animated film.

There's a lot of subtle versions of horror cliche's in this film, toned down for the age group this film is for, and because of this, it makes for one entertaining CG movie.

The film starts off with friends DJ (Mitchel Musso) and Chowder (Sam Lerner) playing a friendly game of street hoops while DJ's parents are getting ready to go away for Halloween weekend. After the parents leave, the boys take a bad shot at the hoop, and the basketball rolls across the street into the crazy neighbors yard (Nebbercracker, voiced by Steve Buscemi). Nebbercracker comes running out of the house, and starts screaming at the boys to get away, grabbing DJ and getting in his face to tell him how to behave properly. While yelling, Nebbercracker has a heart attack, and falls on top of DJ dead. The kids freak, the ambulance comes, and as the ambulance leaves, the house comes to life and starts terrorizing any kid who comes within the stretches of the property.

The artistic quality of this movie is fantastic, especially when compared to the rest of the films like this that came out in 2006 along side it. Columbia Pictures did a great job in finding an animation team that kept up with Pixar and Dreamworks in that time, and even today the movie looks amazing. There's tons of little details in the scenery that catches your eyes, whether it's little details in the construction of the house, or of the characters themselves. The voice-work is all spot on as well, with Columbia once again doing an amazing job in casting the proper voice talent for the characters. Steve Buscemi's showing is perhaps the strongest (as he's a little creepy in real life), so playing a voice for a crazy old man probably wasn't a huge stretch.

One of the best parts about this film, along with the amazing quality of the CG, is the fact that it's actually a creepy/horror-esque animated film. While it's definitely a children's film, there's also a lot of things that adults would laugh at, as well as some adult jokes. The scenes where they show why the house is a "monster house" are pretty fucked up in relation to what movies like these are usually about, so it's a nice change of pace. Just so everyone can get an idea of what kind of jokes are in this film, I present the following:

(While the kids are in the house)
Jenny: There!
[waves flashlight at chandelier]
Jenny: Well, if those are the teeth, and that's the tongue, then that must be the uvula!
Chowder: Oh, so it's a *girl* house...

(After Nebbercracker falling on DJ)
DJ: I've just... murdered a guy!
Chowder: Naw... when it's an accident, it's called manslaughter.

Overall this movie is a great watch for any age. There's a lot of really funny moments for any age bracket, and there's a story in it that's pretty entertaining and engrossing. I realize it sounds silly to think of a kids movie as engrossing, but the story flows nicely throughout the film, and I think due to the pacing being what it is, it really helped make this a solid showing.

8/10.
Lucid Dreams #1: Lucid Dreams - added May 25, 2010 at 1:46am
An 8 out of 10 sounds pretty good for this. I didn't think I was going to like it that much, the trailers left me with an uneasy feeling, but I saw it anyways.
Griffinheart #2: Griffinheart - added June 4, 2010 at 1:38am
It's been awhile, but I definitely liked this movie. Somewhere around a 7-8 / 10 sounds right.
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