October 30th, 2013 
Brian Leak 
Of all the holidays celebrated worldwide, no single day is more loved by the UTG staff than Halloween. With the arrival of October, the time has finally come to begin rolling out a plethora of features and special announcements we have prepared in celebration of our favorite day, including the one you’re about to read.
31 Days Of Halloween is a recurring daily feature that will run throughout the month of October. The hope and goal of this column is to supply every UTG reader with a daily horror (or Halloween themed) movie recommendation that is guaranteed to amplify your All Hallows’ Eve festivities. We’ll be watching every film the day it’s featured, and we hope you’ll follow along at home. If you have a suggestion, contact us and we may include your favorite scarefest in an upcoming column!
Day 30: The Monster Squad (1987)
Listen up, wolfdorks! For all those that have always wanted a sequel to The Goonies, The Monster Squad is about as close as you’re going to get. Co-written by a young Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3), Fred Dekker’s follow-up to Night Of The Creeps is a cult classic in every facet.
Dracula plans to take over the world with the help of his Universal Monster friends — Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, and Frankenstein’s monster — and the only thing standing in their way is a group of kids that have deemed themselves The Monster Squad.
If you’re anything like me and love all things horror but can’t get enough of renowned ’80s and ’90s classics like Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, and even The Sandlot, then The Monster Squad should be no exception to your excellent taste. Apart from the obvious draw of the long-famed fiends, the kids in the film are perfectly cast and the sometimes perverse/always hilarious dialogue is written in a way very relatable to teens. Led by Sean (André Gower), The Monster Squad is a group of 12-year-old “losers” that have an exclusive club devoted to all things monster related. There’s the nerdy kids, the cool guy, and the group’s obligatory fat kid that they call, well…Fat Kid. But his name’s Horace, not Whore-Ass. Rest in peace, Brent Chalem. There’s also Phoebe (Ashley Bank), Sean’s little sister, who’s one of the best parts of the movie. She’s seemingly fearless and speaks her mind without caution, sometimes resulting in inappropriate hilarity. She does, however, get called a “bitch” by Dracula. She was 5 years old, Drac! Take it easy!
If you’re curious as to whether or not the monsters are used solely as a gimmick and clumsily tossed into the film with little to no merit, have no fear. While the film revolves moreso around the kids, the beloved Universal Monsters are treated with full respect and there are numerous homages to each monster’s folklore and original films from the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. All five monsters in the film look superb, especially for 1987, and while looking back from today, I can’t say the same entirely for the visual effects, but they likely were amazing for the time, much like the aforementioned films of the same era. Basically the film is ’80s goodness to the core. It even has your compulsory scene montage set to a great pop song by Michael Sembello. You know, the “Maniac” guy. He also lent his skills to the film’s very own closing credits rap theme song. It’s so bad. Bad meant good back then. You know, like the Powerglove.
Speaking of Kevin Arnold (keep up with me here), his brother Wayne (Jason Hervey) is a dick in The Monster Squad, too. This is before he ever beat up Kevin in The Wonder Years, one of the greatest shows to ever grace a television screen. Anyway, what I’m rambling on about is the fact that The Monster Squad is super rad in every way. Not only is it a ton of fun, but it’s also one of very few films to recognize and acknowledge the fact that “Frankenstein” is not the name of the monster itself, but that of “the guy who made him.” Kudos, guys!
If you want some good comedic fun with an iconic horror twist, then look no further than The Monster Squad for this Halloween season. If I was previously unclear and portrayed this film solely as a comedy, I assure you that is not the case. While the comedic elements are undeniable, the terror is certainly present. You have five of the most recognizable monsters in film history terrorizing a town in an attempt to take over the world. There’s some gore, scares, and plenty more. I haven’t touched much on the full plot of the film, I know, but I’ll leave that for you to enjoy.
You can pick up the 20th anniversary edition via DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon. You’d be a total peenhead to not add this to your collection.
Editorial written by: Brian Lion – Follow him on Twitter
Last year’s Day 30 film: [?REC]
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