The Monster Squad — The Monster Squad( UHD/ Blu Ray)
From the late 1980’s The Monster Squad is a thoroughly charming and entertaining teen horror comedy, which perfectly blends It genres in a nostalgic, at times fairly creative, but always engaging manner. It follows a ragtag gang of kids who find out their town has been invaded by classic/ universal monsters- taking in Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, and The Gill Man- who are all wonderfully recreated by special effects master Stan Winston. Here from Arrow Video UK is either a UHD or Blu-ray release of the film, featuring a 4k scan and a huge selection of archive extras, including two feature-length documentaries.
The Monster Squad is from the year 1987. It was directed/ co-written by San Francisco-born Fred Dekker. Between the mid-70s and early 2020s, he had seven directing credits to his name, taking in four shorts and three feature films. His other two features were Alien/ zombie horror comedy Night of the Creeps (1986) and the PG-13 sequel RoboCop 3 (1993)
We open with a flashback one hundred or so years back, where legendary monster hunter Dr. Abraham Van Helsing is trying to destroy Count Dracula (Duncan Regehr) and his castle once and for all- suddenly, a vortex opens, sucking Dracula and a few others in.
We then shift to 1980’s USA, where twelve-year-old friends Sean (Andre Gower) & Patrick (Robby Kiger) are getting told off for making monster drawings in class. We find out soon enough that they are part of a hang-out in a treehouse gang who love Universal/ classic monsters- in the gang with the pair are big-boned Horace (Brent Chalem), small for his age Eugene (Michael Faustino), and few years old/ leather jacket/ shades/ cigarette smoking Rudy (Ryan Lambert).
One day, Sean’s mum presents him with the diary of Dr Abraham Van Helsing, and slowly but surely, he and his squad members believe something rather horrifying is afoot in their town. First, a Mummy seemingly disappears from the local museum, then Sean’s cop father has dealings with a man who claims to be a werewolf….and off in the misty woods near town we see Count Dracula bringing together his team of monsters taking in the already mentioned & out from the river a Gill Man.
Throughout, there’s a feeling of playful wonder/ fun creepiness about the one-hour-and-twenty-two-minute film, which keeps its pace both active and eventful throughout. All of the child actors are very good/ well placed. The monsters themselves all look great, though I’d say the standout is the mummy, with its uncovered ghoulish face/ trailing ancient bandages. There are fleeting moments of light gore/ creepy threat, but it mainly remains approachable to all ages/ a great gateway horror film.
The film is often compared to The Goonies, but personally I think it stands head & shoulders above it- as all the kids are likeable, the plot is more pacy/effectively simple, and in my mind, monsters always outdo pirates
Moving on to this two-disc set- on disc one we have the film itself, which is given a lovely 4k scan, as well as a huge selection of archive extras. There are two commentary tracks- one with writer/director Fred Dekker and “Squad Members” Andre Gower, Ryan Lambert and Ashley Bank. And one with writer/director Fred Dekker and director of photography Bradford May. There’s also: Monster Squad Forever (1 hour 16), a 2007 documentary about the film. Monster Squad- The Monster Factory (1 hour 15) interviews with the SFX team. Monster Mash (19.11) interview with composer Bruce Broughton. A Conversation with Frankenstein (8.34). Deleted/ extended scenes (14.66). Animated Storyboard sequence, Trailers and TV spot, and Image galleries.
On the second disc- which is a limited edition- we have 2018’s Wolfman’s Got Nards (1 hour 28), a feature-length documentary co-written and directed by The Monster Squad star Andre Gower. In the Goddamn Club (4.15), blood bath music video, six deleted scenes, Extended interviews with Fred Dekker, Shane Black, Adam Goldberg and Seth Green. Archive interview with Andre Gower & Henry Darrow McComas. Podcast audio interviews with actors Ashley Bank, Tom Noonan, Carl Thibault and Michael Reid MacKay, and trailer.
The finished release comes with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Francesco Francavilla. And a booklet featuring new writing on the film by critics Sean Abley, Priscilla Page, Justin LaLiberty and Johnny Mains
The Monster Squad stands as both a great teen horror comedy and a wonderful gateway horror film. This new two-disc set from Arrow Video is literally stacked with extras- making this very much the definitive release of this stone-cold 80s classic.