Monster House
Year: 2006
Director: Gil Keenan
Starring: Steve Bucemi, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke & Mitchel Musso
Runtime: 91 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 29/10/21
Director: Gil Keenan
Starring: Steve Bucemi, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke & Mitchel Musso
Runtime: 91 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 29/10/21
Horror is simultaneously one of the easiest, and one of the hardest genres to successfully pull off. Easy in the sense that you don’t need an awful lot to produce an unsettling atmosphere and a scare. But difficult in the sense of needing to balance all the simple mechanics perfectly to create an effective scare that lasts in the viewers minds.
I have not watched Monster House since it released in 2006. The animated horror aimed at children was arguably one of my first exposures to the genre and I distinctly remember being spooked by it as a child. So when I found it on Netflix recently I was mildly curious to see if the film was as enjoyable as I remember, and it certainly surprised me.
DJ (Mitchel Musso) lives across the street from Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi), a grouchy old man who terrorises the local kids and steals their toys whenever they land in his front garden. When DJ’s friend Chowder (Sam Lerner) loses his new basketball on Nebbercracker’s lawn, DJ runs over to get it but in the process is caught. Nebbercracker, in a fit of unfettered rage, has a heart attack and is taken away in an ambulance leaving his home unattended. With DJ having a bad feeling about the house and Halloween being upon them, the boys decide to face their fears head on and prove to themselves that the house isn’t evil. But to their horror they find that the house is indeed sentient and wants to eat children when they save a girl called Jenny (Spencer Locke). Together the three make a plan to make their way into the house and destroy its heart in the hopes that it will kill the monster within.
I have not watched Monster House since it released in 2006. The animated horror aimed at children was arguably one of my first exposures to the genre and I distinctly remember being spooked by it as a child. So when I found it on Netflix recently I was mildly curious to see if the film was as enjoyable as I remember, and it certainly surprised me.
DJ (Mitchel Musso) lives across the street from Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi), a grouchy old man who terrorises the local kids and steals their toys whenever they land in his front garden. When DJ’s friend Chowder (Sam Lerner) loses his new basketball on Nebbercracker’s lawn, DJ runs over to get it but in the process is caught. Nebbercracker, in a fit of unfettered rage, has a heart attack and is taken away in an ambulance leaving his home unattended. With DJ having a bad feeling about the house and Halloween being upon them, the boys decide to face their fears head on and prove to themselves that the house isn’t evil. But to their horror they find that the house is indeed sentient and wants to eat children when they save a girl called Jenny (Spencer Locke). Together the three make a plan to make their way into the house and destroy its heart in the hopes that it will kill the monster within.
Monster House’s story is intelligently written and doesn’t make the audience out to be stupid. There are multiple layers to the story that are unfolding at any one time, and the characters are all given enough depth and screen time to be fleshed out thoroughly and be important to their inclusion in the plot. It also doesn’t lean too heavily on being a children’s film. Of course, it is suitable for pre-teen kids but it doesn’t pull its punches when it wants to be scary. Whilst as an adult I can’t say I was scared by the film, but I was certainly surprised it was getting away with some of its horror considering it has a PG rating. I can certainly understand why as a child I found some elements of it very frightening, particularly concerning the slow build of tension over the first half of the film.
In fact Monster House utilises the strengths of horror filmmaking to its advantage, and as a result is very comparable to other films in the genre just in terms of its stylistic choices. The way the camera navigates the environment, the way the shots are framed and lit, even the audio design is all extremely evocative of horror films in ways most family films aren’t. These stylistic choices alone give the film an eerie quality that really helps set the tone for audiences and get you hiding behind those cushions before any scares have actually taken place.
The performances from our three lead actors are fairly competent without being too obnoxiously annoying as is usually par for the course in kid’s films. The only character that is in danger of leaning too hard into that spectrum of irritating is Chowder, but thankfully he doesn’t often fall into that territory. Nebbercracker is an excellent ‘villain’ and the story of his monster house is one that works well as both a campfire style ‘scary story’, and one that gives the film a surprisingly effective emotional core. There's also a twist that you don’t see coming off the bat, and whilst there are certainly allusions to it prior to the reveal at the end of the second act, it’s a mystery that doesn’t take shape until all the pieces fall into place which for a kids film is very commendable.
Overall Monster House is a very enjoyable horror film for the whole family. It’s well animated with good performances, and it doesn’t shy away from being a true horror film unlike many others that are aimed at younger audiences. It was actually even better than I remember it being when I was younger.
In fact Monster House utilises the strengths of horror filmmaking to its advantage, and as a result is very comparable to other films in the genre just in terms of its stylistic choices. The way the camera navigates the environment, the way the shots are framed and lit, even the audio design is all extremely evocative of horror films in ways most family films aren’t. These stylistic choices alone give the film an eerie quality that really helps set the tone for audiences and get you hiding behind those cushions before any scares have actually taken place.
The performances from our three lead actors are fairly competent without being too obnoxiously annoying as is usually par for the course in kid’s films. The only character that is in danger of leaning too hard into that spectrum of irritating is Chowder, but thankfully he doesn’t often fall into that territory. Nebbercracker is an excellent ‘villain’ and the story of his monster house is one that works well as both a campfire style ‘scary story’, and one that gives the film a surprisingly effective emotional core. There's also a twist that you don’t see coming off the bat, and whilst there are certainly allusions to it prior to the reveal at the end of the second act, it’s a mystery that doesn’t take shape until all the pieces fall into place which for a kids film is very commendable.
Overall Monster House is a very enjoyable horror film for the whole family. It’s well animated with good performances, and it doesn’t shy away from being a true horror film unlike many others that are aimed at younger audiences. It was actually even better than I remember it being when I was younger.