The Monster Squad: 20th Anniversary Edition

'Monster Squad' was one of my favorite films growing up. I remember watching it almost every day and memorizing all of the dialogue. I would describe it as 'The Goonies' with the Universal monsters. Even later in life, through worn out VHS and DVD copies of the film, I still find this gem one of my favorites. It's characters, genuine suspense, and decent costumes and makeup still make the film hold up today as it did when I was a kid. And even in my 30s, I still want to be inducted into the Monster Squad.

As a kid, and still to this day, I can still identify with almost all of the kids in this movie. You see, like the kids in the film, I didn't play many sports growing up, rather, I read comics and watched and read everything sci-fi and horror I could get my hands on. I desperately wanted to have a club where my friends and I could talk all day long about horror movies and monsters and aliens from another planet. I never really had an official club, but my dad was always willing to talk about all of those fun things with me and even took me to see the monster movies growing up. It's one of my fondest memories. When we first saw the film, we looked at each other and both wished we were in a club like that. I'll never forget it.

The film follows a group of middle schoolers who have a monster club where they meet every day after school in a treehouse decked out with horror movie posters and other horror memorabilia and talk about movie monsters. Every 100 years, the Universal monsters consisting of Dracula, Wolf-Man, The Mummy, Frankenstein, and the Gill-Man (Creature from the Black Lagoon) enter our world in search of an ancient amulet that will bring them unmatched powers. In the opening scene, we see Abraham Van Helsing battling Dracula and his fanged vampire minions for the amulet. Luckily, Helsing wrote a diary warning the people of the future about the amulet and what is to come.

We cut to 100 years later, which is present day, or the 80s to us, where we meet the kids in the monster club. The leader of the group, Sean (Andre Gower) is given that actual diary as a gift from his mom and learns of the impending doom and return of the monsters. After he discovers these monsters are real and witnesses their return, he organizes a plan to send them back to hell with the help of his friends and an old mysterious neighbor. They soon come to realize they are the only ones who can save Earth.

I just love these older films from the 80s where a group of kids set out to save the world, and they really are the only ones that can do anything about it. When I was growing up, my dream makers and heroes were Spielberg, Landis, Carpenter, Dante, Roddenberry, Donner, Brooks, Verhoven, and Romero. And director Fred Dekker takes this industry of cool and geek and re-created what I felt like growing up. I’ll explain further. What ‘Monster Squad' emulates, is that feeling of being a kid and having to grow up. That sense of adventure, fun, and true friendship. I’m not talking about the friends I have now. I’m talking about the friends I had when I was twelve. The friends I would sneak out of the house to go explore with, which was a HUGE deal. We were in our own world and we thought that we were the only ones who knew or thought about an impending monster outbreak or an alien invasion. The group of kids in 'Monster Squad' reminded me of my small group of friends growing up. It really took me back there, watching this again.

The dialogue is spot on and never silly. And the special effects were top notch for the time. One of my favorite scenes with a werewolf is from this film, specifically the scene where the Wolf-Man explodes and his body parts begin to crawl back together to reform the monster. How that shot was done was perfect. They didn't rely on heavy special effects for the sequence, but rather, props and shadows. It's truly amazing.

This film receives my highest recommendation as it still holds up on every level today. It's one of the better coming of age films about friendship.