Monster Squad (1987)

For my return after a 3-year absence from blogging, I decided to select this year's movies by dice roll. 2 24 sided dice were thrown to choose a Style of Horror-movie, and a "scare" type. This is adapted from an idea shamelessly stolen from Random Number Generator Horror Podcast Number 9.

For today's movie, I threw a 5 for PG/PG-13, and a 2 for Werewolf

---

For one day every 100 years, a long-forgotten and usually indestructible amulet, capable of banishing Evil from the world, becomes venerable.

That day is fast approaching, and Dracula has put together a band of monsters (Himself, The Mummy, The Wolfman, Gillman, and Frankenstein's Creature) to seek and destroy The Amulet.

Unfortunately for the monsters, a group of horror-movie loving kids have just got hold of Van Helsing's diary, and learned of the amulet themselves... and now find themselves standing against the forces of evil.      

 

---

I know I saw this years ago, probably not long after release, but literally all I remember from that viewing is "Wolfman got 'nards", and that I enjoyed it.

Revisiting the movie around 30 years later, I can easily see why young-me loved it. I always tell people that I was weaned straight from my mother's breast onto Hammer and Universal horror movies, and although this isn't officially a Universal Monster's movie, the line up is 100% Universal Monster's... right down to (unnamed on screen) Gillman aka. "the Creature From The Black Lagoon", who unlike the rest of the antagonist's troupe cant even claim to be based off of a public domain creation. 

Speaking of Gillman; The creature design on him is superb! 

Story wise, there's a fair bit going on for a kid's movie, with flashbacks to 100 years ago, the tried-and-true kid's fantasy trope of "kids know more than  adults, but no one will listen", and the neighbour  "scary German guy" has a tragic past (only touched on, as it may be a bit heavy for a children's movie, but certainly a good conversation starter for any parent looking for a teachable moment).

Is it a great movie? not really... the coincidences flow thick and fast, with much of the plot being a little too convenient to be credible, but it is a good movie, and especially one for those of you  with younglings you wish to indoctrinate to the world of horror.