Director: Fred Dekker
Screenplay: Shane Black, Fred Dekker
Cast: Andre Gower, Robby Kiger, Stephen Macht, Duncan Regehr, Tom Noonan
Country: USA
Running Time: 82 mins
Year: 1987
Few films encapsulate the unhinged, high-concept excess of late-eighties cinema quite like The Monster Squad. Yet seeing it today reveals a deeply strange, conflicted mongrel of a movie. I’m not sure there is an accepted definition for “cult movie”, but I know one when I see it. Monster Squad is definitely cult. Mainly because, like the opening crawl claims of Van Helsing’s team, “they blew it”.
Co-writers Fred Dekker and Shane Black pitched it wrong. It was an odd stumble from Black who was in a hot streak off his breakthrough with Lethal Weapon and appearing in Predator that same summer. They injected an adult-edged sensibility straight into a movie ostensibly, and marketed for, kids. It lacked the family-friendly polish of Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus, who had already struck gold two years earlier with The Goonies. Instead, The Monster Squad landed with a thud; too coarse and crude for young families and too childish for the teenagers flocking to The Lost Boys.
At its best, the film plays out like The Little Rascals crossed with Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. It was postmodern before postmodern was a thing. The kids in the clubhouse already know the rules about Dracula, the Mummy, or the Wolfman. They don’t need the backstories (and nor do we) because they have already absorbed the rules through comics and movies. They trade rapid-fire insults and quotable bravado that’s pure Black and when it embraces pure comic-book logic -like the shameless mid-movie montage cut to cheap rock- it possesses a joyful, breathless momentum that never bores.
Yet that same rebellious streak is where nostalgia sits very awkwardly with modern reality. The juvenile sleaze has aged badly, notably the bizarre obsession with virginity, making it harder to reconcile the innocence with its locker-room humour. At the same time, the film blindsides us with moments of genuine emotional weight, for example, the silent reveal of Scary German Guy’s tattoo. Or Tom Noonan’s deeply affecting, tender turn as Frankenstein’s Monster, bonding with young Phoebe.
Visually, the production is in limbo between masterpiece and desperate budget shortcuts. Because Tri-Star lacked the Universal copyrights, Stan Winston had to craft legally-different classic cinema monsters. Some with nards.
The results are uneven. The Gill-man suit is fantastic; Jon Gries’ Wolfman channels First Blood; and Duncan Regehr’s Dracula is imposing and vicious (though his mastery of shotguns and dynamite feels very off-brand). The daylight scenes, however, ruthlessly expose the rubbery foam seams on the Mummy, stiff background masks, and ropey composites.
In a native 4K transfer, that dichotomy is laid bare. There is incredible texture in the latex slime, moody streetlighting, and film grain, while simultaneously unmasking the low-budget cracks. It remains a messy, flawed, and occasionally regressive artifact, but its kinetic spark, pulp audacity, and refusal to play safe endures as a cult paradox.
VIDEO
The 4K UHD is a native source, scanned from the original 35mm camera negative. The quality is unquestionable, but it’s a double-edged sword. The detail and texture is a substantial leap over previous releases. The resolution brings out the intricate physical craftsmanship of Stan Winston’s studio. Every scale, slime drips and webs on the Gill-man look phenomenal, as does the makeup on Frankenstein and Wolfman. But added clarity is unforgiving and the daylight sequences expose the edge lines in all sorts of places. The HDR however has a lovely, authentic pop without oversaturating flesh tones. Solid contrast reveals fabulous lightning flashes, neon, flashlight beams, and glowing red creature eyes cutting through the dark.
EXTRA FEATURES
The film itself might be uneven, but it is definitively a cult-movie with many fans. This limited edition is packed to the Gill-man’s gills. Admittedly, nothing new, but having it all in one place in a gorgeous package is great. And if you haven’t seen some of this stuff before, it’s thorough.
2-DISC 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Francesco Francavilla
- Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by critics Sean Abley, Priscilla Page, Justin LaLiberty and Johnny Mains
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- Original lossless stereo and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with writer/director Fred Dekker and “Squad Members” Andre Gower, Ryan Lambert and Ashley Bank
- Audio commentary with writer/director Fred Dekker and director of photography Bradford May
- Monster Squad Forever, a feature-length 2007 documentary on the making of the film
- Archive featurette with the SFX team, featuring interviews with John Rosengrant, Steve Wang, Alec Gillis, Shane Mahan, Lindsay MacGowan and Tom Woodruff Jr.
- Archive interview with composer Bruce Broughton
- A Conversation with Frankenstein, a vintage 1986 featurette
- Deleted scenes
- Animated Storyboard sequence
- Trailers and TV spot
- Image galleries
DISC 2 – WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE BLU-RAY)
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of Wolfman’s Got Nards, a 2018 feature-length documentary co-written and directed by The Monster Squad star Andre Gower
- Original lossless stereo and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- In the Goddamn Club, More with Fans of The Monster Squad
- Blood Bath music video
- 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
- Trailer
