The Monster Squad is a 1987 family adventure film directed by Frank Dekker (Night of the Creeps). It showcases newer (at the time) takes on the classic Universal Monsters who are descending upon the suburbs to recover a powerful ancient tome. When a band of kids finds themselves in the monsters’ way, they must band together to protect their town from evil.

The flavor of The Monster Squad gave off more than a few hints at a rushed attempt to piggyback on the success of another recently released film, The Goonies. Both films center on a diverse group of kids in over their heads who use kid logic to ultimately prevail. Where The Goonies had plenty of lighthearted laughs, The Monster Squad disappoints. They even tried to copy Chunk and fail miserably. With a very-lite horror film aimed to please all ages you absolutely MUST have a great comedic presence. Unfortunately, The Monster Squad‘s jokes fall short.

The design of the monsters themselves was the only salvageable aspect of the movie. My personal favorite was the look of the Mummy, but they all looked the way a classic horror monster should have looked, at least in the 80’s. I thought Dracula’s performance was a bit too much and I wish they showcased the other monsters more than they did. If you are looking for then next retro classic to add to your yearly marathon, look elsewhere, but if you need to throw something on to hypnotize your brat while you are getting them ready for trick or treating then it wouldn’t hurt to put on The Monster Squad.

2 whimpering yelps of The Wolf Man out of 5

★★☆☆☆