It’s that time again, everyone. A lot of us have been celebrating spooky season for a while now, but now that it’s October 1st, it’s time we fully embrace the frights. What is a better way to celebrate than to watch some horror movies or television shows? Whether it’s a slasher film, a creature feature, something for the family, or something extremely odd, there is something different for everyone.
I love horror movies, and I love to talk about them and share them with friends. So to celebrate the next 31 days of October, a new spooky movie review will be posted every day. 31 days of scares, blood, beasts, and chills. So here is the first day of the 31 days of frights. What movie should we start with? How about one that drips spooky season and has most of the Universal Monsters in it?
The Monster Squad from 1987 is one of the best movies to watch during spooky season because it has just about everything you could want. Five youngsters find themselves up against the combined might of Dracula, the Mummy, the Gill Man, and Frankenstein’s Monster, who arrive in town in search of a magic amulet.
The Story
This movie is a love letter to classic monsters as well as horror kids and adults. The kids who grew up a little weird or awkward and were really into monsters. This movie is for us. There are so many times that kids in movies do not feel like real kids. They talk like little adults or just seem off. The kids in this movie are perfectly cast. They are relatable and have great dialogue from a script that is sharp.
When the creatures come out with a plan to take over the world, it’s up to the kids to fight back. What I like about this movie is that it’s not one of those “the parents won’t believe us, so it’s up to us” movies. The reason that it’s up to the kids to save the day is that they know the most about monsters. The kids are the experts.
The movie is not only for kids, of course. It is filled with gore, some fun kills, tons of swearing, and some great action sequences. It’s also pretty hilarious throughout and comes complete with a great soundtrack.
The Monsters
This is also one of the only movies to feature a bunch of the Universal Monsters together. The incredibly iconic Stan Winston did the special effects for this film, and they still hold up. They pay homage to the classic Universal Monster movies while still feeling like their own thing.
The Mummy and The Creature from the Black Lagoon get the least amount to do overall, but they still have iconic scenes featuring a Twinkie and a closet. The movie definitely focuses more on Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein’s Monster.
The Wolf Man makeup looks great, and the movie does a good job of making him a sympathetic character, which he should be. He can’t control turning into a werewolf, and it pains him to have to do such evil deeds.
Frankenstein’s Monster is a misunderstood creature. It’s fun to see him hanging out and being protective of the children. He also isn’t comfortable with the evil deeds that Dracula forces upon him, and he carries a lot of the emotional weight that this movie has.
Dracula is a fantastic villain. He is truly intimidating here and doesn’t care who he has to kill to get what he wants. You know your villain is ruthless when he tries to kill a group of kids with dynamite and calls a 5-year-old girl a bitch.
Overall, The Monster Squad is perfect viewing for spooky season. It’s a movie that speaks to the horror fan in all of us who grew up obsessed with scary things and monsters. It’s as if The Goonies were obsessed with Halloween, and that is a great compliment. Definitely check this one out if you haven’t, and if you have, please watch it again.
The Monster Squad is available to watch on Paramount+ and Amazon Prime.
Come back tomorrow for more spooky reviews as we continue with the 31 days of frights.
