I’ll be honest when I say that I have never been able to handle scary movies well. I figured “Monster House” is rated PG and is animated, so I should be able to handle that with no problems.
Long story short, not long into the movie, my roommate and I were hugging each other while telling the other that everything was going to be alright. It took some convincing to point out that the movie was indeed rated PG.
That may explain some of the screams heard from Gonzaga recently.
Alright, “Monster House” isn’t so much scary as it is extremely strange and creepy.
“Monster House” surrounds a classic all-American neighborhood with a quirk- one of the houses is a living, breathing monster. DJ lives across the street and has been documenting the activities of the house and its emaciated and cranky inhabitant, Nebbercracker. With Nebbercracker in the hospital, DJ and his friends, Chowder and Jenny, observe the house prey on innocent bystanders who approach the house. They believe they must do something to stop the house- only it’s a little tricky explaining to people that there is a wild house on the loose eating people.
On its own, “Monster House” features some pretty classic characters. Many Fairfield girls may associate with Jenny. Jenny is a student at an exclusive all-girls academy, Westbrook Prep, where she is her class president for a second term. Jenny is extremely bright for her age and can hold her own with the two pubescent boys while rocking a pleated skirt, knee highs and mary-janes (just like back in the day).
Calling all Napoleon Dynamite fans!
I love Jon Heder, but there is no way he can ever do a part again without unearthing charming memories of Napoleon. In “Monster House” Heder plays Skull, a pizza delivery man who is wise in the fine art of arcade games and comic books. The teens turn to him for help in killing a monster house. The character is extremely far from that of Napoleon, but still has the Heder charm that viewers of all ages can love.
In most animated films the cast of actors means nothing but the charming voices you can enjoy while listening to the movie. This is not the case in “Monster House.” It uses a unique new technology where the actors actually perform their parts wearing water suits with 80 body sensors assembled all over their body and 72 other sensors on their face. When filming, the set is made completely of skeletons, so cameras can pick up the movement of every sensor on their body. Clay models are made of the characters which are then scanned onto a computer. Computer programmers then have the difficult task of aligning every filmed shot of the actors with their characters body. Essentially, the actors acted for their animated counterparts.
Because we are so familiar with Heder’s work, it is interesting to watch his character’s body movement and the similarities it holds with that of his other characters. Despite the stout physique of his character compared to that of the tall and lanky Napoleon, you still see the same movement expected of Heder.
Because of the attraction of this new technology, “Monster House” was able to cast every actor they hoped for in all parts. Most notably, one can enjoy Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kevin James, Nick Cannon, Steve Buscemi, Jason Lee, Catherine O’Hara and Fred Willard. It goes so far that the lovely Kathleen Turner plays the title character of the Monster House.
Baby-sitters should definitely consider watching this with kids as a Halloween treat, especially for boys. As for the older crowd, this is a nice movie to watch to sample this new technology if that interests you. If not, this is a creepy tale that you can enjoy for Halloween without nightmares.
Leave a Reply