Phoebe, Meet Phoebe

It's been a while since I had something of my own to say and so I'm holding off on the conclusion to The Danger Maze for one more day. I know I've been slacking lately, but how much Mr. T can one man be expected to endure?

Tonight I will introduce you to a little movie from 1987 titled Monster Squad. Just released on DVD last year in order to celebrate its big twentieth anniversary, this film is sure . . . something.

I remember going to see it with my family when it was first released. I was 10. Even then I could spot what it was: a kiddie monster movie. My brother was 6 and my sister was 4. They were able to get through the thing without a tear. I, like every boy that has seen this bit of cinema, was able to retain one thing across the years: "Wolfman's got nards!"

The premise: Dracula and the forces of evil are held in check by an amulet of pure good. Every 100 years, one side gets a chance to defeat the other forever. In 1987, the clock has cycled through again and this time a bunch of preteen misfits have been called to bat for team good.

The afore mentioned forces of evil are in fact the "Universal Monsters" which is interesting since this is a Lion's Gate film. I guess Dracula was a character in a book as was Frankenstein's monster and the copyrights on those expired a long time ago. A werewolf wasn't unique to its movie anymore than a mummy was to its. The only questionable player would be "Gillman." He looks a lot like the title character from The Creature from the Black Lagoon and one of the kids actually calls him "the creature." I guess Universal gave them a pass since Stan Winston did such an amazing job on him.

I was a little surprised by the amount of out-of-the-blue swearing in this thing. Also, the coolest kid of the bunch smokes. This script would need some major revisions before getting shot today.

"So why Monster Squad?" you may ask. The answer, in short, is my mom. She has loved this movie from the time she brought us to see it all those years ago. Her favorite part is Frankenstein's monster's relationship with the kid sister, Phoebe.

A few years back I was attending Wizard World-Chicago and gave a casual glance to the bootleg DVD sellers. When I saw Monster Squad in among copies of the Star Wars Holiday Special and Transformers: Headmasters, I knew I had to get it for my mom.

When my daughter, Phoebe (absolutely NOT named for the girl in the film I assure you), was up visiting Wisconsin last time, Grammy wanted to show Phoebe the movie with the other Phoebe. The problem was there was no DVD in the case. My mom told me that she had seen the movie a couple of times since its black market purchase. It had probably been lost in the move.

My Phoebe decided to rectify the whole situation and buy Grammy a new, legal copy to enjoy. We watched it tonight, and I must say it was sure . . . something. My mom was wiping her face after the scene with Phoebe saying an emotional goodbye to Frankenstein's monster.

Totally worth the ten bucks.