00s Movie Review - Monster House

Director: Gil Kenan
Genre: Comedy/ Animation/ Advenure/ Family
Runtime: 91 minutes
Year: 2006
Starring: Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Spencer Locke, Steve Buscemi, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Kevin James, Jason Lee, Kathleen Turner, Jon Heder

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 CHALLENGE
WEEK 38: A MOVIE STARRING A CHILD
 
Description: Three kids discover that their neighbor’s house is really a living, breathing, scary monster.

Review: Right across the street of young DJ’s house, is the old, run-down house of Mr. Nebbercracker. Nebbercracker is a grumpy man who always takes kids toys that end up on his lawn, never to return them to the owner. The night before Halloween, he and his friend Chowder play basketball and the ball ends up on Nebbercracker’s lawn. As usual, he takes it from them, but this time Nebbercracker collapses and ends up being taken away with an ambulance. But even without Nebbercracker being home, the house doesn’t seem empty. Or is it the house that’s alive?

“Monster House” uses the performance capture technique, just like “The Polar Express” did. There the character looked very realistic. In “Monster House” not so much. But nevertheless, it’s a very enjoyable film to watch, for the entire family during spooky season. It’s somehow a family-friendly take on the haunted house trope.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 96: Frankenweenie

Director: Tim Burton
Genre: Comedy/ Animation/ Horror
Runtime: 88 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Martin Landau, Christopher Lee, Martin Short, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Atticus Shaffer

Description: Young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.

Review: Making a stop-motion animation asks a lot of a person: decication, time and patience. If I would make a film myself, I would love to try stop-motion, it always amazes me. And Tim Burton is a fan too.
“Frankenweenie” is a story about a boy and his dog Sparky. This is also secretly an ode to classic horror films. Victor is a nice boy who only has one real friend: his dog Sparky. Victor lives in the suburbs. He makes his own horror films, staaring Sparky, but also has a passion for science. When his beloved pet is hit by a car and dies, he just simply doesn’t like life anymore. When a new science teacher tells him about the power of electricity, Victor tries to bring Sparky back to life. And it works. But Victor has to keep it a secret from everyone.
“Frankenweenie” is typical Burton. All the characters look like they came from a horror film and are all weird. They aren’t just macabre, but also have an endearing feel to it. Especially Victor and Sparky.
For film fans it’s great to see all the classic horror movie references. The film is in black an white and this adds to the atmosphere and the ode to the classic horror films. The film looks fantastic and I think it’s one of Tim Burton’s better films.

Rating: 3,5/ 5