This is How Movies Should Be Made

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

With shades of October classics like Monster Squad, Monster House is a halloween movie just about anyone can enjoy. Though on the outside it may look like a "kids movie," it doesn't pull its punches and isn't afraid to put our heroes in legitimate danger, leading to the same sense of joy one would get when watching a movie like The Goonies.Part of what makes it such a joy is the movie's overarching mystery regarding the titular house itself. The secret to successful horror is to keep the audience guessing, and Monster House is great at this. There's a few big mysteries lurking inside the Monster House, and the movie takes its time building a tangible, winding suspense. The monster itself is absolutely awesome in motion, and some of the most creative use of visual effects out there.But... about that. This is one of the movies to use Robert Zemeckis' "performance capture" technology, which is an overly complex, incredibly expensive way to take real people on real sets and digitize their movements into computer animation. The more stylized, claymation-esque aesthetic of Monster House makes it less creepy looking than Zemeckis' other movies (The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol) but it still veers too close to the uncanny valley in some scenes. Characters can vary wildly between looking like puppets, cartoon characters, and unsettlingly realistic people in a way that can look a little gross. Without getting in to a debate about the value of real animators and hand-crafted animation versus using a computer to auto-digitize the movement of physical actors, I'll just say that this performance capture stuff continues to look wholly unnecessary in Monster House, but it doesn't spoil the movie. It just didn't need it.Monster House didn't just exceed my expectations, it juked around them like a football player. Every time I thought I knew right where this movie was going, it took a left turn, and kept me entertained the whole time. It's a kids movie that almost feels on the edge of not being suitable for children -- and if you ask me, those are the best kind.

Having horror in a kid's animation is rarely seen and can be a risky move since being too scary can lose the child audience while not being scary enough can lose the adult audience. However, Monster House is able to appeal to both audiences really well although it could be scary to some kids during some scenes. So let's start with perhaps the most important part of any horror movie:1.Horror: While the horror present in Monster House would be considered scary to little children, it is enough to entertain adults. Perhaps the scariest part of the movie would be when a cement covered body disintegrates and leaves a skeleton behind. The design behind the house is also creative and is a very threatening character. Also, the disturbing ideas help make the movie more interesting for adults and help to challenge adults instead of being a cheerful movie.2.Animation: The animation in Monster House is quite impressive (for the time) and looks like claymation in the close up shots. The film also features many impressive scenes were characters come out of shadows or the scene focuses on one item while another is in the background. However, there are some scenes that look really funny which may be due to the fact that the film utilizes motion capture. As mentioned before the house is really well animated and transforms naturally and smoothly.3.Characters: Another strong attribute of Monster House would be the characters. Almost every character is well acted and fits naturally in regard to each other. As well as the main characters being excellent, the side characters are amazing as well and add some fantastic humor to certain scenes. 4.Humor: Speaking of humor, the humor present in Monster House is more for adults then children. Perhaps one of the best characters would be Skull, a stereotypical gamer who is seen as a god to the main characters. However, as an adult it is clear that he is a loser. In the end Monster House is a decent animation. While it isn't the best animation, it is quite entertaining and can be fun (and scary) to both children and adults due to the humor appealing to adults while the horror is for children. Final Verdict: 7/10

This film revolves around the obsession of a small group of children with an old neighbor, living in an old house. The neighbor, Mr. Nebbercracker, rudely drives away the children who will knock on his door or play near his house, stealing the toys that are left in his lawn. Obviously, grown-ups don't want to hear the suspicions of the little ones, who believed that something is wrong there.This movie deals with four things: privacy, private property, fear and monsters. Initially, the old neighbor looks just like an old man who does not want to be bothered or wants anyone stepping on his ground. So far he has every right to do so, and we must see the behavior of this children as a mere voyeurism. They have no right to spy the old man or get into his private life. Its only with the development of the film that we actually find that the children were right in their suspicions. Anyway, we condemn the fact of this film, in a way, encourages voyeurism. The life of others should not be more interesting than ours. Aside from this moral detail, the film's story is good and solid. I also thought the ending of the movie was very exaggerated.The film features voice actors such as Steve Buscemi (the old man), Mitchel Musso or Kathleen Turner. I think they all did a good job, according to our expectations. Animation was done in a very interesting way: contrary to the general trend of looking for realistic animations, this film decided for a more classic, stylized look. This made it different, with some pleasing originality. I don't think it's the right movie for young children, given the content mildly associated with horror and the moral options we already spoke. Discernment and care of parents and adults is key to understanding whether its appropriate or not. Either way, it's a family movie, where grown-up kids are likely to feel more at ease than adults.

When I first saw this movie, I was about nine or ten and I walked in on my younger brothers and neighbor watching it. At first, I refused to watch it because I deemed it "too scary", but I allowed myself to sit down for 5 minutes. I ended up watching the rest of it and loving it. I turn seventeen next Sunday and this movie to this day is still one of my absolute favorites. WARNING: SPOILERS: The only thing that truly scared me about this movie when I was younger was the haunted phone call and the eerie moaning on the other end. I was worried that whenever I answered the phone, the same thing would happen to me. The final 20 minutes of this movie are very intense. Personally, I don't remember being scared of it when I was younger, but take caution if you watch this with young kids.