Bile Land:  “Monster House”

I totally agree– there is something inherently dark and creepy about Monster House.

Unfortunately, for me, it was the human characters.

I don�t know why but human CG just freaks me out. I like cell-animated human characters. And occasionally I don�t even mind live action ones. But there is just something weird when it�s somewhere in between (shouldn�t this film have been a puppetoon movie a la Nightmare Before Xmas or Giant Peach?).

But getting past the fact that the suburban mother was more disturbing than the remains of a dead fat chick, I did think Monster House was an amusing little diversion. It�s cute. Not great. But enjoyable.

MINOR SPOILERS below…

I also love the fact that it seems to take place in the 80�s for no apparent reason. This could be the first CGI period piece. I know you (Dan) said there were some things parents would have to explain to their kids but I didn�t think you meant cassette tapes.

And while I think the script was not as rich as it could�ve been, I�ll give it credit for being way better than Cars or Madagascar and any other recent CG crap whose plots are nothing more than cheap, plastic Christmas trees for 50 screen writers to loosely hang the same jokes and references they dust off every year.

But you gotta admit, when compared to really developed plots with great, evolving characters like the Toy Stories or Nemo or Monsters Inc, the structure of this house in a little feeble.

Sure, the basic premise (ol� mean guy dies and possesses house just in time for Halloween) is great. But the big backstory (SPOILER) of Fat Wife was, pardon the pun, a little thin. And I don�t think the 3 leads resonated as much as they should have (although I can�t stop saying �I love you vacuum dummy�).

Plus, I could see the final crane vs house battle coming up 5th ave like a float from Spiderman. Wish they had done more with the trick or treating device they set up (they could�ve made it like Jaws and the 4th of July). Not sure why there are never any cars on that street besides a cop and an ambulance. And I don�t understand why they needed to light the dynamite fuse when they are about to toss it into a in inferno of fire anyway.

Still, petty gripes aside, it was a fun way to experience air conditioning on a hot summer afternoon. Thanks for recommending.

Jason

P.S.
Zemeckis loves flying leaves.