DVD Pick of the Week – The Monster Squad: 20th Anniversary Edition
The Monster Squad: 20th Anniversary Edition
There are DVD releases that are overdue, those that are criminally overdue, and then there are those that make you giddy as a tree full of monkeys on laughing gas, wishing you could buy copies for all your friends. The Monster Squad falls decidedly into the latter category. Fred Dekker’s excellent 1987 grade-school horror romp is one of those 80’s anomalies – as Real Genius is to teen comedies, or The Hidden is to sci-fi thrillers – that never quite seems to get the pop culture props it deserves, yet is deeply beloved and passionately advocated for by its fans. Some of whom, bless ‘em, work for Lionsgate who have at last hashed out all rights clearances and released a sterling two-disc special edition this week.
Dekker, whose previous film was the Romero/Landis/Cronenberg mash-up Night of the Creeps (Also unavailable on DVD — *ahem!* …Pretty please?), delivers superb (and appropriately gory) horror/comedy fun with the tale of a wiseacre group of young’uns who stumble across a plan by Dracula (one-time V beefcake Duncan Regeher) and a whole cache of horror icons to take over the world. As with the Goonies and the Lost Boys before them, there’s no problem an adult can handle that a kid can’t handle better, and these little Van Helsings do with the assistance of the local Holocaust survivor known as…er… Scary German Guy (the indeed a bit creepy Leonardo Cimino), and school tough-guy bully Rudy (Ryan Lambert, i.e. the one us older girls were embarrassed admit fancying since he was on Kids Incorporated.)
Of course, what really sets Monster Squad apart from its better-known tween counterparts is Dekker’s ace in the hole, screenwriter Shane Black; the maestro behind Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang! and so many other action gems lends an invaluable wit and ornery snap that elevates the film to real cult status. (Stop and think about the guy who whacked that “Jeez, you got a big p***y!” joke out of the park in Predator writing a kids’ flick… and there you have it. And no, I’m not going to quote THAT line…everyone else will, so I’d just as soon leave it for the noobs to discover!) Lionsgate’s loving double-disc treatment includes two commentaries with Dekker and cast or crew; a five-part retrospective; deleted scenes and much more.
Also recommended this week: Benson: Season 1; The Bourne Files Collection; Harvey Birdman: Volume 3; Hard Boiled: Ultimate Edition; The Host: Special Edition; Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring; Les Enfants Terribles; Weeds: Season 2; The Woody Woodpecker Collection; Zodiac
— Nicole Campos
