Monster Squad (1987)

MONSTER SQUAD (1987)

Dir: Fred Dekker

9/31 #31daysofhorror

If you haven’t seen Wolfman’s Got Nards (2018) directed by Andre Gower or Sean in Monster Squad, then what are you waiting for. All the delicious tidbits about production and fandom are right there for you to devour. July of 2021, Gower suffered a heart attack and had a pacemaker installed. It was a scary event that would send anyone into an existentialist questioning of the universe session. When Monster Squad was initially released it was a failure. It flopped on the ground and died for years. Between HBO, video stores, and conventions the fanbase grew and now it garners a larger-than-life cult following. Gower’s film describes the process and the transition. From no one to cult superstar. It took decades, but once you become a cult superstar, the news of your heart attack affects your fans everywhere. His fans flocked to his GoFundMe page to help pay for his medical expenses. In a way, his fans will help save his life.

Fred Dekker was hired by Steve Miner in 1983 to write a draft for a Godzilla film that never happened. But later on, he wrote a treatment for what would become House (1986) directed by Steve Miner. The same year House was made, Dekker was making his feature debut with Night of the Creeps. Within Creeps the writing is literally on the wall for Monster Squad. Written in the boys bathroom, seen when the wise cracking J.C. Hooper is being invaded by alien worms, are the words Go Monster Squad Go. The seed for his Universal monster movie homage was resting in his sendup of 1950's sci-fi. Dekker and his longtime friend Shane Black had a blast writing about their favorite monsters as kids: Dracula, Wolf Man, Gill Man, Frankenstein, and the Mummy. The same year Black and Dekker wrote Monster Squad, Black wrote and sold Lethal Weapon (1987) while also helping to repair the Predator (1987) script.

By far the best make-up goes to Frankenstein's Monster who is played by Tom Noonan. Noonan had just finished as Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann's Manhunter (1986). He is unrecognizable as Frankenstein's monster. Shane Black would go on to write Last Action Hero (1993) with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the hero and Tom Noonan as the villain, Ripper. I like to think Black had something to do with that. The main reason the monsters look so amazing is Stan Winston along with his team created all of them. Winston had made a name for himself in 1984 with The Terminator and again in 1986 with Aliens, but he also made Tobe Hooper's Invaders From Mars (1986) terrifying and he assisted with Predator's look all before Monster Squad. That's my behind-the-scenes tutorial, but what makes the film great?

Being such avid film lovers, ironically, my family didn't go to the theater. It was learned early on that anytime my father stepped inside a movie theater he instantly fell asleep. So, it was "a waste of money." What wasn't a waste of money, was renting absolutely every VHS under the sun at the video stores in town. Vestron Video released Monster Squad on VHS in 1988. This means I was six years old when I first saw Horace kick a werewolf in the balls. This film affected me greatly. I know this because I watched it continuously throughout elementary school, middle school, junior high, and high school. Sure, my name is Shaun and I loved monsters. And the leader of the squad, his name is Sean and he wears a Stephen King Rules shirt. And now as someone in their late thirties, I own a Stephen King Rules shirt. I digress. This movie has kids as its heroes, and it grapples with darker elements than others of its ilk. I don't see a 'scary German guy' who is revealed to be a holocaust survivor in The Goonies (1985). It was gritty and the effects were top notch. The film understood me. I was a young horror hound and the movie not only taught me that I wasn't alone, but also taught me that the weird kids that are into monsters and gore get sh*t done.