What impressed me the most about this film was the quality of the picture. The last few CGI films I have watched have been spectacular, and this one was no exception. The characters moved very fluidly and the sets were extremely realistic. The producers paid close attention to many small details, including strands of hair and human reflections in house windows.
I’m not sure if many of you are fans of claymation, but growing up in the 80′s and early 90′s, claymation movies were my favorite. I loved everything from The Grinch stole Christmas on public televison, to the cult classic The Nightmare before Christmas. For some odd reason, Monster House reminded me so much of these films. (Please let me know if you felt the same way!)
The storyline was not as spectacular as the scenery and there were several parts that just dragged for me. I thought they had good intentions with the direction they were taking the story, but they just didnt execute it very well. I would have personally liked to see a better dialogue among the characters, but I guess they did a decent job for a childrens film.
I would not recommend renting this flick for any kids under 6 years of age. There have been several parents who complained that the PG rating was too low for a film of this nature. I can say that I agree with them. My brother n law told me that my nephew covered his eyes most of the movie. Now I know why. For a childrens film, the movie is pretty morbid and scary and there were quite a few parts that will definately scare young children.
Synopsis:
Three kids DJ, Chowder, and Jenny discover that the house across the street from DJ’s is alive. It eats anything that goes on its property. They try to convince the babysitter, the police, and some weirdo named Skull. They try to unravel the mystery of the house and they have to go inside to find that the house is voiced by Kathleen Turner. Oh my god, it’s Kathleen Turner! Run for the hills! Anyway, this movie is PG-rated, great for kids, and got two-thumbs up from Ebert & Roeper. Coming to theaters July 21st 2006!
Great review!
I saw this just two nights ago. The movie was great. The plot wasn’t brilliant, but what amazed me was how close to humans the characters moved, especially Chowder. He seemed like a real hyperactive kid to me. A film that’s just nice and entertaining to watch.
Trench, I actually handled this one a few times, but never got it out and watched it. With reading your own review of it now, I don’t think I will for some time.
Kudos.
I’ll give this one a try. This one looked good. Advent Children was the last computer animated movie I watched.
I don’t remember The Grinch Stole Christmas as ever being claymation. I know the other old school ones like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Rednose reindeer. Man, now I have to look that up.
Come to think about it, there are few animated films that can be included on the Halloween classics list. I think Nightmare before Christmas is one and the only other one I can think of is Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin.
Hi! I’m going to get this too. Thanks for your review.
Best wishes.