Monster House
2006 · Directed by Gil Kenan
Original language: English
- animation
- comedy
- family
- fantasy
- horror
The story
Monsters under the bed are scary enough, but what happens when an entire house is out to get you? Three teens aim to find out when they go up against a decrepit neighboring home and unlock its frightening secrets.
What it’s like
Monster House is a motion-capture animated film whose look sits uncannily between cartoon and waxwork: skin and faces carry a slightly glossy, too-real sheen, while the environments lean into exaggerated shapes and deep shadow. Its best scenes play out under a suburban Halloween dusk, with jack-o'-lantern orange spilling across lawns and the house itself looming in cold blue moonlight, its windows and doorways tilting like a mouth. The camera swoops and cranes through rooms with a kinetic, roller-coaster energy, and the score swells with orchestral brass and playful spooky strings that keep the menace bouncy rather than bleak. The vibe is mischievous and nostalgic, a late-October evening with a bowl of candy and the lights low. Pacing is brisk, with comic banter between the kids cutting against escalating set pieces. Emotionally it is warm and goofy, following three friends who learn to stick together and grow up a little in the process. Horror is at the level of a PG spooky-movie: creepy imagery, jump scares, and a few tense chases, with cartoonish peril and no gore. For families and anyone wanting a Halloween film that is thrilling without being nasty.
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