Monster House: a Halloween throwback worth watching

Monster House is an animated family horror comedy film that came out on July 21, 2006. Gil Kenan directed the movie, Image Movers and Amblin Entertainment produced, and Columbia Pictures distributed the movie.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the average rating of this movie is 6.8 out of 10.  Monster House welcomes kids and adults alike into a household full of smart, monstrous fun.

The movie stars Mitchel Musso, former Disney star, as the voice of “DJ,”who is known for spying on Nebbercracker through a telescope. He is treated like a baby and is often thought to be crazy. Sam Lerner voices as “Chowder,” who is DJ’s best friend. He has a habit of acting slightly strange and immature. Spencer Locke is the voice of “Jenny Bennett”, an intelligent 12-year-old girl who attends a prestigious all-girls school called Westbook Prep. DJ and Chowder both have crushes on her, but she only returns DJ’s affections. Other well-known actors that are the voice of the characters in the movie include Nick Cannon and Kevin James.

The movie shows a 12-year old, D.J. Walters, who has a particularly overactive imagination. He believes that his weird and creepy neighbor, Horace Nebbercracker, who terrorizes all the neighborhood kids, is responsible for Mrs. Nebbercracker’s mysterious disappearance. Any toy that touches Nebbercracker’s property, promptly disappears and is swallowed up by the house. D.J. has seen it with his own eyes, but no one believes him, not even his best friend, Chowder. Everything he’s seen is absolutely true and it’s about to get much worse than anything D.J could have imagined as he, Chowder, and Jenny decide to explore the house themselves.

Monster House is a throwback Halloween movie that kids who are in high school now used to watch in elementary or middle school. To some, the graphics and animation may seem slightly outdated compared to Halloween movies today. Although the animations and graphic may seem less advanced, it gives the movie that eerie and Halloween feeling, which makes it more fun to watch. In addition, the storyline is interesting and intriguing, and would make kids eager to watch the movie and find out what happens in the end. For younger kids watching, I advise parents to be around because some animations may be a bit too much and  may seem “scary” to a younger audience. Nonetheless, the movie is still family-friendly and can be enjoyed by kids of all ages.