THE MONSTER SQUAD

On July 24, 2007, a dream of twenty years finally came through with THE MONSTER SQUAD’s arrival on DVD. THE MONSTER SQUAD is a landmark film for me, as it was just as big of an influence on my filmmaking ambitions as HALLOWEEN and MAD MAX. I rented these three films more than any others, constantly returning to Blockbuster, looking for something new, and yet always settling for THE MONSTER SQUAD, with just as much excitement to watch it as the previous. THE MONSTER SQUAD was one of those films that was impossible to get. The VHS was no where to be found for sale, and its airing on cable was few and far between, which added to the pleasure upon each viewing. Every time you watched it, you felt like you had accomplished a hard earned goal, and were revisiting with good long-time friends.

Over the years I had bought bootlegs of the film twice at conventions. Once on VHS, when none of the dealer tables had a DVD burn of it, and then eventually a DVD copy. It wasn’t until I got the Internet that I discovered I wasn’t the only person so in love with the film. There was an enormous demand for the film’s DVD release. This morning, I picked up the last copy of the film at Best Buy, and it was only noon!

What made today even more special was that the great horror-fan-friendly studio known as Lionsgate who acquired the DVD rights to the film, were not gonna jip us with a barebones release. They actually went out and gathered as much material as they could for us faithful fans to enjoy, packing two discs of goodies.

Monster Squad Forever: This amazing five-part documentary gives us glimpses of some of the actors as they look today and features much insight into the film’s origins by its co-writer and director Fred Dekker (I wish he’d be given another gig, I adore his work!), how some of the monster effects were created by Stan Winston’s people, fun stories from the set, the disappointment everyone felt when the film was not a big hit, and the surprise and joy they experienced when finding out years later how much of a cult following it had developed. This featurette was absolutely incredible. Any true fan of this film will be more than pleased. It left me speechless. Sure I would’ve loved to see interviews with great co-writer Shane Black, and maybe also Stan Winston himself, but I easily got passed that. A wonderfully long and satisfying feature!

A Conversation with Frankenstein: A harmless fun interview with Tom Noonan on the set in full make-up,remaining in character, yet oddly not talking in his Frankenstein voice. In this he tells how great his 50 year long career has been, why he took on the film, his ambition to direct, and what he does in his off time. Kind’ve stupid, but fun.

Deleted Scenes: Not a whole lot, but anything new from this film is welcome to see. Most of the scenes deal with Sean’s parents, even including an omitted subplot where Emily is about to leave Del. It’s obvious that these were cut for time. (I recently met Fred Dekker and he turned me on to some added deleted scenes available on YouTube. Here’s the first, then check out the Related Videos for more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn7EO7OQIEk

Original Theatrical Trailer and TV Spot: It’s from the 80s, so of course these trailers are not only cheesy, but pretty stupid. In the featurette, almost all of the cast members complain about the film’s horrible marketing campaign, which is mainly blamed for its failure at the box office. After watching these, you begin to agree. But fun to see nonetheless.

Animated Storyboard Sequence: An fun feature where the storyboards of the Mummy attack on the Jeep is shown with the soundtrack of the actual final scene in the movie played over it. Very cool.

Still Gallery: A montage of production photos and advertising items set to the amazing score by Bruce Broughton.

Commentaries: I didn’t get round to either commentary but I’m sure they both rock, as Fred Dekker is featured on both, and he is one, knowledgeable, engaging, and funny guy to listen to.

July 24 marked one of those landmark moments in my fanboy life. Not since seeing John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN on the big screen have I been so overcome with near tears of joy. Literally, the feeling of having THE MONSTER SQUAD on DVD, and seeing it being treated with such respect and love was almost overbearing. Finally, after so many years of waiting, my good friends have come home to stay! 4/4

Welcome home guys!

Now, bring on NIGHT OF THE CREEPS on DVD!