"It mocks us with its... house-ness..."

Gil Kenan's Monster House is one of the more satisfying surprises of the year. Plucked from nowhere by executive producers Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, Kenan was probably just as shocked as anyone when he was put at the reins of a $75 million animation blockbuster; but he manages to do almost everything right. First of all, he makes good use of the technology: like The Incredibles (and unlike The Polar Express, a disastorous experiment) Monster House doesn't try and make its many human characters look entirely lifelike, instead relying on the script and the work of the voice actors to fill in the gaps. Also, Kenan overcomes the problem of a film set in a potentially dull location (typical suburban street, typical suburban house) by allowing himself free rein with the 'camera', photographing the film's various scenes and set-pieces from all variety of odd angles, and with a fluidity of movement matched only by the characters themselves.

The film opens with a beautiful continuous take, following a single leaf as it drifts from a tree branch and makes its way down the road, coming across a singing, tricycle-riding little girl on its travels. Things soon take a turn for the not quite so heavenly, though, when the little lady rides her bike onto the lawn of the scariest house in the neighbourhood - that of Mr. Nebbercracker (wonderfully voiced by Steve Buscemi). He comes running out, and soon the little girl's tricycle has been torn in half, and she (I suspect) has been scarred for life. Then, in one of the many impressive shots of the film, Nebbercracker turns and throws a hateful glare at someone we can't see, and wham the camera flies across the street, straight through a telescope and right into the face of a shocked D.J..

From here, the film becomes exactly the kind of film I was hoping to see. Building on the familar urban legend of 'that one house in every neighbourhood' that all the kids stay away from (although lets face it, no film can ever rival To Kill A Mockingbird in its use of this device, even if you turn the house into a raging monster), D.J. is joined by friends Chowder and Jenny as they face their ultimate fears and try to solve the mystery of the Nebbercracker house.



The film is surprisingly dark and has a few moments some children might find pretty frghtening. However, the thing that most interested me was that the children at my screening seemed pretty bored. One was walking up and down the aisle, searching desperately for something of interest, while two others would likely have talked through the whole thing if their parents hadn't shushed them. This (admittedly limited) evidence led me to the conclusion that Kenan and/or the screenwriters may have lost sight of their target audience during production. Monster House has several aspects that appealed to me, but perhaps Kenan was overtaken by his desire to take advantage of the wonderful premise and make an intense, almost horror-like genre piece, and as a result the kids were left behind. I'm not complaining, merely observing. From my perspective this is almost a positive.

The script also makes references to puberty and growing up, with D.J. covering for a bout of weirdness at one point by simply saying "It's, uh, puberty. I'm just having some puberty." Although the topic is used in a humourus context, it reflects the ideas of facing up to new challenges and taking on new responsibilities which make the emotional core of the film. Inevitably these ideas fade into the background once the house starts eating people. Still, it's a pleasent metaphor that never becomes overbearing.

The last half-hour of the movie is given a welcome injection of energy by the return of the film's best character. When the mystery is eventually uncovered, the result is surprisingly touching (although again, it's pretty grim stuff). Unfortunately we only see glimpses of the many ways this idea could have been explored emotionally before the action-heavy finale kicks in. Nontheless, the final act is satisfying and loads of fun.

In my eyes, the real strength of the film lies in the characters. Although you could never call them complex (most of the film's ensemble is made up of one-dimensional caricatures), they are very, very easy to like. D.J. especially is the kind of hero I enjoyed following and rooting for. Credit for this also lies in the three central voice actors, who bring a youthful enthusiasm and exuberance to their roles. Despite some sagging in pace around the middle act, Monster House is very easy to recommend.