July 21, 2006 Monster House
Studio: Columbia Pictures Rating: PG for scary images and sequences, thematic elements, some crude humor and brief language.
Remember when you were young and there was a spooky house in your neighborhood?
It turns out your suspicions were right.
The youngsters in the "Monster House" neighborhood are always careful to avoid old Mr. Nebbercracker. He's mean and scary and they don't want to tangle with him.
But things really get weird when D-J and Chowder discover that Nebbercracker's house is more than just wood and nails. It's alive and it eats anything that strays onto its property.
Soon, a young girl named Jenny appears, selling candy door-to-door. The boys try to warn her about the house before she's pulled inside. They band together to deal with the residential menace.
Using the same motion capture technique as last year's "Polar Express," "Monster House" looks even better because of recent advances in technology.
Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner and Spencer Locke do a nice job providing the voices of the young heroes, but it's Steve Buscemi's Mr. Nebbercracker who adds the most spark.
The children decide its their job to defeat the evil creature, so they eventually work their way inside. They find plenty of haunted house bumps and chills which eventually lead to a showdown.
The story is simple enough for everyone to understand, but I'd be careful about taking very young viewers. There are some very creepy moments which might be too much for small children to handle.
On my rating scale, "Monster House" hits a Triple.
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Charlie rushes to get a half-naked woman out of his bedroom before Chelsea (Jennifer Taylor) arrives
July 21, 2006
