Monster House
Director: Gil Kenan
Rated: PG
From Thurs 14 Sept


'Monster House' is a neat camp kiddie-horror that seems lifted straight from the pages of the vast Goosebumps literature. It is digitally animated, but as it doesn't come from either of the three production companies that have dominated the sub-field so far (20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney/Pixar) it doesn't suffer the same bland groupthink screenwriting or overworked visuals these organisations have happily harboured.

Indeed, from the opening scene, 'Monster House' almost intentionally seeks to highlight and thrive in its own deviance. An innocent, ideal little girl peppily navigates her squeaky tricycle along the surface of a grid-perfect footpath, passing flawless lawns adorned with autumn-orange leafage, only to be stalled suddenly by the rather soft, creepy-looking lawn of a light-absorbing, daunting old house. Its senile owner Mr Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi) emerges from the shadowy doorway hurling abuse at the little girl, and proceeds to snap her tricycle in two. The action is met with especial dismay from the little girl, but for the 12 or so year old DJ (Mitchel Musso), who is observing from his bedroom window directly across the street, it is simply one in a series of similar incidents proving Nebbercracker's general badness.

DJ's parents then conveniently leave him home over Halloween with babysitter Zee (Maggie Gyllenhaal). After witnessing the apparent stroke-like death of Nebbercracker whilst trying to retrieve his friend Chowder's (Sam Lerner) basketball, DJ begins to sense a strange, menacing life in the old man's old house, and has difficulty trying to explain this to his associates. Along with new acquaintance Jenny (Spencer Locke), the friends attempt to both satisfy their curiosity and erase the threat, an excitingly difficult enterprise.

The film derives much strength from consistently interesting characterisation. DJ and Chowder form a believable duo placed delicately between preppy straightness and overwhelming eccentricity. Jenny is an excellent addition, complicating the two boys' normally predictable relationship and provoking various (hilarious) nascent pubertal tendencies. Buscemi, a welcome addition in any context, is perfectly awkward as the bitter Nebbercracker. The host of small parts, from Jason Lee's cool-because-he's-in-a-band 'Bones' to Nick Cannon's jumpy rookie-cop 'Lister', are all good and prove a vital source of humour.

The most striking feature of 'Monster House', however, is its relative scariness. The house, especially when it unsheathes its splintery teeth, is a ferocious thing, equally adept at casting ominous shadows, consuming unsuspecting passers-by, and throwing its weight around suburban streets to devastating effect. And its innards turn out to be even scarier. Early and pre-teens seem to be the intended market, and the film will surely frighten many of them. Clearly this was the intention of the film's makers, and if audiences respond to the frights as thrilling and bracing (as they should) rather than repellent, then this rather daring production will have received what it deserves.

Wil McGinley