Life Beyond Thunderdome: The Monster Squad

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This month's column at Forces of Geek is now up. I took a look at the 1987 kiddie monster flick, The Monster Squad.

Anyone see this one? It's big and loud and obnoxious and fun. It features a gaggle of cute kids and a zippy script by action meister Shane Black. If you find your viewing tastes haven't changed much since you were in grade school, you'll probably find something to love about this film.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You're officially my favourite person. I think you're the only I know who remembers "The Monster Squad". I adored this movie (not as much as "Goonies", mind you, which I was obsessively in love with and still consider one of my favourite movies) and am in the process of hunting down the dvd for nostalgia sake.

Yes, I had a crush on Rudy. Who didn't love the bad boy? The movie had a fun concept and a good rag-tag team of kids at its centre.
June 23, 2010 at 6:22 AM
Morgan Richter said…
Monster Squad holds up pretty well -- the kids are cute and likeable, it moves at a brisk pace, and it's genuinely funny. And Rudy is just a force of awesomeness. I was a Kids Incorporated junkie in the mid-'80s (click the link -- you know you want to), so I was well aware of Ryan Lambert, but man, he could've had a much bigger film career, because he had a whole lot of charisma. Monster Squad remains his only feature film credit.
June 23, 2010 at 7:38 AM
Anonymous said…
I loved "Kids Incorporated" too and that link is bringing back all the awesome cheesiness of it. And now I'm getting the urge to see "The Neverending Story" again. Thanks a lot. Another movie I loved.

Following your link made me look for "Monster Squad" clips and I have to say I love that Rudy is a bad boy who rides a bicycle :-D

I'm also surprised his career didn't pan out. I'm curious as to why not.
June 23, 2010 at 8:08 AM
Morgan Richter said…
I have no idea how serious Lambert ever was about acting. His IMDB credits would seem to suggest that it was something he grew out of pretty fast. He's a thoroughly respectable Bay Area musician these days -- he fronts a band, Elephone, which is actually quite good (they get compared to the Pixies a lot, which is fairly apt).

I love Neverending Story. And my love of that Limahl song is fierce and unironic.
June 23, 2010 at 8:38 AM
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