Come in, come in ... 'Monster House' is a monstrous original

Friday, July 21, 2006

By SEAN AXMAKER
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

The most imaginative and delightful computer-animated movie of recent years outside of the Pixar brand, "Monster House" is a Halloween ghost story by way of monster-movie adventure.

MOVIE REVIEW

MONSTER HOUSE

DIRECTOR: Gil Kenan

CAST: Voices of Mitchel Musso, Spencer Locke, Sam Lerner, Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal

RUNNING TIME: 94 minutes

RATING: PG for scary images and sequences, thematic elements, some crude humor and brief language

GRADE: A-

LINKS/TRAILERS
· Official site

PHOTO GALLERY

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The sign in the yard says it all: "Beware of house." Cranky Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi) spends his days chasing kids from his yard and tossing their errant toys into his ramshackle old home until he keels over in an apoplectic fit directed at neighbor kid DJ (Mitchel Musso). As the very blades of grass grasp desperately at the gurney that takes Nebbercracker away, we know that there is something very dangerous about this creaky old relic.

This being Halloween, no one believes our intrepid adolescent heroes -- DJ, his cape-draped best friend, Chowder (Sam Lerner), and spunky Jenny (Spencer Locke), whom they save from the gnashing maw of the house -- as they try to convince the adult world that this old dark house has an appetite for trespassers. That's a problem because, this being Halloween, an entire army of costumed hors d'oeuvres are preparing to march right into the belly (or rather, basement) of the beast.

First-time director Gil Kenan uses the "motion capture" technique used on "Polar Express," which animates over the movements of actors recorded on video. While the computer animation is a tad bland and restrained on the human side, it gives the kids a subtly expressive body language to match the dynamic personalities and terrific chemistry created by the young actors.

The star of the film, however, is the magnificent house, a bad dream gone wild with splintered floorboards for teeth, eaves and shingles bent into angry eyebrows and a carpet that flicks out like a frog's tongue to lap up human insects. And that's before it goes mobile in a climax that is both thrilling and touching. Kenan lets his "camera" loose through the suburban world with free-spirited abandon throughout it all.

With a sensibility that falls somewhere between the Stephen King and Tim Burton, this is a horror movie for kids with bite, heart and a poignant happy ending that is entirely earned and completely rewarding.

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