Monster House (film)

Plot

Twelve-year-old DJ Walters spies on his elderly neighbor Horace Nebbercracker, who confiscates any item landing in his yard. DJs parents leave town for the weekend, leaving him in the care of Elizabeth "Zee". DJs best friend Charles "Chowder" loses his basketball on Nebbercrackers lawn. DJ is caught by Nebbercracker while recovering it, who rages at him before apparently suffering a heart attack and being taken away by an ambulance. That night, DJ receives phone calls from Nebbercrackers house with no one on the other end. DJ eavesdrops on Zees boyfriend Bones, who tells Zee about losing his kite on Nebbercrackers lawn when he was younger and that Nebbercracker supposedly ate his wife. Later, Bones sees his kite in the doorway of Mr. Nebbercrackers house, but he and the kite are consumed by the house as he is retrieving it.

The next morning, a girl named Jenny Bennett is selling Halloween candy. DJ and Chowder see her going to Nebbercrackers house, and they rush out to catch her before she is eaten by the house. Jenny calls the police, but police officers Landers and Lester do not believe their story.

The trio seek advice from Reginald "Skull" Skulinski, who is claimed to be an expert on the supernatural. They learn that the house is a "Domus Mactabilis" (Latin for "deadly home"): a rare monster created when a human soul merges with a man-made structure. The only way to kill the house is to destroy its heart. They conclude that the heart must be the furnace, as DJ realizes that the chimney has been smoking since Nebbercracker supposedly died. Chowder provides a cold medicine-filled dummy that should cause the house to sleep long enough for them to douse the furnace. Landers and Lester thwart their plan and they are arrested when Landers finds the cold medicine stolen from Chowders fathers pharmacy inside the dummy. The cops place the trio in their car while they examine the house. The house eats Landers, Lester and the car. DJ, Chowder and Jenny escape the car but are trapped in the house.

The house falls asleep and they begin exploring. They fall into the basement, finding a collection of toys accumulated from Nebbercrackers lawn, as well as a cage door that opens to a shrine containing the body of Nebbercrackers wife Constance the Giantess, encased in cement. The house realizes they are inside and attacks them. DJ, Chowder and Jenny force the house to vomit them outside by grabbing its uvula. Nebbercracker arrives home alive, revealing that Constances spirit is within the house, and that he did not eat her as the rumor states. Rather, he had given her some of the happiest times in her life. As a young man, Nebbercracker met Constance, who was an unwilling member of a circus freak show and hated children, and fell in love with her despite her obesity. After helping her escape, they began building the house. One Halloween, as children tormented her due to her size, Constance tried chasing them away with an axe, but lost her footing and fell to her death in the basement with the cement burying her body. Nebbercracker finished the house after Constances death, knowing it was what she would have wanted. Aware that Constances spirit made the house come alive, Nebbercracker tried keeping people away by pretending to hate children.

DJ tells Nebbercracker it is time to let Constance go, but the house overhears this. Enraged, the house breaks free from its foundation and chases the group to a construction site. Nebbercracker attempts to distract the house so he can throw a dynamite in, but the house notices and attempts to eat him. Chowder fights the house off with an excavator, causing it to fall into a pit. DJ is given the dynamite, and he and Jenny climb to the top of a crane while Chowder distracts the house. DJ throws the dynamite into the chimney, destroying the house. The trio see Nebbercracker with Constances ghost before she fades away. DJ apologizes to Nebbercracker for the loss of his house and wife, but Nebbercracker thanks DJ and the kids for freeing him and Constance from being trapped for 45 years. That night, children in their Halloween costumes are lined up at the site of Nebbercrackers house, where DJ, Chowder and Jenny help him return the toys to their owners. Jennys mother picks her up and DJ and Chowder go trick-or-treating, which they previously felt they were too old for.

Those who were eaten by the house emerge from the basement. Bones finds Zee is now dating Skull and Landers and Lester leave to "inspect" some of the trick-or-treating candy.

Cast

Performance capture

The film was shot using performance capture, in which the actors performed the characters movement while linked to sensors. This process was pioneered by Robert Zemeckis on his film The Polar Express, also produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Digital 3-D version

As with The Polar Express, a stereoscopic 3-D version of the film was created and had a limited special release in digital 3-D stereo along with the "flat" version. While The Polar Express was produced for the 3-D IMAX 70mm giant film format, Monster House was released in approximately 200 theaters equipped for new REAL D Cinema digital 3-D stereoscopic projection. The process was not based on film, but was purely digital. Since the original source material was "built" in virtual 3-D, it created a very rich stereoscopic environment. For the films release, the studio nicknamed it Imageworks 3D.

Reception

Monster House grossed $73,661,010 in the United States and Canada, and $66,513,996 overseas for a worldwide collection of $140,175,006.

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. Based on 158 reviews collected by review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, the film scored a 74% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The sites critical consensus reads, "Monster House welcomes kids and adults alike into a household full of smart, monstrous fun."

Ian Freer, writing for Empire, gave the film 4 out of 5 stars with the verdict, "A kind of Goonies for the Noughties, Monster House is a visually dazzling thrill ride that scales greater heights through its winning characters and poignantly etched emotions. A scary, sharp, funny movie, this is the best kids’ flick of the year so far." Jane Boursaw of Common Sense Media also gave it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "This is one of those movies where all the planets align: a top-notch crew (director Gil Kenan; executive producers Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis), memorable voices that fit the characters perfectly; and a great story, ingenious backstory, and twisty-turny ending." Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel wrote, "This Monster House is a real fun house. Its a 3-D animated kids film built on classic gothic horror lines, a jokey, spooky Goonies for the new millennium." He also gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Scott Bowles of USA Today observed, "The movie treats children with respect. Monsters pre-teens are sarcastic, think theyre smarter than their parents and are going crazy over the opposite sex. Amy Biancolli of the Houston Chronicle wrote, "Its engineered to scare your pants off, split your sides and squeeze your tear ducts into submission." Michael Medved called it "ingenious" and "slick, clever [and] funny" while also cautioning parents about letting small children see it due to its scary and intense nature, adding that a "PG-13 rating" would have been more appropriate than its "PG rating." A. O. Scott of the New York Times commented, "One of the spooky archetypes of childhood imagination the dark, mysterious house across the street is literally brought to life in this marvelously creepy animated feature."

Dissenting critics included Frank Lovece of Film Journal International, who praised director Gil Kenan as "a talent to watch" but berated the "internal logic [that] keeps changing.... DJs parents are away, and the house doesnt turn monstrous in front of his teenage babysitter, Zee. But it does turn monstrous in front of her boyfriend, Bones. It doesnt turn monstrous in front of the towns two cops until, in another scene, it does." Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote, "Alert "Harry Potter" fans will notice the script shamelessly lifts the prime personality traits of J.K. Rowlings three most important young characters for its lead trio: Tall, dark-haired, serious-minded DJ is Harry, semi-dufus Chowder is Ron and their new cohort, smarty-pants prep school redhead Jenny (Spencer Locke), is Hermione.... [I]t is a theme-park ride, with shocks and jolts provided with reliable regularity. Across 90 minutes, however, the experience is desensitizing and dispiriting and far too insistent."

The American Film Institute nominated Monster House for its Top 10 Animated Films list.

Awards and nominations