1.5/5
Fred Dekker’s The Monster Squad is a terribly dated bit of ’80s nostalgia that tries to capture of the magic of The Goonies and Gremlins, but settles instead for gaping plot holes, juvenile humor, casual homophobia, blatant misogyny baked into key plot points. At less than 90 minutes, it feels like there are large chunks of the films missing that would have helped the story make a little more sense, but at the same time, any longer would have felt like an even longer slog. The best moments are either lifted from better films or handled better in films that were released around the same time, and the constant attempts by the screenwriters to relate to younger viewers results in some of the worst one-liners in an adventure-comedy ever. Even with all of its many issues, it is fun to see kids fight off all our favorite movie monsters – it’s kind of like The Goonies crossed with Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. But with its overwhelming number of narrative problems and a sexism and homophobia that pervades every frame of the film, it’s just not enough to make this a time capsule worth excavating.
