The Monster Squad

Fred Dekker’s The Monster Squad was an HBO staple in the 1980s, but you may have forgotten what a chintzy production it was. The idea is irresistible: Dracula enlists Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Mummy and Gill Man to help him take over the world for some reason, and the only ones who can stop him are a gang of monster-obsessed, Goonies-like adolescents. (How formulaic is it? The obligatory fat kid is actually named Fat Kid). It’s all in good fun, but often difficult to distinguish where satire ends and rank incompetence begins. The Monster Squad is the rare film that could benefit from an expansive remake, but in the current climate of timidity, it’s hard to see studios greenlighting a kids’ movie where young boys brandish shotguns and Dracula calls a 4-year-old girl a bitch.