 ***PLEASE NOTE: A Blu-ray 3D disc is only compatible with 3D Blu-ray players.*** Tagline: The House is . . . ALIVE! Young DJ always knew there was something strange about the old Nebbercracker house across the street. When the house becomes a living, breathing monster, DJ enlists his pals Chowder and Jenny to learn the secret that keeps the house alive. Suddenly, they find themselves in a hair-raising battle with an unstoppable entity and must save the neighborhood from total devastation. Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg present Monster House - the movie The New York Times' A.O. Scott hails "...smartly written and a lot of fun." Storyline: The teenage DJ is observing his neighbor Nebbercracker on the other side of their street in the suburb that destroys tricycles of children that trespass his lawn. When DJ's parents travel on the eve of Halloween and the abusive nanny Zee stays with him, he calls his clumsy best friend Chowder to play basketball. But when the ball falls in Nebbercracker's lawn, the old man has a siege, and soon they find that the house is a monster. Later the boys rescue the smart Jenny from the house and the trio unsuccessfully tries to convince the babysitter, her boyfriend Bones and two police officers that the haunted house is a monster, but nobody believes them. The teenagers ask their video-game addicted acquaintance Skull how to destroy the house, and they disclose its secret on the Halloween night. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, September 12, 2010 -- The house is a monster. Monster House is nothing less than a digital playground in which artists armed with mice and keystrokes have crafted a spectacular 3D environment inside which plays out a funny, touching, and memorable little movie, all in the name of good old-fashioned spooky fun. A tale of wild imagination and a tender heart that's built around the bonds of friendship, youthful exuberance, and curiosity, Monster House weaves a consistently entertaining fright-fest geared at kids but never forgetting that there are adults with standards and expectations in the audience, too. Like the best computer-animated films -- Wall●E or Cars, for instance -- Monster House puts characters and story first, and the result is an experience that's not dominated by its digital landscape, but merely reinforced by it. Still, Monster House doesn't skimp on its visuals; the intricate and extremely well-done computer animation and the corresponding 3D presentation dazzles with every creaking floorboard and fluttering shutter around the spooky old house, and its many tricks, traps, and secrets are sure to scare and delight all the more in one of the best 3D Blu-ray presentations yet. Old man Nebbercracker (voiced by Steve Buscemi) isn't too fond of the neighborhood kids, especially when they trespass on his lawn. He might not pull an M1 Garand on them, but he's liable to confiscate their possessions or, worse yet, his house just might spring to life and gobble up the children. Nebbercracker's across-the-street neighbor, the young DJ (voiced by Mitchel Musso), keeps tabs on the old man with his trusty telescope and Polaroid camera. When he and his friend Chowder (voiced by Sam Lerner) lose a basketball on the forbidden lawn, DJ dares trespass to retrieve it. Neither Nebbercracker nor his heart take it all that well, and the old codger dies right there on his beloved lawn. A guilt-ridden DJ comes to believe that Nebbercracker's house might be haunted, and that the old man has somehow possessed it to exact his revenge on the neighborhood kids he so loathed -- and the one who cost him his life in particular. With the help of the peppy and preppy Jenny (voiced by Spencer Locke), DJ and Chowder take it upon themselves to unearth the secrets of the supposedly haunted monster house and find out once and for all if its legend is bigger than its floor plan or if it really is all that and a bag of chips, confirming suspicions that, yes, best to stay off that lawn and let the house be. In part, Monster House works very well because it takes fantastical and impossible elements and blends them into a movie that becomes completely believable from beginning to end, from the friendship between DJ and Chowder to a house with a secret to hide and children to eat. "Believable," of course, means that the movie effectively pulls its audience out of the theater and into its world without effort, delivering the ultimate in escapist entertainment that allows viewers to befriend the characters, learn of and revel in the history of the haunted house, slowly come to know its secrets, and traverse its darkest corners and dingiest rooms, all in the name of good-natured fun. There's plenty of humor in character interactions but there's also an underlying seriousness to the story -- found in both its scares and its surprising thematic depth and heart that's revealed as the final act plays out -- that lends to the picture a perfect balance for an animated movie. The laughs underscore and lessen the visually and thematically dark elements, but there's just enough honesty to the characters and believability to their plight that the laughs never wholly define the movie, but certainly support it and help offset some of the scariest elements. That's pretty much become the de facto structure for these digital movies; they're cute, cuddly, and funny on the surface but manage to craft several additional levels that bring balance to the movie and give it more weight and purpose than what's found in more generic children's fare. With Monster House, that means very well-conceived and executed characters and a story with heart that, by film's end, leaves the audience satisfied for the way it turns everything from its first two acts upside down and reveals an honest and even moving purpose behind the mayhem. Monster House earns its stripes with a quality story that's right up every neighborhood child's alley, so to speak, but the film also finds success through quality voice acting, maginative direction, and great visuals. Boasting a top-notch voice cast -- including Steve Buscemi, Jon Heder, Jason Lee, and Kathleen Turner -- Monster House never wants for a better collection of actors, but the real surprise comes from the exceptional work of Mitchel Musso and Sam Lerner as the film's unwitting and underaged heroes who manage to pull off an easily-believable friendship that's a key to the film's success. Not to be outdone by his voice cast, first-time director Gil Kenan -- who followed up Monster House with City of Ember -- demonstrates an understanding of just what it takes to bring a movie like this to life not through a string of routine shot-by-shot visuals, but by moving his (digital) camera to just the right spot, with just the right flow, and at just the right angle to truly capture and reinforce all the fear, emotion, camaraderie, and drama of the movie from a visual perspective. Kenan's effort elevates the picture by a notch or two over where it probably should be; the picture works well even though its base structure would seem to suggest something far more generic than what fans get. A haunted house, middle school-aged kids, a scary old codger, and a decades-old secret really don't spell "new," but Kamen -- with the help of Sony's computer wizards and some really great performances -- makes Monster House and honest-to-goodness quality movie that's worthy of becoming a Halloween staple. As to the film's visual structure, it's both well-designed and superbly-implemented. Visually, there's no denying that Monster House is a winner. It might not feature the same level of absolute digital authenticity and the nitty-gritty detailing and texturing seen in Wall●E, and the characters' hair might not have even the slightest bit of life, flow, or bounce to it, but the real star of the movie -- the haunted house -- is one of the better animated environments and characters ever seen on the silver screen. This isn't just another haunted house with front windows as eyes and a front door as a mouth. It certainly depends on those attributes at a base level, but look further and revel in the playground of frightening fun that the digital artists have created within its walls and around its outer perimeter. Sidewalks, carpets, basements, and even a gaudy entryway chandelier are all used to imaginative effect not just for show, but as integral elements in the story. This gives the picture a unique flare and further helps its escape from that sense that, on paper, Monster House really shouldn't be anything special. Of course, things get progressively more complex as the movie goes by; it's not enough for the house to simply appear neglected and dark by film's end. While the climax sees the house looking a bit more generically menacing than it should, that middle stretch where everything's used to such inspired and innovative effect helps offset what is a visually stale appearance for the house in the midst of an otherwise excitingly-staged final confrontation. Though it might not look all that original on paper or sound all that unique if one were to call it a "neighborhood kids battle a haunted house" story, Monster House is nevertheless a strong picture thanks to its solid characterization, great animation, knowledgable direction, and surprising depth beyond its basic story elements. No, it's not a Pixar movie in terms of scope, production values, or story, but Monster House could safely be nestled into that category right below the cream of the crop. It's a worthwhile picture that will entertain the kids and satisfy the adults, and it's good enough to enjoy every year around Halloween. The best way to watch Monster House? In 3D, of course. Sony's once again done the right thing and released one of its 3D titles without tying it to a bundle, instead allowing all early adopters the opportunity to buy the movie off-the-shelf at a reasonable price point. Best of all, the quality of the 3D image is exemplary, boasting marvelous depth and the same level of detail and coloring Blu-ray fans expect of a top-tier release on the format, whether it's of the 2D or 3D variety. Supported by a powerful lossless soundtrack and a decent array of extras, it should come as no surprise that Monster House 3D comes very highly recommended. Cast Notes: Ryan Newman (Little Girl [voice]), Steve Buscemi (Nebbercracker [voice]), Mitchel Musso (DJ [voice]), Catherine O'Hara (Mom [voice]), Fred Willard (Dad [voice]), Sam Lerner (Chowder [voice]), Woody Schultz (Paramedic #1 [voice]), Ian McConnel (Paramedic #2 [voice]), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Zee [voice]), Jason Lee (Bones [voice]), Spencer Locke (Jenny [voice]), Kevin James (Officer Landers [voice]), Nick Cannon (Officer Lister [voice]), Jon Heder (Reginald 'Skull' Skulinski [voice]), Kathleen Turner (Constance [voice]).
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