Monster House (2006)

Monster House is a 2006 animated horror movie, about an anthropomorphic house that terrorises the kids of the neighbourhood. Featuring a star-studded voice cast including Steve Buscemi, Kathleen Turner and Maggie Gyllenhaal, it was released to rave reviews and was commercially a box-office success. It was nominated for many awards, winning the Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Animated Film.

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It’s about time I write about this film, because it’s one of my all-time favourites. I think the concept and the way it is brought to life is imaginative in a way we’d never seen from the genre before, and it’s still hard to find animated films today that rival it. As a kid it absolutely terrified me, and I still think it packs a punch whilst at its core being a tale about the outcasts of society and the way children are dismissed by adults.

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It begins with a beautiful shot of an autumn leaf twirling through the air, following a young girl who is happily riding her tricycle and singing to herself. The creative team behind the film used specialist equipment so that the ‘camera’ could achieve angles seen in live action productions, and it’s what makes Monster House so appealing. You feel as if you’ve been immersed in a cinematic landscape, surrounded by real trees and houses.

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The girl soon runs screaming, as resident of the house Nebbercracker orders her off his lawn when she accidentally parks her trike there. This makes the viewer feel as if he’s the enemy, a grumpy old man who is hateful towards the children of the neighbourhood. Nebbercracker looks over his shoulder menacingly, towards the window of DJ who’s been spying through his telescope, suspicious about events across the street.

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DJ is called downstairs as his parents depart for a work convention, and we meet his friend Chowder for the first time, a goofy kid who loves messing about and who doesn’t take life too seriously, attempting to scare DJ with his monster mask. This is shortly followed by Zee, rock chic babysitter who isn’t too concerned about actually being responsible for her charge - she lays out her usual rules before jamming out to tape by Skull & Bones, the latter her current boyfriend.

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Prior to her arrival, DJ and Chowder had been throwing hoops, only for the basketball to end up on Nebbercracker’s lawn. Chowder pretends to be fearless and goes to retrieve his ball, only for the old man to run out and threaten them both - though he has a heart attack while grasping on DJ’s jumper, collapsing on top of him. Zee doesn’t believe this and is similarly bemused when she’s told the neighbour is ringing DJ from the grave.

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Her boyfriend Bones arrives, wearing the mask Chowder turned up in, and terrorises DJ by ripping up his childhood toy. Upon hearing about Nebbercracker’s demise, he recalls a moment from his own early days when the bitter neighbour stole his red kite. The couple go downstairs and end up having a fight, while DJ sneaks out of the house to meet Chowder and discuss what he’s witnessed.

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They set up a spy camp in DJ’s bedroom, taking shifts and using the telescope to surveil the haunted house across the street. A girl scout knocks on their door, bartering with Zee for her babysitting allowance, and then makes her way over to the neighbours as the boys look on in horror. They run outside to warn her, but she ignores their efforts and continues to approach the Nebbercracker residence, narrowly missing disaster as DJ and Chowder pull her back when her candy cart is swallowed by the house.

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Now a believer, Jenny lets her Mom know she’ll be home late and joins the boys operation to find out what’s truly happening. They consult notorious gamer dude Reginald ‘Skull’ Skulinski, the other half of Skull N Bones, who informs them he’s heard of man-made structures becoming entwined with human souls, creating a dangerous entity. He advises them to attack the heart, concealed within the depths of the building, and having been ignored by the adults around them they take matters into their own hands.

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Hiding behind trashcans, they use a vacuum cleaner disguised as a trick-or-treater to approach the house, filling it with cough medicine in an attempt to make the property drowsy. The police arrive, already on their second warning with the kids, and just as the house is about to strike, it hides behind its docile façade again. DJ, Chowder and Jenny are locked in the police car, though this isn’t enough to protect them when the monster attacks the officers and tries to claim the vehicle. They manage to climb out the back window, finally inside the enemy.

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They inspect the foyer, noticing a pendulum of glowing balls hanging from the ceiling. Chowder fires at it, causing the gag reflex, and quips one of the funniest lines in the movie - noting that it must be a ‘girl’ house because it has ‘uvula’, which he mistakes as a genital part, demonstrating mens cluelessness about reproductive anatomy. Jenny corrects him and they hide, as a spotlight searches for intruders.

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Once in the clear, they make their way down to the basement, where all the toys taken from the neighbourhood kids are stored. DJ comes across a locked cage, the form of a woman in the floor, surrounded by romantic tributes and photographs. Remembering a key he found earlier after Nebbercracker collapsed, he unlocks the door and falls on the body cast, freeing the skeleton inside. It’s suspected Nebbercracker murdered his wife, though this couldn’t be further from the truth.

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It isn’t long before the house attacks again, moving them back to the foyer where they’re almost swallowed whole. Knowing what they do about the anatomy of the building now, they use the uvula to flush them out of the front door. Catching their breath, the kids are shocked when an ambulance arrives and Nebbercracker climbs out, his cardiac event merely a scare. He’s furious to find out they’ve been inside, but this ebbs away when DJ proposes he didn’t kill his wife, and the old man recalls their love story before it all ended tragically.

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Nebbercracker met Constance at a travelling circus, where she was ridiculed for her size and appearance. He offers to take her away from there, and she exalts with joy at finally living the life she imagined. He buys a plot of land for them both, and construction begins on their dream home. The main framework is in place when Constance is ambushed by a group of kids, throwing rocks at her. In an attempt to protect her dignity and her new life, she lashes out and falls backwards into the basement, as the cement mixer seals her fate.

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Back in the present day, Nebbercracker warns them to leave for their own safety, but DJ wont abandon him, realising he’s been protecting the city all these years. Constance becomes enraged and tears her wooden frame from its foundations, using nearby trees as her arms. The house chases them through the neighbourhood, as they lead her towards a construction site. Nebbercracker has some dynamite from his working days, and plans to use this to destroy his home, though he’s still weak from his heart attack.

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DJ takes this job from him, as Chowder distracts Constance with a digger. He manages to hit her with one explosion, but just when they think they’ve triumphed she reassembles her shattered body into a menacing formation of splintered wood. The kids remember what Skull said about the heart, and DJ realises the impact needs to happen from within. He climbs a crane with Jenny behind him, walking along the top until he stands way above the house. Jenny gives him some courage, and he swings on a wrecking ball, lighting the dynamite and throwing it down the chimney, finally destroying the house.

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The movie ends with Nebbercracker dancing with Constance’s ghost, before breaking down as she leaves the mortal plane - but his tears are of joy, at being free for the first time in over 40 years. They all hug as the credits roll, and some bonus scenes show them working together to give back the stolen toys, as Bones and the two police officers climb out of the basement after being captured by Constance earlier. Zee is seen flirting with Skull, having decided Bones doesn’t treat her right.

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The special features includes many clips exploring the techniques used to create Monster House, and it’s fascinating to me that motion sensors were used to simulate the action, with the cast dressing in specialist suits with face mapping nodules and acting out the scenes - it’s what makes the film so brilliant, because it shows a commitment to realism and world building in a way that so closely resembles our own, whilst still embodying concepts like the house that don’t exist in real life.

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There’s also trailers for Click, Open Season, RV, Zathura, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, The Benchwarmers, The Pursuit of Happyness and Stranger Than Fiction, alongside artwork from the film and the opportunity to see the first sequence in its many stages, from storyboarding to mapping and the final rendering which is really cool. It’s one of my favourite opening scenes, so dynamic and effective in its ability to set the tone for the rest of the story. Monster House is a movie that will always stay with me, and one that I think is criminally underrated.