Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Monster Squad (1987)
15 Plays4 days ago
This week on the Everything Actioncast, with The Bride! hitting theaters and bringing some of the classic monsters into the 1930s, Zach and Chris discuss 1987's The Monster Squad, which brought the likes of Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster into the 80s.
Directed by Fred Dekker and written by Dekker and Shane Black, The Monster Squad sees a group of kids obsessed with monster movies having to take on monsters for real when Dracula (Duncan Regehr) arrives in their town looking to destroy a magical amulet that would shift the balance of the world to evil and let him and his fellow monsters rule. Zach and Chris discuss the awesome, legally distinct Stan Winston creature designs, the late Tom Noonan's heartwarming portrayal of Frankenstein's Monster, how Rudy (Ryan Lambert) is doing 90% of the work for the Squad, the fantastic Michael Sembello soundtrack songs, and more.
You can watch The Monster Squad on Prime Video or on YouTube for free. Next week, we're making an Executive Decision and talking about the 90s action thriller for its 30th anniversary.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your movie suggestions for us to discuss.
Please subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. You can also find the podcast on YouTube.
Check us out on Twitter (@evaction), Facebook (www.facebook.com/everything.action), and Instagram (@everything.action).
Recommended
Transcript
Intro
Introduction of Hosts
00:00:18
Chris Prime
your co-host, Chris.
00:00:19
Zach Sheets
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast, podcast week of March 2nd, 2026. I'm your host, Zach.
New Movie 'The Bride' Discussion
00:00:26
Chris Prime
ahho chris
00:00:28
Zach Sheets
And yeah, this week we are joining the monster squad because we actually have the bride is in theaters. We should yell it because there's explanation point at the end.
00:00:39
Zach Sheets
which is taking like, you know, the classic, you know, the monster and Brian Frankenstein into the thirties. But back in the eighties, all the, all the monsters, except for the weirdly, the bride came into the joint, came into the eighties and a fun, a bunch of kids.
00:00:54
Zach Sheets
So we had like, yeah, it was Dracula, the mummy, uh, legally distinct creature from the black lagoon, AKA Gilman. And, and
00:01:02
Chris Prime
It's weird that, like, they couldn't get him.
00:01:05
Zach Sheets
Well, I don't think they could to get any of them because they're all they're all like public domain. But like I said, I mean, Creature is definitely like a universal created monster.
Public Domain Monsters
00:01:17
Zach Sheets
But they they couldn't be like, these are the universal a monsters. like They're sort of the universal monsters. Mm-hmm.
00:01:24
Chris Prime
mean, if anything, this could have been a like a Kellogg's, like, cereal monster hangout.
00:01:31
Zach Sheets
who
00:01:32
Chris Prime
like, it's Boo Berry. Like, okay.
00:01:33
Zach Sheets
It's, yeah.
00:01:36
Zach Sheets
it is It is kind of odd that there was no like a bride and like the in that crew.
00:01:42
Chris Prime
Well, the bride is sort of a Frankenstein only, and sometimes Dracula gets jealous and wants a bride for himself. That's sort of like the thing. And I think like this movie is so packed with like this team up of monsters that are just under Dracula's control.
00:02:00
Chris Prime
So it's like a lot enough to manage. And they all are also not good at what they do. Like they're good at killing everyone else, but they're terrible at killing these kids.
00:02:07
Zach Sheets
yeah a
00:02:12
Zach Sheets
Also, like, the Invisible Man, I think, and like probably, like, Phantom, maybe, or kind of, like, also, like, they would be, like, possible contenders, too, but they just... No no room. Yeah.
00:02:22
Chris Prime
Yeah, I just feel his move so it's like the perfect amount of screen time for everything.
'Monster Squad' and Cult Status
00:02:27
Chris Prime
And for a story that's all about like kids fighting monsters. I think yeah when you kind of stack the deck with like more and more beings, it it kind of like makes it more implausible.
00:02:37
Zach Sheets
Yeah. I feel like Guileman gets a little short shrift. like he One thing he does is like carry the the crate out of the swamp, but then it kind of like doesn't really do Slowly swipe at you.
00:02:45
Chris Prime
No, he's like, I don't, he just becomes like a random animal. He doesn't talk. He's just sort of like, he kind of kills people by like, if you let him, because he has to get like in your face. Mm-hmm.
00:02:57
Zach Sheets
Well, he's i mean he's a water-based creature. If he's land, he's not that great.
00:03:02
Chris Prime
But he manages to kill a lot of people on land. It's not like they went... like if There's a sequence where they fell into a pool or like you know their car ran off the road and entered a swamp. And then it's like you entered his domain.
00:03:11
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:03:13
Chris Prime
I could see. But yeah, these movies, like all the monsters are sort of just run it into the street. like There's no... It leans into someone's like domain.
00:03:25
Zach Sheets
But yeah, so this movie came out in 1987. It was actually the month after The Lost Boys came out, which I think kind of contributed to like the Monster Squad kind of becoming like this kind of somewhat lost 80s cult classic until like fairly recently, within the last couple like couple decades.
Influence of 'The Goonies'
00:03:43
Zach Sheets
People have like really like rediscovered It's become like a like an 80s classic. But at the time, it was like definitely like overwhelmed by The Lost Boys and other and other stuff.
00:03:56
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's unfortunate because I feel like the Monster Squad definitely had more appeal for a lot of people where the Lost Boys only is like a coming of age story.
00:03:56
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:04:06
Chris Prime
You know, and it's like. They're very similar, and I just feel like. No, one as soon as Lost Boys came out with a kickass soundtrack and just sort of like more recognizable celebrities, this got buried.
00:04:22
Zach Sheets
And I feel like also like the Monster Squad is definitely... It had to be a little bit influenced by like the Goonies. Because the Goonies came out a few years before this. so I'm sure there had to be a factor. like Let's write a Goonies, but with like monsters in it.
00:04:34
Chris Prime
I think Goonies was what, 82?
00:04:36
Zach Sheets
84, I think it was.
Shane Black's Influence
00:04:38
Zach Sheets
And this is also... so this is like you know Famously like one but one of the first scripts from Shane Black...
00:04:45
Chris Prime
Yeah, that that's like, you could feel the Shane Blackness in this. Like, there are plot beats and dialogue choices that are just like, they talk like guys you meet at bars.
00:04:58
Zach Sheets
o
00:04:58
Chris Prime
Like, the kids have very snappy, punctual exchanges that... It definitely has, like, the... The comedy writing that... Like, I think, what, like, a year or two later, Predator sort of shows up, and then...
00:05:16
Zach Sheets
Well, the same year, 87, like, Lethal Weapon came out. so that was like a one-two punch for Shane Black.
00:05:19
Chris Prime
Oh, wow.
00:05:20
Zach Sheets
and like, here I am.
00:05:23
Chris Prime
Yeah, well, now I'm thinking... If this was like the perfect Shane Black story where it has like like a buddy cop comedy, it has.
00:05:33
Chris Prime
It has supernatural elements because of like Predator.
00:05:36
Zach Sheets
hu
00:05:37
Chris Prime
It has a
00:05:42
Chris Prime
What was that Mark Wahlberg movie who we watched?
00:05:45
Zach Sheets
Oh, play dirty? Yep.
00:05:46
Chris Prime
Yeah, Playdirt. That was a Shane Black movie too, right? If they just needed to steal something. like Well, well they actually, no, they do steal something.
00:05:55
Zach Sheets
Yeah, the amulet.
00:05:56
Chris Prime
The amulet, yeah. And then they just need like a murder mystery. And that's pretty much, this is the Shane Black movie.
00:06:01
Zach Sheets
and It doesn't take place over Christmas. That's the other like shade black thing.
00:06:05
Chris Prime
yeah. Well, this kind of takes place over like almost Halloween.
00:06:11
Zach Sheets
Yeah, I feel like if it had been Halloween, that would have been just another... Maybe that would have been too much. But...
00:06:18
Chris Prime
would have been too much on the nose for what they're doing.
00:06:21
Zach Sheets
Because then you have to see the monsters walking around and people are great costume!
00:06:26
Chris Prime
You know, in my head, I feel like they did, and then they probably cut it. If you think about it, like, wouldn wouldn't, like, the monsters coming at night and no one taking any of this serious until, like, you know, there's pretty much mayhem.
00:06:43
Chris Prime
I feel like that's where that's why people realize, oh, no, these kids aren't faking. Like, it's not just make-believe. Like, it's real.
00:06:52
Zach Sheets
I'm not even sure like where this movie takes place. like where where What town is this? Where is this town that like everything's happening in?
Plot Setup of 'Monster Squad'
00:06:58
Zach Sheets
you think it's California? There's a and then...
00:07:04
Zach Sheets
and then like old old mansions that van Van Helsing's disciples brought magical artifacts to in the new world.
00:07:16
Chris Prime
I don't know. Maybe. I
00:07:21
Chris Prime
kind of want to say Oregon.
00:07:26
Zach Sheets
too close to the Goonies. It's like, oh, it's set in like Astoria.
00:07:31
Chris Prime
Like it wants to be. It so wants to be.
00:07:33
Zach Sheets
Yeah. I'm sure it's probably like California something.
00:07:38
Zach Sheets
But i mean, the movie movie the let start out transyvan get that get that flashback scene where Van Helsing is trying to like stop stop the evil from happening. And that the opening crawl is great, where it's just like this like very like epic opening crawl of like every hundred years, evil. but like Van Helsing is starting to fight evil, and they blew it.
00:07:59
Chris Prime
Well, he didn't have enough kid warriors with him.
00:08:02
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:08:03
Chris Prime
He only had that one girl and she got sucked up in that portal.
00:08:07
Zach Sheets
Well, they blew up because like he opens that portal that's supposed to suck all the like monsters and evil into it, and Dracula is nowhere even close to it.
00:08:17
Zach Sheets
like He's opening it like above, like in like the foyer of Dracula's castle, and then Dracula's in the basement, so he's like like there's no chance of him
Dracula's Plan
00:08:25
Zach Sheets
getting sucked into this like limbo portal. Yeah.
00:08:28
Zach Sheets
And then they didn't account for like random zombies just popping of the floor, too.
00:08:34
Chris Prime
True. I feel like that that would have been another go-to Dracula move that he just forgets he can do.
00:08:42
Zach Sheets
That probably would have helped him find help find the kids. Like, oh, here's my army we of zombies, by the way, too.
00:08:49
Chris Prime
Yeah, he just doesn't do that again.
00:08:53
Zach Sheets
And then, yeah, then Vin Helsing himself just gets sucked into the portal, and then it's just like, well, that didn't work.
00:09:00
Zach Sheets
But then I guess i guess somehow like his followers got the amulet out of Treka's castle and like were able to like get it away from it and hide and hide it in you know America somewhere, wherever this town is, for hundreds of years.
00:09:14
Zach Sheets
Or a hundred years, exactly.
00:09:17
Zach Sheets
Because it's it's it's like every hundred years, like this amulet that is like pure goodness is vulnerable. And then if if Dracula can... like his whole His whole plan is like if he wants to if he can destroy this amulet, then evil will the balance of like the world will shift the evil, and then the he and his monster squad will like rule the the world.
00:09:37
Zach Sheets
But if he can do like this incantation, then... you you can like open the portal to Limbo and like shoot like suck all the evil into it.
00:09:46
Chris Prime
Yeah, it seems like it should have been a different portal because it can't be the same one that gives you power and then also like holds garbage.
00:09:56
Chris Prime
if the portal just gets left open, will it just keep consuming like you open a black hole?
00:10:00
Zach Sheets
yeah it's yeah i mean see it's It's like a black hole. It's like it's just like a portal to nothingness and it's just like everything's getting sucked into it. like Just random people are getting sucked into it.
00:10:09
Chris Prime
I we'll never know because they never did like a follow up sequel to this because i feel like they just.
Sequel Ideas for 'Monster Squad'
00:10:15
Chris Prime
OK, no offense to the ending in the spoiler. They introduced a monster squad and then the movie ends.
00:10:20
Chris Prime
It's like we're the monster squad. See you in the franchise. And it never came.
00:10:23
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:10:26
Zach Sheets
Well, guess, i mean I mean, who else would they fight, though? And, like, what monsters are they? It's like the Invisible Man or, like, the Phantom of the Opera. Zombies.
00:10:33
Chris Prime
I mean, they could fight other monsters, zombies.
00:10:34
Zach Sheets
Zombies.
00:10:36
Chris Prime
You know, there could be another vampire. There could be another like. We could find out what other Frankenstein creature is out there because Frankie can't be the only one.
00:10:44
Zach Sheets
Yeah,
00:10:47
Zach Sheets
there's a whole like army of Frankenstein monsters.
00:10:51
Zach Sheets
Or it's like the like the ancestor of Dr. Frankenstein is like is like new villain or something. It's like, i' want I'm redoing my grandfather's work or my great-grandfather's work.
00:11:02
Chris Prime
See? There you go. That's a plot.
00:11:07
Chris Prime
But, I mean, for one-shot movie, this this had like a lot of like time periods, like, capsulation of its era. Because it it showed you, like what, the 18th century?
00:11:23
Zach Sheets
It's like 1887. If this movie takes place in the year came out, then yeah, it was like 1887 then in the opening.
00:11:30
Chris Prime
So, like, they've been hunting monsters since then. i think that was the only instance of monsters because, like, there's no record. And I think, uh, and then in the 80s, it's sort of like, oh hey, you know, monsters are more what they are and in in our reality where they're just caricatures, even though they're based on real things.
Pop Culture and Meta-Layers
00:11:51
Zach Sheets
Yes, that's the odd thing. is like all All of like the pop culture around monsters exists, but then also monsters are real and exist. And no one seems fazed by them.
00:12:04
Chris Prime
Yeah, that that's a bizarre thing to think about, where basically it's sort of like superheroes, but then they're real.
00:12:04
Zach Sheets
it So like...
00:12:14
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:12:15
Chris Prime
But like someone no one recorded it as like a truth.
00:12:20
Zach Sheets
like all All the Universal Monster movies from like the 30s are all based on actual things, or charge like real things. All the famous monsters of Filmland, all that stuff is all like some is like kind of like true in this universe.
00:12:38
Chris Prime
But, like, theyre they're true in a way where even the Reeve version is, like, accurate. You know, it's not like, oh, no, Dracula is here, but he's wearing, like, a red cape and a black outline. Like, it's the same look.
00:12:54
Zach Sheets
Yes, it's like they're literally like right of the movies.
00:12:56
Chris Prime
It's like they're wearing Halloween props themselves.
00:12:58
Zach Sheets
who
00:13:00
Chris Prime
So I just think that's just little, like, like a weird detail. I think it would have been interesting to see that like the real parts, like they, they got like 90% of it.
00:13:13
Chris Prime
Right. Or like maybe less, you know,
00:13:17
Zach Sheets
or so or Or some of the like the but ways you defeat them aren't actually how you defeat them. It's like, oh, the movie's relying to us.
00:13:24
Chris Prime
Yeah, yeah, I would have liked that, where, like, the kids kind of studied monster, like, anatomy and and rules, and then when it actually came to the first battle, they're like, like half of this worked. It's like, what you mean they're not allergic to garlic? It's like, yeah, you gotta throw, like, onions at them, you know? like Or it's like, wood doesn't work. Like, what works? It's like, I don't know, like, plastic? It's just like, we gotta, we gotta, what? Yeah, i gotta get all the plastic bottles.
00:13:50
Zach Sheets
Or a silver bullets. like that i mean
00:13:53
Chris Prime
It's just aluminum. They're just throwing aluminum like tin balls at like these monsters. But then half the half the weaponry later is just like bullets. like Everything's weak to bullets.
00:14:06
Zach Sheets
Or like, or unraveling them. the case of the mummy. He's like, we and undo his bandages and he's just like, is is god
00:14:15
Chris Prime
See, this is a little more of a nerdy thing about mummies. So is a mummy the whole thing or only when it's assembled?
00:14:27
Chris Prime
you know what mean? Like if you break off a piece of the mummy, is that piece not a mummy still or only when it's part of like a Voltron thing isn't a mummy?
00:14:39
Zach Sheets
I mean, I think i think it's like the whole yeah the whole body is like the reanimated body and the bandages the mummy.
00:14:46
Zach Sheets
but But it's not it's not like the like the universe the original universal Universal movie or like the Penifration movie where like he like kind re-assembles himself and like read like it becomes like like a not like not a He's like dude.
00:15:05
Chris Prime
Yeah, he's well, he's like absorbing souls to get his power back.
00:15:08
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:15:12
Zach Sheets
Yeah, the ma the Monster Squad mummy is basically just like a zombie.
00:15:15
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:15:16
Zach Sheets
Zombie advantages.
00:15:18
Chris Prime
i mean, then maybe that's why they
Monster Effects by Stan Winston
00:15:19
Chris Prime
didn't want to add more zombies because they already had enough.
00:15:22
Zach Sheets
Oh, we we haven't mentioned yet, but like the all the monsters, like all the monsters, all like all the creature designs everything awesome in this movie.
00:15:30
Chris Prime
Yeah. I feel like Frankie, the Frankenstein monster is so like, like one of the better representations
00:15:41
Zach Sheets
yeah Played play by the late Tom Noonan, which is you know part like part of this episode is a tribute because he just recently passed away. but yeah yeah the Frank Stein in this movie is like it's it's recognizable as like you know similar to like the Boris Kaufman, but it's like its own thing.
00:15:57
Chris Prime
Yeah. it oh like This is where I mentioned where it's a good thing and a bad thing. is that There are recognizable familiar like designs, but in a way that like isn't quite the Universal monster because it's like not copyrighted.
00:16:15
Chris Prime
It's the like Spirit of Halloween designs.
00:16:18
Zach Sheets
but Yeah.
00:16:21
Chris Prime
But they do a decent job for the era because you know ill watch this movie again the the costuming fits perfectly like nothing looks like an uncanny valley of just like a cgi blob or low effort like like an attempt like you could see this they put a lot of like care in the look and feel of a lot of like sets and design
00:16:50
Zach Sheets
Well, there there there is all all the monsters were Stan Winston designs. So.
00:16:55
Chris Prime
Again, that's why I appreciate Because, like, honestly, there wasn't, like, a lot of information at the time about this movie. I think, like, a version I saw was, like, pre-DVD.
00:17:08
Chris Prime
So it was, like, like a bad VHS transfer.
00:17:13
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:17:13
Chris Prime
And then later on in, I think, what, 2008?
00:17:20
Chris Prime
e I'm going to say. like That's where they like, oh hey, it's like some weird 20th anniversary. you want to... I got one of these like early DVDs of it where like they put a little bit of effort into like the transfer and all that.
00:17:35
Zach Sheets
Yeah, it finally had like an actual like good release.
00:17:38
Chris Prime
o And like the box was... and It's still on the best DVD like collection things. it like it it It came in that sleeve so you had to... like Every time you want to watch the movie you have to unsleeve it.
00:17:50
Chris Prime
And then open a silver case. And there was like a little bit of foil on it. Like the holographic. So like I was a fan. And even if it's like like a gritty. like It doesn't have a high res. it The fact that it was able to like go under the radar. makes Still makes it a hidden gem.
00:18:13
Chris Prime
And it's a shame. Because like again Stan Wilson worked on it. It has really great costuming.
00:18:19
Zach Sheets
I think this might have been like it was on HBO possibly all the time. That's how a lot of like, it kind grew like it's cult following.
00:18:25
Chris Prime
I believe that.
00:18:29
Zach Sheets
Cause like kids were watching it and like after it came out theaters or watching it on HBO. Yeah.
00:18:33
Chris Prime
Yeah, but that's... Man, HBO back in the, like, 90s was, like, premium cable networks to watch. So that's a rich kid watching this movie.
00:18:44
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:18:45
Chris Prime
You know, i I'm surprised, that like, this wasn't on, like, TBS or, like, ABC Family now and then. I mean, probably heavily censored on ABC Family.
00:18:59
Zach Sheets
Yeah, i don't I don't remember ever seeing it in any sort of like like normal cable network.
00:19:06
Chris Prime
Yeah, that's a shame, because I think this would have been great for, like, sci-fi or something.
00:19:07
Zach Sheets
Or like USA or You hear that Michael Cimbello music and you're like, oh yeah.
00:19:09
Chris Prime
sci-fi jan Yeah, USA. who I heard much of how I was going. I'm gonna get a bag of Doritos and, like, watch TV all night.
Character Analysis
00:19:22
Zach Sheets
going to rock until I drop.
00:19:24
Chris Prime
Thank
00:19:26
Zach Sheets
But yeah, was so so the actual Monster Squad, let's talk about that, like the members. what Like most the, like like a lot of them are like very like Goonies equivalent. Like they have like like a Goonies counterpart basically.
00:19:41
Zach Sheets
like yeah Like you have Sean who's the leader. He's basically Mikey. You have Horace aka Fat Kid who is Chunk. And then you have Patrick who is Sean's best friend.
00:19:53
Zach Sheets
And then I guess mouth.
00:19:57
Zach Sheets
And then you have Eugene who is way younger than the other three guys. So I don't know how, I don't know how they're like friends with him or how they like Eugene kind of like join them, but
00:20:09
Chris Prime
I mean, he's not even someone's like little brother or anything.
00:20:11
Zach Sheets
that that's the weird part. It's like, he's he's not like, you know, like one of their little brothers. He's just like, and like kid in the neighborhood. Like, Oh, Hey, young kid, you like monsters? Like join us.
00:20:22
Chris Prime
I mean, that's how you made friends back then. You pretty much were like, you do you like this one thing I like? We're best friends.
00:20:28
Zach Sheets
I will say, i mean, Eugene, i clearly, he has the coolest bedroom of, like, all the... We only see his bedroom, but, like, he has, like, you know, an awesome Punisher poster on the wall. He's got, like, a My Pet Monster. He's wearing Robotech pajamas. Like, Eugene eugene is is it is is, like, all in on, like, he knows what's cool in, like, the eighty s
00:20:47
Chris Prime
Yeah, he definitely is representing the error perfectly. But I don't know. we like Do we meet his parents?
00:20:55
Zach Sheets
His dad comes in, because like the mummy's in his closet like for that one scene.
00:21:00
Zach Sheets
he's like his dad comes in and is like, there's a monster. Look at Oh, the scary monster in the closet. And like it's like the mummy's right behind him.
00:21:00
Chris Prime
Oh, yeah.
00:21:08
Chris Prime
Yeah, if I was this Eugene's dad, I would question why does Eugene have like friends that are like seven years older than Eugene?
00:21:15
Zach Sheets
Yeah. but then And then you also have you have Rudy, who's older than all of them, but who is like the like apparently the coolest kid at school.
00:21:25
Chris Prime
Not even in that school.
00:21:25
Zach Sheets
but in he's like he's like He's like in junior high or something, like they said.
00:21:25
Chris Prime
I think he's from a different like class. Different school.
00:21:31
Chris Prime
Do they share like a park or something?
00:21:36
Zach Sheets
But he's like like he's like genuinely like into the Monster Squad, and also like like is like he steps up and helps Horus when they he's getting like bullied.
00:21:45
Chris Prime
Yeah, but he got like initiated, right? Because he's friends of Horus for some reason.
00:21:50
Zach Sheets
yeah he He steps to help Horus, and Horus like, we should we should like if invite him to the Monster Squad, and they're like, well, we gotta test him. like They should be begging Rudy to be in the Monster Squad. like We have the coolest kid at school in our Monster Squad?
00:22:03
Zach Sheets
but like no we got We gotta a test to make sure he's like a true Monster fan.
00:22:06
Zach Sheets
So they're asking him kind of obvious trivia questions like, is Frankenstein the name of the monster like or the creature, or how do you kill a werewolf? Yeah.
00:22:16
Chris Prime
Well, you know what's cool is that, like, whoever, if you think about it, whoever made the movies or media that these kids are reading, like, they they were based on facts.
00:22:28
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:22:29
Chris Prime
So, someone left, like, a manual of how to actually fight these monsters in the past.
00:22:36
Zach Sheets
Well, Sean's mom finds Van Helsing's like diary at a yard sale.
00:22:42
Chris Prime
Yeah, uh, Kind of weird that Van Helsing's like private like journal and entries are just like tossed around from Transylvania to middle of America.
00:22:56
Zach Sheets
and full full of like incantations and like the what like the way like save the entire world it's like oh I bought it for like 50 cents at a yard sale
00:23:04
Chris Prime
And even then, I think that was like Sean's mom could have been like, don't know, it was this or nothing.
00:23:11
Zach Sheets
you like you like monster stuff
00:23:13
Chris Prime
But, you know, they introduce the bullies early in the movie, but they don't really come back in the middle.
00:23:20
Zach Sheets
No, just at the end.
00:23:22
Chris Prime
And even then, that's more of a respect thing. But in a true Goonie sense, it would have been closer if the if they like were trying to tell the bullies something, the bullies didn't believe them, and the bullies got like their comeuppance from the monsters.
00:23:38
Zach Sheets
but they got, like, eaten or something.
00:23:40
Chris Prime
Well, maybe not Eden, but something...
00:23:42
Zach Sheets
like Scared away, or, like, they humiliated. Like, like hidden. They, like, jumped in that trash can or something, got garbage all over them, or...
00:23:49
Chris Prime
Yeah, yeah, something close. I'm sorry. Is is it getting loud on my end? Alright.
00:23:53
Zach Sheets
It seems okay.
00:23:56
Chris Prime
But, yeah, I wish there was, like, something with the bullies coming back and and sort of, like, maybe the them swearing, like, revenge against Horus and then not knowing that, like, you know, Horus is actually, like, trying to find a monster or like, uh...
00:24:13
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:24:16
Chris Prime
They're like trying to make fun of Horus. He's like, oh, who's that? Your brother is dressed up like a monster to scare us. And then the monster just completely like messes them up. Because that's like an 80s thing. It's like the bully gets like karma.
00:24:33
Zach Sheets
And also, the but the the the one bully, EJ, is played by Jason Hervey from Wonder Years. Wade from the Wonder Years.
00:24:41
Chris Prime
Just the perfect bully like face.
00:24:44
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:24:46
Chris Prime
Around this time, like but what, the Wonder Years? Let's just start it.
00:24:49
Zach Sheets
I think it like just started or was it was going to start like, Oh, the following year it started.
00:24:56
Chris Prime
and That's thing about this movie. Like a lot of the actors, they had potential to like go other things, but this is kind of like their big role.
00:25:06
Zach Sheets
uh,
00:25:08
Zach Sheets
like
00:25:09
Zach Sheets
like Like, Duncan Rigger plays Dracula. Like, I mean, he was not much like, Star Trek stuff, but, like, he didn't really do a lot of other things. But he's, like, I've seen, like, a bunch lists where, like, people rank him as, like, one of best directors of all time.
00:25:24
Chris Prime
Yeah, I mean, he's he's got like a very menacing look, and then he also has one-liners.
00:25:30
Zach Sheets
Yes! He has, like, 80s action hero one-liners, which is, like, great.
00:25:34
Chris Prime
Especially the part where he throws a stick of dynamite and it goes, like, meeting a jern. Like, who taught him that?
00:25:38
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:25:41
Zach Sheets
Or calling like a like a five-year-old girl a bitch.
00:25:45
Chris Prime
Well, that I get. That I get from, like, him yelling at actual little girls back in the 18th century, probably.
00:25:52
Chris Prime
Well, but actually, before we get to that, let's get to the plot where, like, Dracula has to steal, he has to steal back Frankenstein monster.
00:26:05
Zach Sheets
Yeah, he's he's transporting... i don't it know if Is he on the plane? Or he just, like, like go like he knows that plane is like carrying... I don't know if Dracula, like, commissioned that plane to fly Frankenstein monster to wherever they're going, or if he just, like hi like, hijacked it and, like, like because if he commissioned it, like, he should have just, like, let them land the plane and and just took Frankenstein's monster out of it.
00:26:32
Zach Sheets
But he, like, he shows up mid-flight and then, like, drop it out, like, the crate out of the mid-air on the plane. So it's like, are you even close to like, where you wanted to go Luckily they were, but
00:26:42
Chris Prime
I, yeah, luckily it was, but i I don't know where they were coming from again. They were just flying it over mid-America, and then that's where they dropped the crate, and that's where Frankenstein is.
00:26:55
Zach Sheets
Were they flying it from Transylvania?
00:26:57
Chris Prime
I guess so. And I guess the pathway is through Oregon? Oregon?
00:27:02
Zach Sheets
Or, yeah, wherever wherever wherever this movie takes place. And yeah, then Dracula shows up on the plane, and we get that cool the cool shot where, like, the one pilot drops the crate out of the, like, bomb hatch, or, like, the cargo hatch, and then, like, Dracula's floating above the the hatch because he has a drop. And then he turns to a bat and flies away.
00:27:22
Zach Sheets
And then you can...
00:27:22
Chris Prime
I mean, it's a little dated now, but I get at the time they're like, well, how's he flying there?
00:27:22
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Yeah. yeah
00:27:28
Zach Sheets
And I guess and i i guess he like summons the other monsters, or I guess his like maybe his presence like draws them, because you have the the mummy like wakes up, and the the museum walks out of the museum and like goes to like the meeting. And then got Uncle Rico, Jonathan Grease, as the wolfman, who wants to get arrested, but then he turns the werewolf and like runs and like joins like the crew.
00:27:51
Zach Sheets
So I guess, so I guess the track, like kind of summoned them or he's just like his evil presence, like drew them to him. And then he has, because he's the most evil, he like controls them.
00:28:01
Chris Prime
Yeah, I guess it's like they're drawn to the power. But like, out of everyone, the Gilman is sort of just like an animal, just sort of like, oh, hey, what's up?
00:28:12
Chris Prime
I guess I'll join you. He doesn't say anything.
00:28:13
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:28:14
Chris Prime
It just sort of like, his job is to be like the strong guy, but Frankenstein's monster is the strong guy.
00:28:14
Zach Sheets
Hmm.
00:28:20
Chris Prime
So what's Gil doing?
00:28:25
Zach Sheets
Yeah, it's it's it's it's odd that like there isn't really a specific job. like There's not really a reason to like have Frankenstein's monster. it's not you know it's It's not like Van Helsing or something, where you know he was like the power source for Draco's plot. It's kind of just like, oh, he's but like i got he's like my loyal servant. The second like he's away from Draco, he's just like, I'm not working with that guy anymore.
00:28:50
Zach Sheets
I'm friends with these kids now.
00:28:53
Zach Sheets
So apparently, Dregus Holden and Frankenstein's monster is not that great.
00:28:53
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:28:56
Chris Prime
I mean, i think it has to be within like a certain distance, and then Frankenstein doesn't know what like love is. Because, okay, again, this is going on the the assumption that this is the same kind of Frankenstein monster that the movie's based on.
00:29:11
Chris Prime
And the movie... And then like the events that happen where like Phoebe discovers Frankenstein or the the creature. And then like they instead of the normal sequence and almost every Frankenstein iteration where he throws the girl the lake.
00:29:28
Zach Sheets
her in like the water. yeah
00:29:29
Chris Prime
Yeah. They just hang out and they like go for walks.
00:29:34
Zach Sheets
It's very... like there's There's a little bit E.T. in there, too. like It's like Frank and Simon's made their E.T.
00:29:41
Chris Prime
Oh, yeah, right, yeah.
00:29:42
Zach Sheets
There's even like that shot of like them walking and down the street at sunset. It's straight out of E.T. Yeah.
00:29:49
Zach Sheets
And it's like, yeah, he like he likes he's like, he bonds with the little sister and all that stuff. That's all like E.T.
00:29:55
Zach Sheets
But Jack is like, yeah, Jack's like, go get the journal. Like, the Van Helsing's diary. I know the kids the kids have it. Like, take it from them. If they don't give it to you, steal, like, kill them and take it.
00:30:06
Chris Prime
Which Frankie does not like to hear.
00:30:08
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:30:10
Zach Sheets
He's like, no, I'm i'm in friends him now. and I'm going to learn, like, slang, like, bogus.
00:30:15
Zach Sheets
And then the other, like, the main trio of the Monster Squad, like, they they're able to get the diary translated because they go to see Scary German Guy.
Role of Scary German Guy
00:30:26
Zach Sheets
That's literally all he's credited as Scary German Guy. Yeah.
00:30:30
Chris Prime
Man, you know, like, he has a name, and they don't even credit him.
00:30:35
Zach Sheets
But that's that's also like, I i get like, I of like Sandlot vibes from that a little bit. Like, we're like, it's like this the scary neighbor they don't know about. And then they they actually like go talk to him. me He's like a super nice guy.
00:30:45
Chris Prime
Yeah, he's, like, very soft-spoken. uh... He just sort of, like, is looking for friends. any Anyone. Anyone.
00:30:53
Zach Sheets
He's like, he makes the pie. He's giving them like tons of Pepsi.
00:30:57
Zach Sheets
And yeah, then he he translates the diary for them and like tells them, kind of reveals the whole thing to them. they they They have like a day to get everything ready or like get ready like to stop Dracula.
00:31:08
Chris Prime
Wait, is he like secretly a so like a supernatural fighter? Or was he just like a German guy who happened to like know a little bit of supernatural stuff?
00:31:20
Zach Sheets
I feel like it would, like, i feel like they missed an opportunity like have him be like a Van Helsing like the Descendant or something.
00:31:24
Chris Prime
That's what I thought.
00:31:26
Zach Sheets
I think he's just like a random German guy
00:31:29
Chris Prime
yeah Actually, so do you remember the beginning of the movie, there's like a teacher that Sean like bumps into?
00:31:29
Zach Sheets
we just, who just happened to translate it.
00:31:37
Chris Prime
Wasn't that leading as if, like, she's gonna come back to the, like, plot somehow?
00:31:43
Zach Sheets
Maybe, yeah. like Or like the principal. The principal never shows up again.
00:31:46
Chris Prime
Yeah. i thought that was gonna thing where, like, they're secretly, like, supernatural or something, or or it's like, oh, they they try to, like,
00:31:58
Chris Prime
I don't know, try to, like, 80s adult the monsters, and it goes wrong. And that's what the sweet German guy is, like, the the true, like, companion.
00:32:08
Zach Sheets
surprised there wasn't a, because you see a lot like where Dracula kind of mind controls a lot of people. I'm surprised there wasn't a Dracula that starts like controlling the parents or something, maybe.
00:32:20
Chris Prime
Yeah. I mean, it sounds really cliche, but the... Dracula could have been... hum Like, making them build something.
00:32:29
Chris Prime
Yeah,
00:32:31
Zach Sheets
A sky beam.
00:32:33
Chris Prime
Sky Beam.
00:32:34
Zach Sheets
The sky beam to destroy the amulet.
00:32:39
Zach Sheets
But yeah, yeah this but scary German guy is like, yeah, it's kind of like, hey, yeah here's... i i also He like reads all that stuff and he's just like, oh, all right, that seems normal.
00:32:50
Zach Sheets
There's an aim that controls like all the good in the world. And if it gets destroyed, evil takes over. He's like, well, good luck, kids.
00:33:02
Zach Sheets
Although he is, I mean, he he did he is like, she doesn't help them at the end, but like, he's just like, well, good luck, boys.
00:33:08
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:33:09
Zach Sheets
if If you want some more pie, come back.
00:33:12
Chris Prime
He's just like, thank you for the creepy story, now leave.
00:33:16
Chris Prime
Actually, it's pretty, uh, it's pretty lucky that they found a creepy neighbor, or like a scary German man, who basically like, didn't call the parents.
00:33:26
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:33:27
Chris Prime
Just immediately just like, okay, this is a joke.
00:33:31
Zach Sheets
well yeah I guess he didn't know that they were going to go and you know make weapons and attack the mansion.
00:33:39
Chris Prime
True. That was like, you you just met some cool kids and now they're like causing vandalism. And somehow, you know, it's going to come back to you.
00:33:51
Zach Sheets
but But they know what they got to so then then then we get like the the the awesome montage of this movie, where it's like the gearing up montage.
Iconic Montage Scene
00:33:58
Zach Sheets
Which, it's like it's like, thank God for Rudy, because Rudy's doing all the legwork, basically. He's the one making steaks, he's making bullets in shop glass out of silver.
00:34:12
Zach Sheets
Which, I don't know, even where where do you even get like a bullet mold in like a school?
00:34:16
Chris Prime
Maybe back then, like, it was just like, oh, no, we just that's our bullet mold in the back.
00:34:21
Zach Sheets
okay
00:34:22
Zach Sheets
And he he like he steals like a bow and arrow set from like the archery class that's at school or somewhere.
00:34:28
Chris Prime
You know, the school had everything they need.
00:34:31
Zach Sheets
Yeah,
00:34:33
Chris Prime
It's crazy that, like, they didn't meet, like, the I thought maybe the scary German man would have this in his basement, just sort of oh, you know, it's a family thing. We were vampire hunters once.
00:34:43
Zach Sheets
yeah all all these antique weapons.
00:34:44
Chris Prime
Mm-hmm. That does not come into play.
00:34:48
Zach Sheets
No, yeah, it's it's all it's all it's all down to Rudy. Because everyone else this is like, they're just in class. I think Patrick makes business cards, which doesn't really help anything.
00:35:00
Chris Prime
Mm-mm.
00:35:01
Zach Sheets
And then Eugene writes a letter to the army with like, i don't know how, no address.
00:35:05
Chris Prime
Which does work, but it...
00:35:09
Zach Sheets
He gives it to his dog. The dog somehow delivered it.
00:35:13
Chris Prime
Yeah, we're not going to mention that like there's a dog that is sort of like...
00:35:18
Chris Prime
Yeah, very smart.
00:35:25
Zach Sheets
like like It like it's like kind of like helps to defeat the mummy.
00:35:30
Zach Sheets
But like...
00:35:30
Chris Prime
well yeah Well, the rapping, yeah.
00:35:32
Zach Sheets
Eugene's dog grabs like the wrapping to start with and then like they wrap it on the bow and shoot it.
00:35:38
Chris Prime
Well, the dog is like, okay, but there's some like tonal shifts in this movie because it it like goes from kids movie antics to like real deaths.
00:35:51
Chris Prime
And then like some violence with a gun, but Occasionally, there's things where, like, the dog helps defeat the monster, you know? Like, it's just, like, wild that this is in one movie.
00:35:59
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:36:02
Zach Sheets
This little kid writes a letter and crayon to the army and they show up.
00:36:08
Zach Sheets
But then also...
00:36:08
Chris Prime
the one The one, like, punk kid who smokes cigarettes is hanging out with, like, elementary school kids.
00:36:14
Zach Sheets
Yes. Who are like huge fans of mo talk about monsters all the time. But then also, it's like, you get like legitimate like domestic drama with like the parents. like Sean and Phoebe's parents are like on the cusp of having a divorce, and they're like and they have to go to marriage counseling, and they're like having like actual like like dramatic fights in the movie.
00:36:37
Chris Prime
And, uh, like, it's funny because that's, like, its own movie. Well, the the dad is such an 80s dad.
00:36:44
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:36:45
Chris Prime
Like, he's shaving and then, like, smoking in front of his son.
00:36:49
Zach Sheets
Yep.
00:36:49
Chris Prime
he's like, I gotta go to marriage council. Like, you stay home and take care of your sister.
00:36:53
Zach Sheets
Also, I'm a cop.
00:36:54
Chris Prime
I also gotta, I'm also married to the job.
00:36:59
Chris Prime
But, like, how much crime is happening in the town? Like, prior to this.
00:37:05
Zach Sheets
Yeah, because the problem seems like he's on the job all the time. but its it seems like it's it's a small, not like, it's not like a city. It's like a peaceful small town.
00:37:18
Chris Prime
And he's not the sheriff.
00:37:20
Zach Sheets
i he see I mean, he's like he's a i see like he's a detective, but he can't be like a homicide detective. i mean How many homicides are happening in this town?
00:37:28
Zach Sheets
like major your crimes are happening. like I don't know if you need a detective, let alone like two detectives, because he has the same as his partner.
00:37:37
Chris Prime
Unless it's like that town is secretly kind of like NYPD, like Law and Order, where they're just, like, special victims or something?
00:37:46
Zach Sheets
cost Yeah, it's constantly just weird deaths happening all the time.
00:37:50
Chris Prime
See, it would have been... there is another version of the plot in my head now where there is a like Halloween theme monster, like serial killer who just dresses up like monsters and then does the deed until like real monsters show up. And now it's like, the detectives are like, I don't know the evidence. idea Like the evidence is pointing to like a whole new thing now, you know? So that would have been like a thing where it's like, Sean's like, no dad, there are monsters. and he's like, I know Sean, like,
00:38:19
Chris Prime
The humans are the monsters. And then it's like, no, there's actual monsters. That would have been too much. That would have been too much for the kid points of the movie, which that's another thing about this movie is that it tries to cater to like too many elements at once. Like something for the kids, something for the parents, something for like the girlfriends who got dragged to this.
00:38:39
Zach Sheets
But yeah, but the dad doesn't really cut like factor it. He doesn't really get into it really into like the end. when a so Until Dracula blows up his son's treehouse with a stick of dynamite. Because
00:38:52
Zach Sheets
before that, he's like, oh man, all this weird stuff's happening. And then his partner's just like, Like, oh, yeah, this mummy is like walked away.
00:39:03
Zach Sheets
or like the they shot they shot a guy in the police station. And like they it blown it blow away and then like his body disappeared.
00:39:08
Chris Prime
Oh, they blow him away early in the movie.
00:39:11
Zach Sheets
And like the guy driving him to the the corner, like die. I got killed. And there's like, oh, that's weird. So it's the one's body.
00:39:18
Zach Sheets
So not even they're not really taking like, even like, these seemingly like, it's it's like a someone stole like an antique, you know, like an artifact basically. And then someone stole like a body from like and a murder person. And they're like, oh man, all this weird stuff. Who knows what's going on? probably monsters.
00:39:40
Chris Prime
Well, they don't jump to that. They think it's like some weird, bizarre, unexplained incident, which.
00:39:44
Zach Sheets
they joke They're not joking at his monsters.
00:39:47
Zach Sheets
like The mummy just walked away by himself.
00:39:47
Chris Prime
Yeah, yeah.
00:39:51
Chris Prime
But I just think it's a it's funny to think that in this universe, like monsters did exist. They do exist, but like no one mentioned this.
00:39:58
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:40:02
Chris Prime
It's like, hey, wasn't there like a thing years ago about like a monster like that? That can't happen here in this small town. But mean, now that's a thing. You know I mean Like, and and the in the world and this this movie takes place in, in any future incident, they're like, could it be monsters?
00:40:20
Zach Sheets
yeah like like Yeah, everyone everyone everyone knows there's actual real monsters
00:40:25
Chris Prime
Yeah, crimes can get like way harder to solve where it's like, what did it? A monster?
00:40:30
Chris Prime
Where did this go? Did the monster come back?
00:40:36
Zach Sheets
But, uh, so the monster squad, they're able to, after they all they get geared up, they go and, uh, they go to, like, the the mansion where the amulet's hidden, which I guess Dracula can't get reach it because there's, like, these, like, magic, there's, like, some sort of magic around it that he he can't, like, get himself.
00:40:55
Zach Sheets
Or, like, it's, he can't reach into, like, the wall. Something's, like, stopping him from getting it, so has, like, blow up the wall to get to it.
00:41:02
Chris Prime
like But it's like a perfect like armhole size for Dracula to look at.
00:41:07
Zach Sheets
who But then the monster squad shows up and then like all the monsters like show up and like charlie are threatening them. And then we we get the classic Horus kicks the wolfman in the junk and then it's like, wolfman's got nards.
00:41:19
Chris Prime
Well, I do like that's a running joke where there's still debate about like Wolfman and anime.
00:41:23
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:41:23
Chris Prime
And then it does come back. So it's clever Shane Black writing where definitely Shane Black like thought about this at some point and then was like, I'm just going put it in my script.
00:41:34
Zach Sheets
Yeah, because Sean and Patrick earlier earlier are talking about like, oh, the only only reason he wore pants and like in those movies was because they were the 30s and they couldn't show like werewolf dong.
00:41:45
Zach Sheets
that's like, it's like, he doesn't have a dog. He doesn't have a dork. are you talking about? They're also debating if he's just like a normal guy with a job. so there's a lot of clever them debating what monsters actually like.
00:42:01
Chris Prime
But like, they're pretty spot on about everything else.
00:42:03
Zach Sheets
who
00:42:05
Zach Sheets
but the monster squad gets the amulet so they have the amulet and then they need a virgin to read an ancient german like spell to open like the portal up and then the only version they think they know is uh patrick's older sister that they all have been like spying on the entire movie yeah especially rudy
00:42:25
Chris Prime
Oogling it.
00:42:27
Chris Prime
Oh yeah, Rudy's like, I like this, like, I like hanging out you guys.
00:42:32
Zach Sheets
if like frankstein like And like, feel like even even like Frankenstein's horny because like he sees Lisa undressing and across the treehouse and ooh. And he takes a picture.
00:42:43
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's, it's so weird to think that this, like, undead man just completely, like, understands, like, funny nude humor. Or, like, sexy nude humor.
00:42:55
Zach Sheets
And then part of the montage is that Rudy went and got like the photos developed and like so they have like a picture like Lisa nude and then like everyone's just like claring to get it. Like Frankside's looking at it, like holding it up and everyone's just like, gimme, gimme, gimme.
00:43:11
Chris Prime
They had a film that, like, at, like, a store. You know what mean? Like, someone had to develop that. They're like, oh. Okay. I think I know that person.
00:43:22
Zach Sheets
i don't know if like I don't know if the photo development people are just like, I'm sure they they see like tons of weird stuff. i they might They're just like, alright, just put it the envelope to talk about it.
00:43:35
Chris Prime
Yeah, that's sort of like the photographer's like code. But if you're according to things like one hour photo, like there there was like people like looking at it because it's still like hand operated back then.
00:43:39
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:43:48
Chris Prime
So someone had to like come back and like, look at what got developed and went like, what's that?
00:43:52
Zach Sheets
like that the whole like Seinfeld episode. Where George, like it's it like he thinks like the photo development girl like slipped him a photo of like her. And then he does like this like he does this his boudoir photos and like he sent back to her.
00:44:08
Zach Sheets
But then it's the other guy that works at the Photoshop. He slips George photos. Yeah. photos
00:44:14
Chris Prime
See, you what I mean, like that that's us such a period piece problem or like that would never happen now.
00:44:19
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:44:21
Zach Sheets
You just keep it on, like, it'd be like, just camera, you just keep it on the camera. It's like, oh okay, we don't have to do it.
00:44:25
Chris Prime
Like.
00:44:26
Zach Sheets
Like, we just delete this we
00:44:28
Chris Prime
I'm never going to show this to more people. If anything, it'd be like this weird Facebook post that someone accidentally uploads, and you're like, I don't think you should have put that online.
00:44:40
Chris Prime
See, there is a version of Monster Squad they could do in the modern setting, where they're capturing these monster footage and then, like, evidence, and they put it online, and they're just, like, being debunked left and right.
00:44:50
Chris Prime
Sort of, sort of what, you know, yeah, it's AI, but, like, it's sort of what they did in Ghostbusters, the 2016 one.
00:44:50
Zach Sheets
it's it's It's AI. it's
00:44:59
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:44:59
Chris Prime
where like the the like the busters kind of put the footage online, but because it's like all crazy, they're like, oh no, this is like completely bad.
00:45:08
Chris Prime
it's It's fun to kind of make it more modern, where back then, you could just say I met a monster, and they're like we don't believe you. Even if you show them proof, they're like, eh, and that hasn't changed.
00:45:18
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:45:20
Zach Sheets
I bet you could probably do something too with like how people are like, oh, the Universal Monsters aren't scary anymore. Like no one's scared the Universal Monsters. you can but then It's like you do like a version where it's like everyone's used like the the like you know the the cheesy old 30s version and the real ones are just like insanely horrifying.
00:45:38
Chris Prime
I could see that. I mean, they every time they do a mu mummy update, the mummy gets crazier and crazier powers. But I think Frankenstein's, you don't really need to. It's not like suddenly Frankenstein monsters can fly in the movies. It's sort of like a new power level requirement.
00:45:56
Chris Prime
You just can't be within like choking distance.
00:46:00
Zach Sheets
Yeah, I feel like like the Gamalatoro one and like basically it just made him like he's like indestructible and like the Hulk, basically. Hmm.
00:46:07
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:46:10
Chris Prime
Where like Wolfmen's are you mostly fight him at night and you really can lose the fight if you he fights you like in the woods.
00:46:20
Chris Prime
I think if you drag the Wolfman like in in a building like an office building maybe not like a house because I actually didn't see the newer Wolfman but I heard it wasn't good.
00:46:33
Zach Sheets
but that's like It's like more like you're attracted to the disease. that is's like you're It's like you're transforming into like a creature.
00:46:40
Chris Prime
Oh, I see.
00:46:42
Zach Sheets
but it's like a it's like You're slowly like losing your so your senses and like your humanity.
00:46:47
Zach Sheets
we really we really need a new creature movie. like We need a new creature from The Black Lagoon.
00:46:53
Chris Prime
Well, the last time that someone made it, a lot of women wanted to kiss it.
00:46:57
Zach Sheets
Oh, yeah. Shape of Water. Yeah.
00:46:58
Chris Prime
So i like, I don't know.
00:47:00
Zach Sheets
if
00:47:00
Chris Prime
that See, that they're getting they're making the movie the monsters less like horrifying and more like I want to make out with it now even the isr Isaac i the Oscar Isaac one they were like he's a very pretty like goth kid
00:47:07
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:47:17
Zach Sheets
All that, like, there's just too much just, like, weird, like, monster, like, romance novels out there.
00:47:23
Chris Prime
Yeah, well, like, yeah, a lot of smut books are basically making, like, things that normally you feared into, like, kissable creatures or, like, everyone's misunderstood. You know, I kind of want to see that in in a monster movie where these monsters are like, please stop trying to hit on me. They're like, but I could change it. or They're like, please, no.
00:47:45
Zach Sheets
Twilight, but for like all the other monsters.
00:47:47
Chris Prime
yeah. yeah Twilight, but like the monsters are like the garbage pail kids.
00:47:58
Zach Sheets
But, uh, anyway, but so, but so back to the plot. So, So the monster squad has
Final Battle in Town Square
00:48:04
Zach Sheets
the amulet. They they have what they think is a virgin. So then they try to go to like the town square and kind of like perform this ceremony. And then Drakken and all the monsters show up. and It's a big big but like battle on the streets.
00:48:20
Zach Sheets
Which, again, like Rudy is basically doing all the fighting for them. like he's He's taking down like multiple monsters.
00:48:28
Chris Prime
I don't know. That was because like a scheduling thing. They couldn't they couldn't make the other kids fight or give them like weapons. And Rudy was just like kind a cool in the leather jacket. Like he looked like a like a kid Fonz.
00:48:42
Chris Prime
But yeah, he is pretty much like carrying the whole team.
00:48:46
Zach Sheets
Pretty much, yeah. he He kills two of the brides a frank of Dracula. and And then... Yeah, it's like defending that that everyone else while they're like trying to do like this incantation.
00:48:59
Zach Sheets
And then you get like... a Like, Sean and his dad, like, are, like, fighting the Wolfman. Because Sean's dad shows up and, like, shoots Dracula and he flies like, this, like, sporting goods store. and then when he follows him in there, we get that insane, like, creature design where, like, Dracula's, like, half bat, half... he He's injured, but then but he's like and he's, like, sort of halfway transformed.
00:49:20
Zach Sheets
Like, his head is a human, but as his body's a bat.
00:49:24
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's an interesting choice. Because you don't really see Dracula like that in other forms.
00:49:31
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:49:34
Zach Sheets
And then Sean's dad brought dynamite. i guess he I guess he took some of Draco's dynamite. i don't know where I don't know where everyone's getting it. There's so much dynamite this movie. like everyone Everyone just has dynamite.
00:49:46
Chris Prime
was Could you buy it in a convenience store, like a hardware store back then?
00:49:50
Zach Sheets
Well, the craziest thing is it's not even like modern dynamite. It's like old nitroglycerin dynamite looks like.
00:49:57
Chris Prime
Yeah, it looks like the kind that like comes in that crate that if you drop it, like the whole thing explodes.
00:50:00
Zach Sheets
Yeah. Like, they were using it, like, in the eighteen eighty like in the the opening. Like, they they they blow up, like, Dracula's gate with it, and then, like, Dracula has, like, his, like, this is like, constantly using dynamite to blow stuff up.
00:50:06
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's coal miner dynamite.
00:50:15
Zach Sheets
And, yeah, then Sean's dad, like, somehow got stick a dynamite. And then the wolfman shows up and, like, is, like, fighting them, and then they shove the dynamite down his pants and just kick him out the window, so we get that awesome shot of, like, him blowing up in midair.
00:50:29
Zach Sheets
And then, i think probably, like, the one bit like, Wolfman lore that they've, I think is only in this movie is that he, like, pulls himself back together. Like, his body parts, like, pull themselves back together. Because he wasn't killed by a silver bullet.
00:50:41
Chris Prime
Yeah, it's cool that the curse is like, it makes you into like, every part of your cells. Like, almost like a wolf like a Deadpool type thing. Where as long as like, you're not killed by the curse, you are kind of like, forced to reform, I guess.
00:50:51
Zach Sheets
Yeah, if
00:50:58
Chris Prime
Because I'm not sure that's like, his will.
00:50:58
Zach Sheets
and
00:51:00
Chris Prime
You know, like, he just sort like, the wolfman is obliged to come back to life.
00:51:09
Chris Prime
Like, he couldn't stay being a puddle for a while.
00:51:13
Zach Sheets
Yeah, was all these body parts are like, kind of like, sucked back, they kind like, are like, pulled back together, like they're like, sucked back in.
00:51:20
Zach Sheets
And then, but then Rudy like rudy finally kills him with a silver bullet, which, because the cops are useless, like, the cops are getting, like, thrown around by him. And then Rudy has has, like, his silver bullet, so he loads up a gun, a police officer's gun with, like, the silver bullets and shoots the wolf the werewolf, wolf man. And he's like, thank you, and dies, which I'm sure it did scar Rudy for life.
00:51:41
Chris Prime
I mean, ru Rudy's very scarred by killing those two Dracula brides.
00:51:45
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm.
00:51:45
Chris Prime
He seemed like he wasn't like, this was amazing. He was just like, wow, I've taken an undead life.
00:51:53
Zach Sheets
He gives like like he gives like a one-liner, but it's like a very like like it's like he but like and but like the verge of cracking one-liner. I told you silver bullets are the only way to kill a werewolf.
00:52:07
Zach Sheets
I'm just going to go cry now.
00:52:08
Chris Prime
Yeah. Yeah.
00:52:10
Chris Prime
Like, it's cool, but, like, it definitely adds little more, like, depth to this movie that I i just think it kind of, like, makes it more, like, like, it it changes the pace.
00:52:24
Chris Prime
Like, it subverts the expectation. Because it would have been hilarious that, like, same thing with Horace, where he shotguns the Gill Man, and Horace just, like, starts screaming, like, like, the reality hits him hard.
00:52:34
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:52:40
Zach Sheets
but he But he goes like he goes full 80s action hero. He is getting chased with the Gill Man and puts up like a police officer's shotgun. and like The bullies from like earlier in the movie won't let him into like this...
00:52:54
Zach Sheets
I it's a comic book store or something, or, like, some sort store. And then, so then Horus, like, shoots the gild man kills him. Which, man, yeah all the other creatures have, like, these, like, very specific, like, weaknesses, it's just like, oh, you just shoot the gild man in the chest, he's dead.
00:53:09
Chris Prime
Yeah, that's like what I'm saying. Like, Gilman doesn't seem like he had like any mystic force or and he's just a giant fish person, like a mer person.
00:53:17
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:53:19
Chris Prime
And he kind of like doesn't.
00:53:19
Zach Sheets
Hmm?
00:53:22
Chris Prime
And he's like as shocked as we that like the shotgun killed him.
00:53:26
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:53:28
Zach Sheets
He's never seen that before. He's never seen a shotgun before
00:53:31
Chris Prime
But like everyone in town has a gun, but they don't shoot the fish man.
00:53:35
Zach Sheets
before. all the cops are like running at these monsters like trying to fight them hand to hand with like clubs or something. and they They're getting like swiped and slashed and their heads crushed. It's like, yeah, try try to shoot them at least.
00:53:50
Chris Prime
Like, no, no, we need to go up and, like...
00:53:51
Zach Sheets
Arrest them. We need to put handcuffs on them.
00:53:54
Chris Prime
Not even to arrest them, like, drop them to the ground with their hands.
00:53:54
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:53:56
Zach Sheets
you
00:53:57
Chris Prime
You know, they're, like, grabbing onto, like, limbs and just sort of like, whoa.
00:54:00
Chris Prime
Like, after watching their fellow comrades try it and fail, they're like, my turn. They're doing it wrong. You gotta hit them from the left this time.
00:54:12
Zach Sheets
But after Horace kills the Gilman, he gives most iconic line, one of the most iconic lines in the movie, where he cocks the shotgun and goes, My name is Horace.
00:54:22
Chris Prime
It's pretty badass, like, because it's it's the chunk that we wish we could have got to from the Goonies.
00:54:31
Zach Sheets
If he like yeah if he like stood up to the Fratellis.
00:54:33
Chris Prime
He whooped out a shotgun.
00:54:35
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:54:37
Zach Sheets
My name is Chunk.
00:54:40
Zach Sheets
You do the truffle shuffle.
00:54:44
Chris Prime
But you want to get into like the the last segment where it's like, all right, we got to make this this black hole.
Phoebe Confronts Dracula
00:54:50
Zach Sheets
Yeah, so they're trying to get Lisa to read. She's reading an incantation, it doesn't work. And then they're like, the scary German guy is like, are you sure she's a virgin? And then she's like she just like shakes her head like she was like, no, I'm i'm not. And then they're like, what?
00:55:10
Zach Sheets
like He's like, what was it like Scott? like She's like, oh, Scott, but he didn't count.
00:55:16
Chris Prime
That's feel bad for Scott.
00:55:16
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:55:17
Chris Prime
What did he do wrong?
00:55:19
Zach Sheets
And then Patrick's like freaking out, just like, he has a cow! But then, so they have to have Phoebe read the incantation with the scary Jeremiah helping her.
00:55:29
Zach Sheets
And then we get the, like, Dracula is like trying to, like, goes over and tries to stop them. And the crazy scene where he, like, picks Phoebe up by her chin with one hand and, like, yells at her, like, you little bitch!
00:55:45
Zach Sheets
Give me the amulets.
00:55:45
Chris Prime
I mean, that's that. Yeah, that is super harsh for a little girl to hear from basically like, I don't know, a serial mascot.
00:55:54
Zach Sheets
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
00:55:57
Chris Prime
She doesn't really know monster stuff. She wasn't really like in on it. She barely just got Frankenstein, right? That's why she was not afraid of him.
00:56:05
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:56:06
Chris Prime
And now forever, every time she sees Dracula for her future, it's She's gonna remember that time he he came to life, grabbed her face, and cursed at her.
00:56:16
Zach Sheets
And like and i then like, just like, bare her fangs at her.
00:56:20
Chris Prime
Yeah. And then shot, like, a power beam at, like, the nice German man.
00:56:24
Zach Sheets
who
00:56:25
Chris Prime
Ooh, like, what what was that about? Like, the Dracula shoots this, like, push force that doesn't kill the German man, just sort of, like, knocks him over.
00:56:34
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:56:35
Chris Prime
And that's like, did Dracula do that before?
00:56:39
Zach Sheets
should use that like more. If that's the power he has.
00:56:40
Chris Prime
Yeah, he,
00:56:41
Zach Sheets
Like, he's just like, they're blasting people with like weird magic powers.
00:56:46
Zach Sheets
Just just one one type thing. like I blast you away.
00:56:51
Zach Sheets
But, you know, look luckily if like, Frankenstein monster shows back up and, like, it like pulls Dracula off and Phoebe's able to finish the incantation. And the portal opens, and like but then, like, everyone's getting like sucked into it. Like, random cops are getting sucked into the portal.
00:57:06
Chris Prime
Oh, so therere it's you so yeah more people are lost to this like night.
00:57:10
Zach Sheets
to To, like, the limbo, yeah.
Frankenstein's Sacrifice
00:57:15
Zach Sheets
But, yeah, Drac is getting sucked in, and trying to pull Sean in with him, but then Sean, like, stabs him with a wooden stake and manages to get him off of him. And then, right right when Drac is, like, again on the edge of the limbo, like, Van Helsing jumps back out of it.
00:57:30
Zach Sheets
So guess I guess you don't age in the limbo either. you just let You're just, like, stuck there forever, not aging. He comes out, like, gives them all thumbs up, then pulls Drac is with him.
00:57:40
Chris Prime
I like how Van Sant Helsing just sort of like knows what's going on and then completely like, hey, like Americans thumbs up.
00:57:47
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:57:48
Chris Prime
Like what you have you been watching this whole time? Like what?
00:57:53
Zach Sheets
Why wouldn't he throw Dracula into the portal and then like get out of the portal? like like Be like, oh, I'm finally out of there. And Dracula's like, ill throw dr you're going back you're going there instead of me, Dracula.
00:58:06
Chris Prime
No idea.
00:58:07
Zach Sheets
He's just like, oh, I gotta go in there and keep him in there.
00:58:08
Chris Prime
It it's what it Yeah, it's like... I guess they'll just be fighting for internally in that, like, portal. But occasionally, like, Frankenstein will join in and, like, take a few whacks.
00:58:21
Zach Sheets
Maybe. Yeah, because Frankenstein gets sucked into, like you which is like, you get this heartbreaking, like, where Phoebe's like holding on to her little fingers, and he's just like, is this like let's go, and then like she throws his her teddy bear to him.
00:58:27
Chris Prime
Heartbreaking. Super heartbreaking.
00:58:38
Chris Prime
And it's really like now it's like super sad because like it's it's like the Iron Giant like sacrificing himself moment.
00:58:47
Chris Prime
And honestly, it's like one of the nicest like Frankenstein creature. Like he he lived. He knew what happiness was. Like he he wanted to fight to protect something.
00:58:59
Chris Prime
But yeah, like we don't see a nice Frankenstein monster for a long time after that.
00:59:06
Zach Sheets
yeah
00:59:09
Zach Sheets
and then yeah then the portal closes everyone's everyone's like everyone's safe and then the army shows up because they they somehow got eugene's letter
00:59:17
Chris Prime
Also, how old was that, like, sergeant or whatever that showed up?
00:59:21
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:59:23
Zach Sheets
He kind went like that Sergeant guy. Like he was like, he's like the poor man's Damnedy Coleman.
00:59:28
Chris Prime
Yeah.
00:59:29
Zach Sheets
He's like, Oh, we can't get, we can't get Damnedy Coleman.
00:59:32
Chris Prime
So he got his, like, brother-in-law.
00:59:34
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
00:59:36
Zach Sheets
But yeah, they, so you they got Eugene's letter and then like Sean's like, it's like, can someone explain what's going on here? And he's like, I can't sir. Cause we're the monster squad. He gets like a business card. And then we get the ridiculously awesome Michael Sambello Monster Squad rap, which is a classic like movie rap where it's like retelling the plot of the movie in rap form.
00:59:59
Chris Prime
I mean, it's it's a perfect, like, 80s thing to end a movie on.
00:59:59
Zach Sheets
which
01:00:03
Zach Sheets
Yeah. I totally you i totally forgot that's how the movie ended with this rap song. Because I...
01:00:08
Chris Prime
Agreed. Caught me off guard, too.
01:00:11
Zach Sheets
Yeah, exactly I always remember like the the montage song, like, Rocket Till You Drop. That's like like secretly one of the best montage songs of the 80s. But yeah, the end credit rap, which I think
01:00:22
Chris Prime
So I'm surprised the song was, the montage song wasn't, like, freeze frame or something.
01:00:27
Zach Sheets
we're just like a slightly different version of Maniac.
01:00:29
Chris Prime
Yeah. Well, i think what Flashdance was 83.
01:00:38
Zach Sheets
Well, Michael Simbelo was like on like tons of so many film score, like soundtracks in the 80s. it was like him and Kenny Loggins were just battling to see who could be hit the most film score
01:00:38
Chris Prime
So it could have been like a parody of that.
01:00:50
Chris Prime
Exactly. Yeah. Because this is still one year away from Top Gun.
01:00:58
Chris Prime
Oh no, like few years away. 86.
01:01:01
Zach Sheets
I think Top Gun was like, was was that 87? Yeah, so that was the year before.
01:01:04
Chris Prime
eighty six
01:01:06
Zach Sheets
That was Kenny Loggins, obviously. yeah Michael Sabello was on. He had song, Cocoon, Gravity from Cocoon. He had like he did the of music for Gremlins.
01:01:19
Zach Sheets
Obviously, Maniac from Flashdance.
01:01:22
Zach Sheets
Yeah, tons of soundtrack songs.
Novelization Insights
01:01:25
Chris Prime
But yeah, like, what was your earliest viewing of Monster Squad?
01:01:33
Zach Sheets
I'm trying to remember my... I feel like I heard about it like like early podcasts maybe where we talk about it. like or like like they Early like you know like retro podcasts where we talk about like oh this movie to The Monster Squad. But then like you said it was like it was super hard to find it.
01:01:54
Zach Sheets
you had to get like i think just like you probably had like torrented it or like like get well like a Laserdisc rip of or like a VHS rip of it.
01:02:04
Chris Prime
Yeah, I think I learned about Monster Squad from like Dinosaur Dracula's like website. He was like talking about it.
01:02:13
Zach Sheets
Dinosaur Dracula and Immokary both did like big features about it.
01:02:16
Chris Prime
Yep. yeah i think it might have been iMockery, too. so look That was back in... like you know You pretty much had a like wander into this person's website to make sure that like they they updated the article.
01:02:28
Chris Prime
And then just like, okay, well, I gotta write this down. And IMDB was barely a thing.
01:02:34
Zach Sheets
and like And like YouTube probably wasn't really around or like, so it it was like, so it wasn't like you people were, it was like a video review or anything.
01:02:36
Chris Prime
Oh no, no.
01:02:41
Zach Sheets
was like a giant article like gifs in it. Like just screenshots, the grainy screenshots of the movie.
01:02:52
Zach Sheets
But yeah, it's it it's it's still great. like this like It definitely has earned like its 80s classic status.
01:03:01
Zach Sheets
And it's it's so like it goes on so smooth. like it's it's like so It's such a quick watch because so it's like barely 80 minutes long.
01:03:09
Zach Sheets
I guess they cut 13 minutes from it, according to like Fred Decker, the director. Because they told him it had to be under 90 minutes long.
01:03:18
Chris Prime
I mean, I could if they're trying to tie it up the plot, but the movie moves so quick.
01:03:24
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
01:03:27
Zach Sheets
I guess it was there was like Shane Black's like his like original script. like The opening was like some sort like this like insane, crazy, epic thing with like Zeppelins coming in and like hundreds of people fighting each other. and they're like, this would be the entire budget of our movie in like the first five minutes. Yeah.
01:03:50
Chris Prime
Shane Black's like, what's wrong with that?
01:03:51
Zach Sheets
Yeah.
01:03:53
Zach Sheets
So, yeah, obviously that got scrapped.
01:04:02
Zach Sheets
Because.
01:04:04
Chris Prime
Well, I could see basically like them exploring more of the characters and their conversations and you can't really do a montage in a book.
01:04:05
Zach Sheets
Mm
01:04:13
Zach Sheets
hmm.
01:04:14
Chris Prime
You know can imagine there's just like this one chapter, which is like they did this and then this and then this. You're like, what's happening?
01:04:20
Zach Sheets
It's just like, it says, play Rock Until You Drop by Michael Cimbello.
01:04:24
Chris Prime
And read this paragraph four times in a row.
01:04:27
Zach Sheets
It's just the lyrics.
01:04:29
Zach Sheets
It's ending with this weird rap song. like the It's just the lyrics. It's like recapping the entire of like plot again.
01:04:37
Chris Prime
there's There's dance moves that teach you to get up and dance.
01:04:44
Zach Sheets
But yeah, it's definitely that's are worth the revisiting if you haven't seen it in a while. It's on it's it's on it's Prime Video. I think it's on like a bunch of other places. like This is like one of those ones where it's just like everywhere.
01:04:56
Zach Sheets
which Thankfully, it's everywhere now in like great quality. Not like we were saying in the old days where it's like, oh, the LaserDix.
01:05:00
Chris Prime
The dark days.
01:05:04
Zach Sheets
You lucked out got the LaserDix rip of it.
01:05:08
Zach Sheets
yeah Definitely worth checking out if you want to see the 80s version of the classic monsters. then I guess if you want to see like the the modern but then but thirty s version, you can go check out The Bride, which is in theaters if you're hearing this.
01:05:25
Zach Sheets
i'm I'm curious about The Bride. What about you, Chris?
01:05:27
Chris Prime
Yeah, I might not see you in theaters, but I definitely would see it just for the like, the almost like a Joker 2 folio 2 nature of the movie.
01:05:41
Zach Sheets
Yeah, duffy definitely has that kind of like, it's like Bonnie Clyde mixed with like the Joker mixed like monsters.
01:05:47
Chris Prime
Yeah, yeah, and I don't know if it's supposed to be at the end like, if there's any redemption for Frankenstein creature, like if the creature is sort of like, you know, like, is it that he's just, he, all he knows is pain. So when he yells at the bride and tries to bully her, is it just that, or is it more where like, is it secretly like they both need each other and really messed up way, but because they're like this reconfigured,
01:06:20
Chris Prime
mishmash of souls and body parts it's like this is the only way they can survive i don't know because they they try to frame it like it's an art house project
01:06:29
Zach Sheets
And they're also, they're kind leading eat the rich kind of revolution, looks like, too.
01:06:34
Chris Prime
yep and so that's why i can't be i can't tell at the end it's gonna be like oh no now we are the rich so now we must eat ourselves
01:06:44
Zach Sheets
Or or at the end, he's like, Frank Zimash is like, I'm to become a superhero.
01:06:49
Chris Prime
Or if the Monster Squad portal shows up and they both get sucked into it. I'd be fine with that. That'd actually be like this hilarious, like, wow, it's tied into the Monster Squad universe.
01:06:59
Zach Sheets
they just to Someone just says like the Dark Knight end monologue again.
01:07:06
Chris Prime
Ends of the tale of two cities.
01:07:09
Zach Sheets
He's the hero we need.
01:07:12
Zach Sheets
The Brian's the hero we need.
01:07:14
Zach Sheets
But yeah, so that'll do it for this week's podcast. Come back next week, we're getting hijacked with Executive Decision. Because that's celebrating its 30th anniversary. It came out in March 1996. So we'll be dive into all that. Classic plane
Tease for Next Episode
01:07:29
Zach Sheets
movie. Classic hijacked plane movie.
01:07:33
Zach Sheets
with you know what talk Talk all about the crazy like first act twist where you the person you think is the main character is not the main character.
01:07:42
Zach Sheets
And all the rest of the stuff that happens in that movie. So come back for that. And over to the site, we've got news reviews, trailers, all of our stuff is up there. head over to check a all the stuff out. And yes, for Chris, I'm Zach, and we will see you next week.