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Visitors Review

2012-05-23 14:44:33

Monster House DVD

This review is from: Monster House (Fullscreen) (DVD) This DVD was in excellent condition and it arrived in a timely manner. I would definitely buy from this seller again. The movie was clear and I encountered absolutely no problems. Thanks again.

2012-05-22 23:07:07

Where is the Monster?

I wont even begin to tell you all about this movie. It has been done before just read a few of the other posts and you will get an idea of whether or not you want to watch this with your kids or by yourself. For adults it wasn't scary at all. I was looking forward to the "big old scary movie" that I had been warned about, however, all I watched was a boring dumb movie about a possessed unhappy house. The house taking on its own personality is far from scary and I doubt any child would be sent to bed scared out of their minds enough to have nightmares. Of course I am sure there are those of you who will tell me I am wrong. The house is more comical and over-the-top than anything. The scary scenes are taken too far, to where they are just completely unbelievable for even a child. So I give this movie 1 STAR because it just wasn't a great movie. It wasn't interesting, it wasn't scary, it wasn't entertaining, it was long and drawn out. Overall I felt it was a waste of time for a story that could be told in 15 minutes. Yes, the things mentioned by other 1 STAR reviewers about "Bonz" and "Z" are true and I wouldn't want to have to explain their behavior to any young child much less my own.

2012-05-19 06:53:58

great movie

This review is from: Monster House (Fullscreen) (DVD) My grandkids are 6 and 4 and watched this movie over and over this past weekend that they spent with Grandpa and me. They watched other ones that I had purchased, but right now this is their favorite.

2012-05-18 22:27:40

RUN! It's A Giant, Man Eating House!

This movie is hilarious! The idea for this animated/horror/comedy/kids kick butt film was good, and then it's execution makes it a knockout. First of all, the way the boys act around the girl is SO FUNNY! ("DJ! You pee in bottles?!?")I was laughing throughout the whole movie, from the beginning to the end, when they enter the house with a large arsenal of...water guns.We need more movies like this!I wanted to give it five stars, but I reserve that for OUTSTANDING movies and Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter products.

DonFishies 2012-05-18 12:14:20

Subpar, with a loss of focus too awkward to amend

Despite its obvious Halloween themed overtones, Monster House wasreleased this past summer to modest box office receipts. Being a"scary" animated film in the middle of July, it did fairly well foritself. I had wanted to see it, but something felt off about thetrailers and reviews I read about it. It was recently nominated for aBest Animated Film Academy Award, and just by chance, I finally had theopportunity to see it. And there indeed was something off.Something is not right at Mr. Nebbercracker's (Steve Buscemi) house.Anytime an object lands on his property or anywhere near the house, itautomatically becomes his, and he is never nice to anyone in theneighbourhood. D.J. (Mitchel Musso) is intrigued by the whole thing,and continually spies and watches Nebbercracker's movements. Shortlyafter his parents leave for a two day trip, his friend Chowder (SamLerner) arrives with a new basketball. A missed shot lands the ball onNebbercracker's lawn. D.J. attempts to retrieve it, and ends up in anargument with the old man, resulting in his apparent "death". After theambulance takes him away though, strange things begin happening withhis house, and begins to come alive.Yes, the plot is extremely silly, but in a nostalgic 1980's sort ofway. It may be animated, but it feels much in the same realm as liveaction fare like The Goonies, Gremlins and all the other mildly scaryand terrifically silly films of that time period. It just has thatdistinct feel and mold to it, that just seems out of place in 2006, butwould be right at home in 1986. It is not that the film is not good,but it just feels a bit too over-the-top, even for a kid's film. Whenthe house really starts getting to the point of being beyond haunted,it just loses its focus and becomes a bad monster movie. Giving thewhole thing an emotional backgrounder that little to no kids would beable to understand really does not help the film all that much either.It just contributes to its ridiculousness.The story is imaginative and most definitely entertains, but only to acertain point. When things start getting explained, the film'snarrative stops at a halt, and just barely picks up afterwards. Itdrags itself out to its eventual finale, and it just does not need allof this extra exposition. Why do we need gross pee jokes? Or a tokin'bumbling black rookie cop? Do the filmmakers honestly believe thatlittle children are going to be taking these in as the funny momentsthey are meant to be? Or are they going to be too afraid to open theireyes with all of the horrific mayhem going on on-screen? It is not likethe film holds back on the cheap child-like scares, it only keeps up.And especially being a kids movie, it just felt awkward to do so. Thein-jokes were amusing however, but again, will go sailing past a youngchild more so than similar things in other animated films.Another thing that threw me off was the animation itself. Now I may bemore accustomed to the work of Pixar and Dreamworks, but some of thework done here just feels very aged and withered. No character has anyreal distinguishing features between each other (beyond their obviouspersonality differences), and virtually none of them have any realdetail in their looks. Now, this may be attributed to themotion-capture style animation being done to bring this film to life,but then why were Gollum and King Kong so frigging detailed? It screamsof lazy film-making, and again, makes it feel more at home in 1986.Even after looking at the fascinatingly short making-of featurettes onthe DVD, I still cannot fathom why so much work went into creating theanimation to be just right, but not enough was put in to make itintricately detailed like other CGI-animated films.The voice talent all deliver their lines and actions very well. Buscemiis a hoot as the crazy old man Nebbercracker. He gives the right amountof intensity and emotion needed at all times, even when the focus ofthe film really begins to slip. Mercer, Lerner and Spencer Locke (thefemale of the group, Jenny) are not too bad at all as the kids tryingto get to the bottom of the disturbances. Their naivety andadventuresome nature make for some greatly imaginative moments in thefilm (albeit, the film could have cut most of their wasteful scenesfrom their material). Supporting turns from Maggie Gyllenhaal, JasonLee, Kevin James and Jon Heder are all amusing in their own right, andwere definitely interesting choices for these actors.All around, Monster House is a disappointing film culled from a veryinteresting idea. Its sheer ridiculousness just cannot be offset by thefact that its a children's film. That never gave anyone else a freepass to make subpar work, and unfortunately that is exactly what thisfilm is. It is watchable though, but I doubt I will ever see why theAcademy gave this film the nomination and passed on the astonishingsatire of the far superior Over the Hedge.6.5/10.

DarkVulcan29 2012-05-17 21:59:25

Something wicked lives across the street.

A good blend of scares and funny one liners. May I suggest to parents,this movie is not for kids under 10, cause kids around 11 or 12, mayunder its type of scariness. It really brings out the 12 year old inall of us, has we all used to have fears about haunted houses, not tomention nightmares. The evolves around DJ and Chowder to 12 year oldboys, discover that a certain house across the street is a livingbreathing monster, it hurts anybody that comes in its path. After theyrescue a girl scout named Jenny, they all discover that they have toventure in the house,to put an end to the evil, but will they succeedif the house doesn't put an end to them first. This movie had greatanimation since The Incredible(2004). It was quite an enjoyable ride.

ahmed elshikh 2012-05-17 02:23:00

Those 3 Faces !

It's a horror, starring kids, while being – mainly – not for kids. It'sa 3D that resembles live-action movies while being not a live-actionmovie. Making a horror starring kids is one thing I can understand in aworld where kids became accustomed to horror (or became The Horrorthemselves !). But a 3D that resembles live-action movies ? Why ?! Maybe that was to earn a novel element, whereas it gives rare artisticmerits; different image, vital pace, unusual camera's moving, wildspecial effects, cheaper explosions..etc. Maybe for experimenting newdimension?, or for the heck of it, being a director's caprice? Or maybebecause the actors gave the producers such a big headache, so why notreplacing them with graphics ! Whatever the reason is, it is a good movie. The idea is bold, with thatmonster house. Every monster house in any haunted house movie isannoying from the inside, this one is annoying, impressively by theway, from the outside too. In fact, I loved its outside to the extentthat I wished for a prequel to savor such a character! The script issolid and unpredictable. The direction dazzled me for most of the time.And it's fun to watch as a horror or E.T.-ish movie with heroicchildren as leads. So, what could be wrong ?!First of all, the design of the characters SUCKS. They are untalentedand forgettable to say the least. Save the grumpy old man, I couldn'tfind any interesting, rather bearable, character around. Look at thegirl, Jenny, how pathetic ! Simply, if being damn realistic was thepoint, why not making it as a live action instead? Otherwise, they paidattention to everything in this 3D, except the characters. Not onlythis, the level of animation was embarrassingly weak for an Americanmovie. Re-watch the first scene of the cops to have a good idea.According to this movie using 3D motion capture techniques to digitallyrecord the physical performances of the actors before "skinning" themwith their animated forms proved to be something dull, that has noquality of other cartoon, 3D, or live action movies, neither a specialquality for itself ! Some points in the script looked artless. I mean, the girl is there,putting her life on edge for what exactly? She was about to be eaten,she's curious, or she's in love? I don't think so. The monster wife wasan obvious insult to the fat or the retarded people, a point that couldhave been easily avoided by for instance saying that she was originallya black magic deranged witch or something evil anyway ! The movie'ssense of humor was between dry and plain gross. So every singlesupposed-to-be-funny line ended up, at best, as ridiculously dirty(urine, puberty, how to puke, not going to the bathroom for 4 days !).And seriously, how come a movie with scary, dark and dirty stuff likethis earns a PG rating ?!Ironically the performances of the minor characters were way betterthan the leads'. See how (Steve Buscemi), (Fred Willard) and (CatherineO'Hara) steal the show with short moments. The matter gets clearer –and more painful – with (Kathleen Turner) achieving a lot with only 2or 3 words as a role! Apparently (Mitchel Musso), (Sam Lerner), and(Spencer Locke), the 3 kids who played the leads, have yet so much tolearn. Its imagination wins. The way it carries out itself wins, mostly. Fewof it loses. So it's overall good. But if, at least, the 3 maincharacters' faces were something any preferable, and not to be Disney'seither, I would have given it the "very good" rank gladly.P.S : after seeing the movie's director (Gil Kenan), I knew after whomthe character of DJ was modeled !

2012-05-16 11:28:30

Fun halloween movie

I watched this because we had two copies and I never saw it before. My 4 year old nephew was watching it one day. After watching the first half hour, I am suprised no one checked if it was alright for him or not. Within that time frame, a guy claimed to have died, a guy was drinking beer, he ripped off the head and stuffing out of a stuffed animal, and the house is just scary. I recommend this for kids age 10 and over. It should have been PG-13 I believe. Anyways I am 26 and I thought it was a cool movie. Great graphics and almost every character in it was a famous actor.

2012-05-16 07:22:36

Entertaining for All Ages

The movie is entertaining and appeals to children of all ages. It crosses over to amusing adults as well. The animation is great and the story catches the attention of the viewer. I would highly recommend that you add to the video collection. It's not just for Halloween.

2012-05-15 14:33:18

Great Family Movie

This review is from: Monster House (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) My daughter and I really enjoy this movie, especially around Halloween time. Its not too scary, she was able to watch it at 3yrs old with no issues. I highly recommend this movie.

2012-05-15 00:22:01

Monster House

Bought movie for my daughter and neice. They both love it. Great quality.

2012-05-14 14:11:18

Great buy!

This review is from: Monster House (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) This item was exactly as shown. We received it in time for Christmas and was exactly what we wanted. Thank you!

Stskyshaker 2012-05-12 12:12:14

A Respectable Mismatch..

A mystery/thriller core under the cover of animation with some crudehumor feels so weird, and uncomfortable to watch.. Plus, this movie deserves a way better score to help create theatmosphere. And the plot, or the way they develop it, is bad.. wellmaybe it's because I'm too old for this, I feel no suspense at allthroughout Monster House. (BTW, I'm 20) The way they get the idea about'the source of life' from the video game king is ridiculously corny.Bored is a strong word, but I was verging on it by the end.However, though personally I didn't enjoy it, I'd quite like to show myadoration to the animation crew- the '3D motion capture techniques' areawesome~

dellapen 2012-05-12 10:14:49

Inappropriate for small children and adults; perhaps 10-year olds will like it.

I went to this movie with small children, expecting it to be at theirlevel. It definitely was not. I found it far too scary for smallchildren, and not interesting enough for me. I left the theatrewondering just what audience the creators of this mess thought theywere hoping to reach. That it was in 3-D was a novelty, but it onlyexacerbated the misfit between film and audience.On the positive side, the movie was technically well done and thevoices fit the characters very nicely. These strengths do not make upfor the inappropriateness of the story. This movie continues the trendof using cutesy animation designed to attract small children to utterlyinappropriate material.I should add that I took other small children (large family) to see"Jurassic Park" when it came out, and was admonished that it wasinappropriate. I didn't think so, and still don't. Somehow, I am moreput off by cutesy animation than by live actors with special effects,although I recognize that 3- and 4-year olds probably don't make suchdistinctions.

2012-05-06 00:34:26

Rare Quality Animation Film

Great story, great animation, great presentation. Monster House is the type of animation that draws you in so much that it does not feel like an animated film. I am surprised they didn't attempt to make this a live action movie. Style very reminiscent of The Goonies. I love the reviews who complain the movie is "too much for those under 13"...funny, the MPAA has a rating system...it is rated PG. On the same note, the movie has some deep and creepy undertones. Again, no more so than some of the great "young adult" movies that exist. This movie is a definite recommendation. Not as fast paced as most of the animated fare out there...that's because this one actually makes you think and care about the characters. Four solid stars!

2012-05-05 16:17:21

Great Prices!

This review is from: Monster House (Fullscreen) (DVD) Good product, great prices, speedy delivery. I'm completely satisfied as is my son who loves his DVD.

2012-05-05 12:23:18

Monster House (Blu-Ray): Review

This review is from: Monster House [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Lets be honest here, the movie isnt the only reason for getting this product, its the picture quality and clarity, as well. And Blu-Ray does just that. With a resolution of 1920x1080p the image/picture quality is crisp and great. The details are vivid and well done, of course many of the smaller audiences who do watch it dont really care for the picture quality and all that other technical stuff but older people who know their tv stuff will surely see the beauty and respect this movie deserves.As for the moive, its no Shrek or Pixar, but it does have its moments and the facial expressions throughout the movie are by far the best in any other big computer-generated (CG) Animanted film. However, it does have a "horror" movie feel to it and may be a little too much for some children, but all in all its a decent movie and a decent movie to have on Blu-Ray.I watched the movie on my 40" Samsung 1080p LCD HDTV

etsm92 2012-05-04 16:45:49

A great and very entertaining film with just a few flaws...

Monster House/2006/***1/2Main Stars: Mitchel Musso Sam Lerner Spencer Locke Steve BuscemiTwenty-nine year old Gil Kenan's Monster House is a pure delight butrather short. It was around an hour and twenty-seven minutes. If that'snot specific, I don't know what is. The title practically explains theentire plot and that was what was intended. But PG (to me) is not thecorrect rating. I would actually rate it PG-13 for not only scaryimages and sequences but a little raunchiness. I expected the scarysequences and cheap loud moments but what I didn't expect was thewriting to be a bit over the top for children around eight or nine andup (I suppose that's the age for PG). I would say twelve is theyoungest age to see this movie but that's just me. For example: AGothic and indifferent (except for practically herself and music)babysitter named "Zee" or Elizabeth (she would prefer "Zee") (played byMaggie Gyllenhaal) going to baby-sit DJ (one main character played byMitchel Musso) and staying in the house and listening to hard metalrock. Her boyfriend Bones (Jason Lee) is somewhat raunchy in his ownway. Kind of "punky" actually… There are other crude humor scenes but Idefinitely enjoyed the film anyway. And so far I've shown very positivecriticism for every movie of 2006 except for The Benchwarmers. Speakingof that, Jon Heder (actor from The Benchwarmers and actor that playedNapoleon Dynamite in Napoleon Dynamite) makes another performance asthe somewhat paranoid techno geek Reginald "Skull" Skulinski who givesthe main characters a little advice on how to defeat the MONSTERHOUSE!! The main characters- DJ, his dorky and porky friend Chowder(Sam Lerner), and a little girl they meet across the street sellingHalloween candy named Jenny (Spencer Locke)- are the ones who need theadvice. The house's creepy owner, Nebbercraker (Steve Buscemi), is thecrotchety old man that forbids everyone to even set a toe on his lawnor, in the movie's case, a basketball or tricycle or beer bottle, etc.But why does he forbid? It's secret unless you've seen it already butit's pretty obvious if you ask me. Once the gang of three sees a fewpeople either being eaten or thrown around, they have enough evidenceto step into action. They need to destroy it before it causes any moredamage to the neighborhood which doesn't even pay the slightest bit ofattention to the house's growling or slinging people around. No onetakes any notice except for the people actually getting eaten andthrown around which was just a bit far-fetched or completely ludicrous.But I only somewhat cared. I was having too much fun watching theexcellent and exaggerated animation and cinematography (perfect) and,of course the most interesting part, the story. The kids need toconvince the cops or anyone that wouldn't believe a word they said thatthe house is really haunted and really is ALIVE! How can you killsomething living that's an animal and not a plant or anything else?Same results practically apply. It is a clever film executive producedby none other than Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis and directed bya no-name young man named Gil Kenan who just graduated from film schoolbefore he directed this instant hit. I'm sure Kenan will be a namedirector after getting loads of money hauled in for this movie which(as of right now while I'm typing) is the second top movie in the boxoffice (behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) making awhopping (in millions) $23.0 (remember as of right now while I'mtyping. Results may vary over time and they most likely will). $23.0million isn't as huge as I would have suspected it to be. I thought itwould be more in the $80 million range. But they will make more moneyafter a few more months in the theaters and when it comes out on DVD.As I said before, this movie is an instant hit and I hope many peoplerealize it as I do. However, it was not excellent because it was tooshort and there was the fact that no one would even hear the housegrowling and throwing people around and of course EATING them! Wellmaybe just swallowing them. But still a great, entertaining filmindeed! Movie directed by Gil Kenan.

elizabe555 2012-05-02 02:09:15

this movie sucked

The animation wasn't that great and the story (such as it was) dragged(I dozed off at least three times). The dismal attempts at humor fellflat - there wasn't a single funny scene in the entire movie (unlessyou find bad manners and rudeness funny). This movie was COMPLETELYinappropriate for children and contained several sexual innuendos andreferences to puberty so obvious a 6 year old would pick up on them. Italso contained some psychological themes that are not only not funnybut were also inappropriate for children. I don't personally think itis funny to make fun of obese people and make them out to seem as ifthey belong in a circus and that they are all psychologically damaged.This just wasn't right.

2012-05-01 13:30:29

good

This review is from: Monster House (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) The DVD was in good condition, arrived very promptly, and there were no problems viewing the movie. Thank you for a great deal!