| rdfs:comment | - The Monster Squad is a comedy/horror film written by Shane Black and Fred Dekker and directed by Fred Dekker (who also wrote/directed Night of the Creeps). It was released by Tri-Star Pictures on August 14, 1987. The film features the Universal Monsters (re-imagined by a team of special effects artists including Stan Winston), led by Count Dracula. They, in turn, combat a group of savvy kids out to keep them from controlling the world. This is also a twist on horror movies as it reimagines classic monsters unleashed in a 1980s setting, and the film also makes a barb at incessant horror sequels when a "film within a film" is questioned as to how many times can a serial killer come back from the grave.
- The film was released on August 14, 1987 by TriStar Pictures.
- The movie was considered a twist on horror films as it reimagined classic monsters unleashed in a then-modern day 1980s setting, while it makes a barb at incessant horror sequels during a point where a "film within a film" is questioned about how many times a serial killer can come back from the grave. The film did not perform well at the box office when it was first released. Having been made on an estimated budget of $12,000,000, the film only earned $4,000,000 in the United States. The Monster Squad was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America.
- The Monster Squad is a society of young pre-teens who idolize classic monsters and monster movies and hold their meetings in a tree clubhouse. Club leader Sean (Andre Gower), whose five-year-old sister Phoebe (Ashley Bank) desperately wants to join the club, is given the diary of legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing (Jack Gwillim) - but his excitement is toned down when he finds it's written in German. Sean, his best friend Patrick (Robby Kiger), and the rest of the Monster Squad get their local "Scary German Guy" (Leonardo Cimino), actually a kind person and a former Nazi Holocaust victim, to translate the diary. (When the group remarks about his extensive knowledge, the German Guy replies that he has a lot of experience with monsters...and as he closes the door on them, reveals t
- In 2030, a group of four were sent to a Borgia depot to kill or capture a Yautja intruder, Scarface. However, Scarface killed the four and took their skulls as trophies. Then a larger group, nearly a hundred, arrived in dropships. Scarface fought as many as he could, but the Predator was defeated and taken to the labs where The Monster Squad was built. There were four variants of Monster squad soldiers:
* Unit Alpha - Snipers
* Unit Beta - Hard wired into Liquid Nitrogen Projectors
* Unit Gamma - Plasma Casters
* Unit Delta - Shock troops, modified rocket launchers
- Those who are not compatible with the conversion process would be taken to MOTHER's chambers - where they would be used as hosts for MOTHER's Xenomorphs. The successful conversions would be made into one of the four types of Monster Squad cyborg, who would then be deployed to hunt Yautja that were drawn to Neonopolis by the combination of sweltering summer temperatures and gang warfare. To everyone else outside of the company, however, it is believed that the Monster Squad are a group of mercenaries who simply protect Borgia Industries. The types of Monster Squad cyborg are as follows:
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| abstract | - The Monster Squad is a comedy/horror film written by Shane Black and Fred Dekker and directed by Fred Dekker (who also wrote/directed Night of the Creeps). It was released by Tri-Star Pictures on August 14, 1987. The film features the Universal Monsters (re-imagined by a team of special effects artists including Stan Winston), led by Count Dracula. They, in turn, combat a group of savvy kids out to keep them from controlling the world. This is also a twist on horror movies as it reimagines classic monsters unleashed in a 1980s setting, and the film also makes a barb at incessant horror sequels when a "film within a film" is questioned as to how many times can a serial killer come back from the grave.
- In 2030, a group of four were sent to a Borgia depot to kill or capture a Yautja intruder, Scarface. However, Scarface killed the four and took their skulls as trophies. Then a larger group, nearly a hundred, arrived in dropships. Scarface fought as many as he could, but the Predator was defeated and taken to the labs where The Monster Squad was built. Scarface broke out and rescued other Yautja that were held in the labs. Several Monster Squad members that were guarding Predator tech in the labs were sent in to kill Scarface, but they too were killed by the hunter. Later, when Scarface broke into the Borgia tower, a team of Monster Squad were sent to face Scarface as a last-ditch effort to kill the Predator before it got into MOTHER's chamber. There were four variants of Monster squad soldiers:
* Unit Alpha - Snipers
* Unit Beta - Hard wired into Liquid Nitrogen Projectors
* Unit Gamma - Plasma Casters
* Unit Delta - Shock troops, modified rocket launchers
- The Monster Squad is a society of young pre-teens who idolize classic monsters and monster movies and hold their meetings in a tree clubhouse. Club leader Sean (Andre Gower), whose five-year-old sister Phoebe (Ashley Bank) desperately wants to join the club, is given the diary of legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing (Jack Gwillim) - but his excitement is toned down when he finds it's written in German. Sean, his best friend Patrick (Robby Kiger), and the rest of the Monster Squad get their local "Scary German Guy" (Leonardo Cimino), actually a kind person and a former Nazi Holocaust victim, to translate the diary. (When the group remarks about his extensive knowledge, the German Guy replies that he has a lot of experience with monsters...and as he closes the door on them, reveals the concentration-camp number on his arm.) The diary describes, in great detail, an amulet that is composed of concentrated good. One day out of every century, as the forces of good and evil reach a balance, the otherwise-indestructible amulet becomes vulnerable to destruction, and the next day of balance falls within a couple days, at the stroke of midnight. The kids realize they must gain possession of the amulet before the day of balance arrives; once they have the amulet, the kids can use it — with an incantation from Van Helsing's diary — to open a hole in the universe and cast the monsters into Limbo. As shown in the prelude, van Helsing had unsuccessfully attempted this one hundred years ago in order to defeat his old adversary Count Dracula; his apprentices subsequently hid the amulet in America, where it was out of Dracula's immediate reach. Dracula, meanwhile, seeks to obtain the amulet before the Monster Squad does, so that the Count can take control of the world. To this end he assembles several monstrous allies: Frankenstein's monster, a werewolf, a mummy, and an amphibious gill-man, in addition to three school girls (Mary Albee, Joan-Carrol Baron, and Julie Merrill) whom the Count transforms into his vampiric consorts. The next day, Frankenstein's monster is wandering in the forest where he encounters Phoebe. Rather than being afraid, she shows him the kindness he has also sought, and he gets acquainted with and becomes a member of the Monster Squad. The amulet turns out to be buried in a stone room, under a house that Dracula and the other monsters now occupy and where Van Helsing's diary was found. The secret room is littered with wards which prevent the monsters from simply taking it. The Monster Squad finds and removes the amulet, and escape Dracula's grasp only with sheer luck and a talent for improvisation (like using a garlic pizza to burn the vampire's face). The German Guy informs them that the incantation must be read by a female virgin. As midnight approaches, the Squad makes their way to a local cathedral to make their last stand — and in the nick of time, as shortly after they leave, Dracula destroys their clubhouse with a stick of dynamite. This also calls up another helper for the Monster Squad: Sean's father, Police Detective Del, who has been charged to investigate the strange happenings in town of late (as caused by Dracula's cohorts) but has been quite skeptical about their supernatural causes, not to mention Sean's hobby, in the first place. Del is further puzzled when he is getting warnings from the werewolf that his family is in danger, as the werewolf is actually a reluctant pawn of Dracula in his human form and is actually begging the police to put him in a maximum security prison, but he is dismissed as a loonie. Unfortunately, the doors to the cathedral are locked, so the incantation must be read on the stoop, leaving the Squad vulnerable. The Monster Squad has the assistance of Sean's father and Patrick's older sister (Lisa Fuller), as she's the only virgin they know who speaks German. Unfortunately, with time winding down, the incantation fails since Lisa is actually not a virgin anymore. As Dracula's Brides and the other monsters close in, it is realized that Phoebe, being five, must still be a virgin, and the German Guy attempts to help her read the incantation as the rest of the squad fends off the monsters. In the ensuing battle, the vampiresses, the Mummy, the Gill-Man, and the Wolf-Man are killed. Dracula arrives and is about to kill Phoebe when the Frankenstein Creature betrays him, impaling him on a wrought-iron fence. Phoebe finishes the incantation, opening the portal which begins to consume the bodies of the monsters. Dracula, still alive, attempts to drag Sean in with him, but Sean is saved at the last minute by stabbing Dracula with a wooden stake and Van Helsing, who briefly escaped from limbo to take Dracula to his doom. Although Phoebe tries tearfully to hold onto him, Frankenstein's Creature says he must leave and is last to be sucked through the portal, but accepts a gift of a stuffed animal to remember Phoebe. The portal then closes, ensuring the world's safety.
- The film was released on August 14, 1987 by TriStar Pictures.
- Those who are not compatible with the conversion process would be taken to MOTHER's chambers - where they would be used as hosts for MOTHER's Xenomorphs. The successful conversions would be made into one of the four types of Monster Squad cyborg, who would then be deployed to hunt Yautja that were drawn to Neonopolis by the combination of sweltering summer temperatures and gang warfare. To everyone else outside of the company, however, it is believed that the Monster Squad are a group of mercenaries who simply protect Borgia Industries. The types of Monster Squad cyborg are as follows:
* Alpha Unit: These Monster Squad units functioned as snipers, to attack Yautja from a distance.
* Beta Unit: These Monster Squad units were hard-wired into Liquid Nitrogen Projectors, which would be used to slow down the attacking Yautja due to their preference for heat.
* Gamma Unit: These Monster Squad units used a powerful weapon based on Predator Plasmacaster technology. The weapon would charge up before unleashing a powerful green beam of energy that would badly damage a Yautja warrior.
* Delta Unit: These Monster Squad units were shock troopers and were hardwired into a powerful missile launching system - which would launch four missiles at a target all at once.
- The movie was considered a twist on horror films as it reimagined classic monsters unleashed in a then-modern day 1980s setting, while it makes a barb at incessant horror sequels during a point where a "film within a film" is questioned about how many times a serial killer can come back from the grave. The film did not perform well at the box office when it was first released. Having been made on an estimated budget of $12,000,000, the film only earned $4,000,000 in the United States. The Monster Squad was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America.
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