Sony Picture's Monster House is another foray into the cgi full length movie feature. But, don't expect a movie as endearing as Finding Nemo. This movie, while rated PG, is another one of those movies that leave you thinking, "what were they thinking?" and "who were they marketing to?"
As a literature teacher, I try to show my students the importance of accepting the author in his or her context. In other words, just because a reader could potentially take the work and twist it doesn't mean we should blame the author or the work. For example, Jim Jones used the Bible for his own purposes, but does that mean we shouldn't read it?
With that caveat, let me say there are inherently disturbing elements in this movie. For kids or adults this movie's themes are just plain scary. And, lets face it, sadly lots of parents take their kids to a PG movie expecting it to be "safe." In the movie theater where I was, there were lots of kids. Just down the row sat a little boy that couldn't have been more than three years old. "Can I open my eyes now?" one little girl asked her mom at a particularly scary point in the movie.
Warning: spoilers ahead!
The movie centers around the friendship of two young boys (I would guess that they are somewhere between 10 and 12). The neighbor across the street from DJ's house, Mr. Nebbercracker is constantly tormenting the children in the neighborhood by screaming at them when they step on the grass and stealing their toys if they happen to be in his front yard. DJ's friend, Chowder soon looses his ball to the inside of Mr. Nebbercracker's house; the boys then try to retrieve it. Soon after, while holding DJ in the air and yelling in his face, Mr. Nebbercraker falls down and appears dead. With its owner gone, the house begins to behave in more nefarious ways. A baby sitter's drunk boyfriend and two bumbling policemen are swallowed up by the very human looking house. DJ, Chowder, and their new found friend Jenny know that they must find a way to stop the house before Halloween night.
Sexual comments
Some of the joking that DJ and Chowder seem quite normal for two boys reaching that awkward age of prepubescence, but there are many sexual innuendos, including a disturbing reference to female anatomy. It is one thing for the characters to joke about Jenny's appeal, but quite another when Chowder brags about her "touching his butt." Sprinkled throughout the movie is the word "puberty" and is mentioned at least five or six times. I am sure there were many five year olds that left the theater asking for a definition.
The baby sitter's boyfriend also has a scene where, after drinking, he decides to kiss the babysitter on the couch. They both then fall out of sight, but there are some descriptive sounds and lines; apparently he "goes to far" and she throws him out.
Violence
I know this can be a sticky element. Middle school children certainly are not interested in the Teletubbies and I do realize that unfortunately there are some children out there who have watched terribly violent films, but this movie pushes the envelope. Besides the scary moments of the house trying to "eat" people, there are other moments that would have warranted the PG-13 rating just a few years ago. While struggling to kill the house from the inside, one of the children almost falls into a hole in the floor. At the bottom, in the basement the audience can see stakes jutting up in an ominous threat to impale the child. When we learn about Mrs. Nebbercracker's past demise, we are shown in a flash back that she fell into the foundation that Mr. N was digging for the house. While grasping for help in her fall she accidentally pulled on the concrete mixer, thus smothering herself with concrete. Later the children discover her concrete covered corpse in the basement. Mr. N has made a shrine around the body and the children accidentally break the dried concrete and discover the bones underneath.
Ghosts, possession, and The Madwoman in the Attic
When the boys and Jenny decide that they must stop the house, they go to an "expert," a guy that works in a local pizza place and plays arcade games all day (and night). He tells them that to kill the house they must get to the heart because spiritual beings can sometime inhabit physical objects in poltergeist-like behavior. Soon after this explanation the house is refereed to as "she" and "her." The house even shows different emotions, including joy at Mr. N's return from the hospital. Later Mr. N begs the children to help him get rid of her. So, not only is there "possession" of the house by an unfriendly ghost, but Mrs. N needs to be destroyed. In the end Mr. N actually asks one of the children to complete the deed because he can not. So is this a solution for mentally insane, a plug for murder, or the way we take care of batty old women? After blowing the house up, Mrs. N's spirit appears and dances with Mr. N. in a scene reminiscent of Ghost .
I left the theater feeling disturbed and confused. What were these filmmakers trying to advocate and just who were they playing to? Sure the animation was great, but was it worth it? I don't think so.
Don't expect a nice kid (or adult) friendly movie in this film.
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