Monster House was a perfect combination of kid-friendliness, horror, action and adventure. When I first walked into the theater I thought it would be "kiddy" because I went to see it with my younger cousin. You know how most animated movies are somewhat funny and about teamwork and working together or teaches life lessons or morals but I actually came to find that this movie was more scary than comical or ethical. I actually got into it. I actually ended up liking it more than my cousin. Some of the content is for older kids but it's non-stop action and the momentum of the story line never stops. And the characters seem so real. 2 thumbs up. I definitely recommend it.

Well, I think if I saw this movie when I was ten years old, I would have been totally scared and could not sleep for weeks. Now it seems time has changed: ten-year-old children are playing horror-video games so probably what was too scary for them in the eighties is just right and fun now. Actually this is just what you could expect from a movie about a monster house: funny, spectacular, sometimes frightening. Quite a well-developed story - even if it is full of clichés, or should I say homage? - with the usual "two boys, one girl" trio as seen in Star Wars or Harry Potter. The animation is strange at first: they seem like rubber dummies, but thanks to the motion capture, their movement and expressions are first rate. While they look like having plastic hair, there is a great development since Polar Express in one field: their eyes are constantly moving - full of life. And the whole movie is just a typical and fun Spielberg-Zemeckis production with elements of Hitchcock. Besides the extraordinarily dark scenes it just feels like those very entertaining Spielberg productions of the eighties.

I just saw this movie at the Seattle International Film Festival. I didn't know what to expect, but I must say I found it quite enjoyable. There was a lot of talk before the movie. People were saying that it will be too scary for the little kids, but not adult enough to capture older kids attention.

I can see it being quite frightening at times for the little ones, but of the kids in the theater its not like I heard any of them screaming mommy. I don't know how well the movie will do with kids, but from an adult's perspective, its definitely worth a viewing.

The best part of the movie definitely has to be the characters. Each were extremely well thought out and put together. They did a fantastic job of matching right voices with the right characters. Characters facial expressions were amazing. You'll find yourself laughing at things they say and do quite a lot.

The animation looks great. They certainly aren't ground breaking. But they fit the movie well. However, I will say that some scenes looked quite amazing.

If you are looking for a fun, clean movie with plenty of laughs and chuckles, this is definitely one you don't want to miss!

Let's be clear - Monster House is not your typical 'feel-good' children's movie. That isn't to say, however, that there are never any points where the viewer is allowed to feel good. In fact, I discovered, despite my initial resistance to a movie that I thought would simply impress me graphically, copious moments of warmth and humor within the unembellished and utterly human actions of the characters. This is the movie's paramount success. Not the plot, the myriad celebrity voices, or even the decisively unique and dazzling computer animation. Where Monster House really shines is within the dialogue and behavior of its perfectly believable personalities. From the girl-musings and growing pains of the pubescent DJ and Chowder to the cantankerous rantings of their crotchety old neighbor Nebbercracker, the cast is so natural that one would expect to run across such people within day-to-day life. It is this element that helps Monster House transcend an entirely surreal plot to make an idea so bizarre and twisted seem entirely real.

It is true that Monster House does contain a predominantly dark theme, with a considerable amount of eerie scenes to support it. I don't believe, however, that this should keep it from being shared with children, especially those preadolescences that will soon enough be able to relate to the emotions and actions of its protagonists. As long as younger children have the guidance of a parent or other compassionate adult, this film has the potential be viewed and adored by all ages.

Spectacular visuals, unforgettable characters, and a fairy tale story with a twist! Highly recommend the Real D 3-D version if available in your area.

Movie was scary, funny, dramatic and entertaining all at once. However, some parts of the movie may be a little too scary for kids 8 and under. For grown ups that still try to catch every episode of SpongeBob, this is it!

The Real D 3-D version added to the movie going experience. I didn't experience fatigue or dizziness for the entirety of the movie -- which was more common in previous 3-D movie technology. When I saw the beginning of the end credits, the experience just leaves you begging for more -- but for now, I know that desire can be satisfied by watching this movie again in the near future.

In almost any neighbourhood, there is always that one house, or that unit of apartment, which has spiritual connotations attached to it. It could be because of tragedy, or rumours, or just for the simple reason that it's unoccupied, or has some elderly, probably unkindly, strange looking old folk living in it, that gives the creeps to anyone under the age of 10.

In Monster House, it uses a familiar urban legend, and plays up the nastiness associated with such a location. DJ (Mitchel Musso) stays opposite a creepy looking house, and bears witness, through his telescope, of the things that go bump in the night, and the horrible things that it does. Natually, because he's a kid, nobody believes him, save for good friend cum resident fat-kid loser Chowder (Sam Lerner).

The story's kept tight by having set a day before Halloween, and despite the children being stereotyped, Chowder actually stole the show from DJ with his at time innocent, at time crafty and sly antics, and there's a nice tango for attention between the two boys and their crush of the moment - Jenny (Spenser Locke). So while the three of them get set to unravel the mystery of the Monster House, it doesn't disappoint, with the bickering, laughs and budding romance, chemistry like that between Potter, Ron and Hermione. Hmm.. now that I mentioned, it looked more like a Harry Potter clone.

The graphics require some getting used to, given that it's deliberately not done in a cutesy manner, thereby coming across at times as quite stiff. Come to think of it, there isn't an artificially created "cute" character in the movie, as it adapts "real life" as best as it could, in an animated form. And for a horror movie, it put its real life counterparts to shame, especially in its anticipatory build up in mood and atmosphere.

Anyway, the trailer doesn't give much away except to whet your appetites, so I'll keep it at that rather than to inadvertently reveal any surprises. And if you're undecided between the two animated flicks on offering this week at the local cinemas, then my advice would be to pick Monster House over Barnyard. Here, the story is clearer superior. And that's what matters, really.

Looking out his window, DJ (Mitchel Musso) sees a creepy-looking house (Kathleen Turner). It's owned by Mr Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi), who really doesn't want people on his lawn. Toys that end up there disappear, taken by Nebbercracker to discourage trespassing. DJ catalogs the lost items, but his parents (Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard) aren't interested in his observations of the house. Just before Halloween, his parents leave him home, in the care of babysitter Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who prefers the nickname "Z". His friend "Chowder" (Sam Lerner) visits, and joins his observation of the house. They spot Jenny (Spencer Locke, who is a girl whose parents stuck her with a boy's name) about to try to sell Halloween candy to Nebbercracker, and hurry to talk her out of approaching the house. Before long, they discover that Nebbercracker isn't the only thing that's creepy about the house. The house, it seems, has a life of its own.

This movie started as a script that sat unproduced for years, for want of technology and the right people to make it. The technology that went into it turned out to be the same sort of animation as _The Polar Express_, digital animation based on motion capture. Like _Polar_, it has a stylized look rather than attempting photorealism, but instead of taking the look of paintings in a book, it took the look of extremely detailed dolls and doll accessories. But with motion capture driving the movements of the characters, they end up with a lot of personality, which overrides their stylized look. The animation is least effective in the climax scene at the end, where it exaggerates the action just a bit too far for my tastes, but even there it's pretty good. Most of the time the animation is excellent, with just the right degree of exaggeration to fit the stylized look. The sets are very good, particularly a construction site near the house. I'd rate the animation very good.

More important than the technology is the story. What really makes the images on the screen interesting is the way they serve the story. Comparing with _The Polar Express_ again highlights the point -- this movie had a solid story, compared with _Polar_, which expanded a very thin children's book into a feature-length story. This movie's story isn't in a class with the best of Pixar, but the film-makers are clearly aware of the fact that the strength of the story is very important. I'd rate the story very good.

The voice and motion capture performances, shot in only 34 days, are almost all excellent. My favorite was Maggie Gyllenhaal, who was wonderful in her supporting part as babysitter "Z". The least satisfying, I thought, was Jon Heder (as video-game master "Skull"), and he was good, just not great. Even Kathleen Turner, as the house, performed in the motion capture space, moving around in a neighborhood constructed of foam. I really hope that the director wasn't joking when he said he might include her motion capture video as a DVD extra. Nick Cannon, as a rookie police officer, was probably the funniest character, relative to his screen time.

Kathleen Turner's presence in the cast is a bit of a nod to executive producer Robert Zemeckis, who cast her as Jessica Rabbit in _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_. She was thrilled by the part, which gave her a grotesque role to mirror her glamorous role as Jessica Rabbit. Other Zemeckis references are more obvious. Most obvious one is in the opening, featuring a leaf. Another deals with a basketball -- originally an accident during production. Others may exist, but it's not packed with pop culture references like the _Shrek_ movies.

Directing an animated film is different in a lot of ways from directing live action, which makes it more complicated to rate. Directing this movie involved directing both the motion capture performances and the camera positioning. The director took the script, and made complete storyboards from it. From those, he made an animatic, which guided the way he directed the motion capture shoot. Because of the way character interactions affected the results, he said that he ended up throwing out all the storyboarding, but I'd guess he meant that figuratively. The character interaction looked really good, better than almost any animated movie I've seen. I'd rate the directing excellent, in a class with Pixar.

Overall, I'd rate the movie very good, mostly on the strength of the story. Kids are usually easy to please, and they'll probably find the movie excellent. Adults are harder to please. Where _Shrek_ emphasizes pop culture references for adult appeal, this movie targets adults' memories of childhood, effectively drawing adults into enjoying it like the kids in the audience.

Credits: There are a few additional scenes after the credits begin. Don't run out right away. Stick around at least until the fine-print credits roll.

Personal appearances: The director, Gil Kenan, and a couple of the producers (I don't know which ones, but not Spielberg or Zemeckis) were there. The director took questions from the audience, and answered very enthusiastically -- he seemed like he was thrilled to see his film in front of a real audience, and not burned out from hearing the same questions over and over. He was really nice to the kids in the audience, and behaved like he was new to the experience of being the center of attention. He signed lots of autographs (including one for me), and seemed genuinely pleased that people cared enough to ask. That's a reaction that one might expect for the director of something obscure, but uncommonly nice for the director of a big-budget summer movie.

The US rating is "PG", for some scary scenes and (supposedly) "crude humor and brief language". The crude humor is minimal, compared to typical movies aimed at kids. I can't think of any inappropriate language.

First of all, let me establish that I have never been impressed by the 3D process. The best that I had previously seen was "Ghosts of the Abyss", but there were still too many glitches for my eye to really buy into the process. I never had a chance to see "Polar Express" in 3D, but wasn't really anxious too because of my previous lackluster responses to the 3D experience. Then came "Monster House"....

I have NEVER seen anything like this before. The story itself is entertaining and very reminiscent of the type of movie that Steven Spielberg would have made in the early 80's, but the 3D element makes it an EVENT! If you have a choice to see this in a regular theater or in 3D, do not hesitate to see it 3D! From the moment the title comes on screen, I knew I was going to see a level of realism in the 3D process that I had never experienced before. In fact, seeing "Monster House" in a regular theater might be akin to seeing all of "The Wizard of Oz" in black and white. It would severely diminish the potential impact of the film. "Monster House" was obviously envisioned as a 3D experience and the technical process envelopes you in the story and the world in which it takes place in a way that is so immediate and palpable.

Lest you think that only the technique is worthy of praise, let me mention that the script, the performances, the direction, the score are all of the fun, adventurous spirit of all the best movies I remember from my youth. It has the feel of "E.T.", "The Goonies", even a little bit of "Poltergeist", just a lot more kid-friendly. The movie isn't extraordinary, but it's a heck of a lot of fun. So a giddy 8 stars for the movie, but an enthused 10 stars for the experience. PLEASE, do yourself the favor of seeing this on a 3D screen!

I saw this film as part of a free screening I took my little sister to and was ready for an immature piece of fluff. Preparing for restless children making bathroom trips and throwing an occasional tantrum overshadowing a mediocre movie I was happily proved wrong. Too many CG-generated films ride on the spectacle of the animation technique keeping audiences in awe while forgoing story. While jaws drop at impossible camera angles and while 3-D rendered characters being stretched in a 2-D way we all play spot/ear the celebrity voice. The Dennis Leary as a ladybug joke can only be taken so far. Perhaps a bar is being set by Pixar to work from an entertaining script like "The Incredibles" that would make an good movie no matter how it was made. Drawing from the neighborhood ghost story and a dash of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shunned House" Amblin delivered an entertaining popcorn movie that ranges in age appeal. The humor could have easily fallen into stereotypical characters, the familiarity of the story, and bathroom laughs, but maintains irony and, while not naive, maintains a reverence for the innocence of the characters and no doubt much of the young audience. This is a popcorn movie, no doubt, and not every gag is spot on, but it makes for a good matinée and a pretty good introduction to horror movies for a younger crowd. As a fan of animation I walked into a second-run screening of "The Iron Giant" and loved it. For me seeing a good movie outside of hype is a lot of fun. I know my expectations were low and the movie was free but I thought it was pretty cool.

I guess you could label this an "edgy animated film." It's certainly wasn't made with little kids in mind. If it was, that was a mistake because this a pretty scary film in parts - much to much for the little ones.

The "edginess" isn't just the violence (a Halloween-type scary house and the comes alive and attacks people), it's most of the characters. They are typical Hollywood-young people meaning they have "attitudes." They aren't exactly sweet, lovable people, except for the one young boy "D.J." (voiced by Mitchel Musso). The dialog on the kids - two boys, the babysitter and her boyfriend - make this more of a film for teens and younger adults. The "attitude" means wise-remarks and general obnoxiousness and rebellious attitudes. The worst in that attitude category is D.J.'s friend "Chowder," the kind of guy who talks you into doing things that wind up getting YOU in trouble.

The best part of the film, besides the animation, is the unpredictability of the story. You kept wondering what was going to happen next. That made the 91 minutes go by pretty fast. It's a simple story but very entertaining despite the not-so-great-role models and, as most pictures do, has a good message and a few heartwarming scenes at the end.

THE GOOD

The cinematics (camera movements and virtual lenses), which are almost better than Pixar's, the virtual lightning (marvelous). Great cinematic experience.

The ending song, "Halloween". Stunning to hear how this 30 years old song by Siouxsie and the Banshees still sounds fresh and edgy in 2007. What a great band, ahead of its time.

THE BAD

Shallow and formulaic character development, hollow one-dimensional characters, lack of face expression (they relied too much on the actors).

Also looks kinda outdated. When you have such a "realistic" CGI environment for the characters to live in, having static hair and soft movements for human characters is a major letdown, it doesn't fit in.

Extremely poor screenplay and lazy storytelling, mainly the flashback part about the circus woman, which could have been a terrific and very moving sub-story, but is sadly just sloppily executed.

Unfunny gags. Far too clean. Lacks grit. Lacks spirit, lacks real juice. Questionable editing decisions.

Overall, pretty tame, and slightly boring compared to the "big" projects in modern animation (Over the Hedge, Madagascar, Nemo...), with the exception of the cinematics, which are among the very best I've seen.

This film was just fabulous. Digital animation of people is supposed to be really difficult; this film made it look effortless. Unlike most animated films, the camera angles weren't static; the illusion of reality was heightened by a sense that there was a camera on-set with carefully planned pans and tracking shots. Oddly enough, I thought the basketball game early in the film was one of the best pieces of animation throughout (though it had little to do with the plot). Take note of the unsteady camera effect. (This reminded me of the CGI in "Firefly" -- the shaking camera is a particularly cool effect when you know that the entire scene is artificially created).

The story and characters were fabulous as well. I took my five-year-old to see it and he wasn't unpleasantly scared... he just thought it was cool.

I can't wait for the DVD to come out -- hopefully at Halloween. What a great film!

Douglas J. Walters ("DJ" ) is a preteen boy who is observing his neighbor, Nebbercracker, for a long time. Nebbercracker lives on the other side of their street, and is well known for his bad mood and terrible manners towards the children of the neighbor. D.J. is almost sure that Nebbercracker's house has some kind of monster inside of it, since weird things happens there, even when Nebbercracker is hospitalized and the house should be quiet.

When D.J.'s parents travel , it's his chance along with his friends Jenny and Chowder, to know the truth about the house. What they don't know, is that a mysterious secret is hidden in it, that is also the reason for Nebbercracker's bad mood.

''Monster House'' is a cute animation, but I found it too weak to be nominated to an Academy Award. The movie doesn't scare ( as the title of the movie would imply something frighting ), has flaws (like no one watching the house moving, except the children) and the story is very silly, even for kids in their 9's and 10 years old. I miss great animations like Ice Age,Finding Nemo, Monsters S.A. and Shrek (thanks God the third movie of the series will be released this year!); this movie cannot be compared to them, unfortunately, and I would only recommend it to younger kids.

Despite its obvious Halloween themed overtones, Monster House was released this past summer to modest box office receipts. Being a "scary" animated film in the middle of July, it did fairly well for itself. I had wanted to see it, but something felt off about the trailers and reviews I read about it. It was recently nominated for a Best Animated Film Academy Award, and just by chance, I finally had the opportunity 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, it automatically becomes his, and he is never nice to anyone in the neighbourhood. D.J. (Mitchel Musso) is intrigued by the whole thing, and continually spies and watches Nebbercracker's movements. Shortly after his parents leave for a two day trip, his friend Chowder (Sam Lerner) arrives with a new basketball. A missed shot lands the ball on Nebbercracker's lawn. D.J. attempts to retrieve it, and ends up in an argument with the old man, resulting in his apparent "death". After the ambulance takes him away though, strange things begin happening with his house, and begins to come alive.

Yes, the plot is extremely silly, but in a nostalgic 1980's sort of way. It may be animated, but it feels much in the same realm as live action fare like The Goonies, Gremlins and all the other mildly scary and terrifically silly films of that time period. It just has that distinct feel and mold to it, that just seems out of place in 2006, but would 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. When the house really starts getting to the point of being beyond haunted, it just loses its focus and becomes a bad monster movie. Giving the whole thing an emotional backgrounder that little to no kids would be able 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 a certain point. When things start getting explained, the film's narrative stops at a halt, and just barely picks up afterwards. It drags itself out to its eventual finale, and it just does not need all of this extra exposition. Why do we need gross pee jokes? Or a tokin' bumbling black rookie cop? Do the filmmakers honestly believe that little children are going to be taking these in as the funny moments they are meant to be? Or are they going to be too afraid to open their eyes with all of the horrific mayhem going on on-screen? It is not like the 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. The in-jokes were amusing however, but again, will go sailing past a young child more so than similar things in other animated films.

Another thing that threw me off was the animation itself. Now I may be more accustomed to the work of Pixar and Dreamworks, but some of the work done here just feels very aged and withered. No character has any real distinguishing features between each other (beyond their obvious personality differences), and virtually none of them have any real detail in their looks. Now, this may be attributed to the motion-capture style animation being done to bring this film to life, but then why were Gollum and King Kong so frigging detailed? It screams of lazy film-making, and again, makes it feel more at home in 1986. Even after looking at the fascinatingly short making-of featurettes on the DVD, I still cannot fathom why so much work went into creating the animation to be just right, but not enough was put in to make it intricately detailed like other CGI-animated films.

The voice talent all deliver their lines and actions very well. Buscemi is a hoot as the crazy old man Nebbercracker. He gives the right amount of intensity and emotion needed at all times, even when the focus of the film really begins to slip. Mercer, Lerner and Spencer Locke (the female of the group, Jenny) are not too bad at all as the kids trying to get to the bottom of the disturbances. Their naivety and adventuresome nature make for some greatly imaginative moments in the film (albeit, the film could have cut most of their wasteful scenes from their material). Supporting turns from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Lee, Kevin James and Jon Heder are all amusing in their own right, and were definitely interesting choices for these actors.

All around, Monster House is a disappointing film culled from a very interesting idea. Its sheer ridiculousness just cannot be offset by the fact that its a children's film. That never gave anyone else a free pass to make subpar work, and unfortunately that is exactly what this film is. It is watchable though, but I doubt I will ever see why the Academy gave this film the nomination and passed on the astonishing satire of the far superior Over the Hedge.

6.5/10.

I watched "Monster House" with my brother at Halloween night and it was perfect movie for that day. It has that temper. The image of house was very good. It acts like humans psychological world. My brother was very scared, because it was his first Halloween (he is 4 years old). But he liked it. It has a light scary moments.

The creators has chosen a perfect voices for characters. They acted like voices. Every thing with characters was nice. I don't knew, that will be a Nebbercracker (an angry neighbor). But when he's gone, then begins that I was thought - the Monster House will be alive and hunt kids. Script and idea is very nice and everyone has to watch it at Halloween...

I give a 9 for this scary day in the year...

The animation was incredible - best rendering yet, and the character movements so mimic how real people move it's very easy to forget you're watching an animated movie. It's for kids, but not for the littlest ones. My six year old got too scared to continue about 1/4th of the way in and she had to take him home. It lightened up later, but the scary set up was too much for him to get through. Steve Bucemi's Nebbercracker was great. I'll go back and see it again when it comes out in digital 3D later. You can see that it was set up to be a good 3D flick from the beginning. All in all very well done film; but my kid will have to be seven or eight to handle the scary set-up.

there was something about Mr Nebbercracker that provoked suspicion about just how terrible a guy he really was. the fact that i wondered about this is, in my opinion, a testament to the superior animation and performances in this film. The characters were well fleshed out as well. How many of us have had best friends like Chowder? Or a baby-sitter like Zee? And Jenny, the very wise preppy with a great business mind, was vulnerable yet courageous, a theme applicable to almost every character. i am a fan of everyone in this film: Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal.Kevin James, Kathleen Turner, Jason Lee,Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard, and the kids portrayed by Michael Musso, Sam Lerner and Spencer Locke...everyone was convincing, empathetic, and engaging. This collaboration by Zemekis and Spielberg delivered an excellent piece which we've come to expect from these two masters. The direction by Gil Kenan had a great mix of scariness and compassion; and the screenplay is a star unto itself. What i enjoyed the most about this film, is the tenderness and devotion, courage and tenacity shown by the lead characters. And of course, Mr Nebbercracker. Ir's about love, after all. Ir's a great family film, perhaps for older children as well as adults, and it has a kind message disguised within an 'animated' horror. And the dual meaning applies. Ir had it's scary moments for sure. and an interesting, although guessable, story line.But this didn't take away anything from the film. I enjoyed it quite a lot, and wouldn't hesitate to take my niece or nephew or friends' child just to see it again. OK. so i'd watch it again by myself or with another adult too. Highly recommended!

Three things make up a good action/comedy: A dangerous task, hilarious yet loving characters, and action scenes that scar in your mind. Monster House took these rules and surpassed them for miles! The main characters (the heroic, puberty-cursed DJ, the clumsy sidekick Chowder, and the cute-for-a-girl Jenny) are simply brilliant. They are all very realistic (in attitude, anyway) and their small childish comments in the face of danger ("I kissed a girl…on the lips!") make them believable and memorable. Their humor and actions resemble those of the characters in The Goonies, which this movie greatly resembles itself. Fans of Goonies will feel somewhat at home when watching this film.

The side characters are your typical from-the-kid's-point-of-view grown-ups who don't quite understand, or believe, what the children are saying (babysitter, police officers, angry neighbor). They are all amazing performances, even the video game-obsessed Skull, voiced by Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder, who simply comes back to play yet another nerd.

The storyline was somewhat ridiculous, but still made for an extremely interesting movie. The scary, Gollum-looking, kleptomaniac Nebbercracker is…er…no longer living in the scary "house across the street." However, DJ notices that the house itself is still alive, taking its vengeance out on anything that steps on its lawn. With Halloween in just two days, he and Chowder think of ways to prove to adults that the house is, in fact, evil. When Chowder catches eye of the adorable, red-headed Jenny, selling candy door-to-door, approaching the Monster House, the two boys save her, thus forming a sort a friendship that continues throughout the entire movie. The best moments between the three are up in DJ's room while DJ and Chowder are trying to impress the girl. Oh, how I laughed. Another priceless scene is between the babysitter, Z, and Jenny as the young girl tries to sell the wicked teenager Halloween candy. It was very sarcastic, smart, and hilarious.

The voice acting was superb and the effects were top-notch. In my personal opinion, this topped Disney/Pixar's Cars by a mere hair. It was very close, but Monster House has the wit, the sarcasm, the excitement, and the characters that keep you interested and sometimes breathless throughout the entire film.

I've seen three movies this year that have instantly because new favorites of mine overnight: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Click, and Monster House. This movie is destined to become a cult classic. But, then again, would you expect any less from Robert Zemekis and Steven Spielberg? Great, trippy, bizarre, and hilarious film!

This was my favorite Halloween movie as a kid. I loved the animation and the story. For a kid it's scary and funny! I dunno why it got such a low rating. It's a hidden gem in my eyes!

Scare comedies are never easy. You have to do two very different things, get the audience scared and make them laugh. Each is hard enough on its own; finding the right balance is the real trick.

"Monster House" falls, but falls on the right side of the fence, for a kid's movie anyway. Director Gil Kenan and his writing team overwork the laughs, leaving you with a shaggy-dog "Goosebumps" story about a carnivorous old house and a trio of unlikely pre-teen friends who team up to take it down.

DJ is a boy on the cusp of puberty, beginning to feel too old for trick- or-treating when Halloween comes along. But trick-or-treating is very much on his mind, as he discovers a dark secret about an old house across the street: It's alive, and it's hungry!

Since it's designed for a younger demographic, it's hard to complain about a mildly funny comedy that leaves me flat in the story-and-thrills department. It amuses, in part because of some sharp moments in the script and in part because it captures a sense of suburban preteen life, when one begins to think like an adult without being required to act like one. I think the film is set in the early 1980s, with old coin-operated video games and Olivia Newton-John on the car radio, so I felt more at home watching this than expected.

I liked the banter between DJ and his pal, Chowder, likable dorks who find their friendship tested both by the house and by the appearance of the pretty-but-snobby Jenny. "Normally I don't spend time with guys like you, but a house just tried to eat me so you've got one hour," she tells them.

Despite funny lines like this, I found it hard sitting still during the big finale, when we learn the secret of the house's ornery owner, Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi). Though it's an animated film, Buscemi and the other actors doesn't just voice their roles but act them out using the same "motion-capture" process pioneered on "The Polar Express." It's an interesting technology, though the animation isn't quite there yet here. All the characters seem to have influenza and severe dental issues, and move stiffly and unnaturally at times.

The big problem is the story; it's basically the title premise and some build-up with patchy logic. Adults don't believe anything is wrong until they find themselves on the wrong side of the welcome mat, yet their disappearances seem to pass without notice. Much of the action occurs either on a quiet street and in a vacant lot, where no one seems to notice the screaming, explosions and other activity. Normally I'd be concerned about a homicidal house on the rampage, but it seems this Mayville place may have bigger problems not discussed in the script.

I don't think pre-teens will enjoy "Monster House" that much; I don't expect they'll identify with the characters. Smaller children will probably enjoy the wild visuals, and adults will find some humor in lines that fly over the heads of the small fry.

What really annoyed me about this film was that it was so unrealistic. This probably sounds like a stupid accusation: it's an animated movie about a monster house, but still there were some things in it that spoilt the whole thing for me. Such as: a house exploded and nobody seemed to notice or care, the only police that were involved went missing and nobody came looking for them, a house got up and walked around and nobody seemed to notice it or the path of destruction it left behind, a man fell unconscious on top of a boy and the poor kid wasn't told anything by the people in the ambulance about whether he was okay or not (wouldn't he need to get a treatment for shock or something!? He was under the impression that he'd murdered someone! How come no police were informed?)and anyone who was supposedly eaten by the house wasn't looked for, you get the gist. I didn't expect this list to be quite so long, but when you look at the entire film logically I didn't even see any cars on the street just when the monster house is stomping across the road, how convenient. In fact there hardly seemed to be any cars on the road, but maybe i'm just getting paranoid that can't be too unusual. Oh and whilst I'm complaining why on earth did Nebbercracker have dynamite in his home!?

On a more positive note the characters were interesting, especially Nebbercracker. I could tell that he clearly had some sort of motive, when you saw the look on his face you knew everything he was feeling. I certainly began to develop hunches. Yet he still managed to be truly creepy. As a friend once said to me: if a boy is spying on the old man across the street it's called paranoia, if the old man is spying on a boy across the street it's called something else. As for the 3 main characters I liked DJ the most. He seemed much smarter than his friend and had a fair amount of common sense which was good because I absolutely hated Chowder. He got on my nerves big time for not being a very good friend and for being incredibly stupid at times. He'd seen all the signs that the house was dangerous but as soon as the owner's gone he happily jumps all over it's lawn, if it's a monster house surely it doesn't matter who's there or not. As for Jenny I thought she was okay, she certainly brought a lot of sense and planning into their attack but didn't seem to have much else to her other than being pretty. I thought Constance was a very misunderstood character portrayed brilliantly by the animation and script, I felt sorry for her even when she was trying to get rid of the heroes. Probably due to my dislike of Chowder...but never mind.

I saw the 3D version of Monster House, which I recommend as THE format to see the film in.

The story is pretty simple and not entirely original. But the zest for which the characters jump into your lap (figuratively and literally) makes this a fun ride through a house of horrors.

The overall animation is pretty decent, but the facial expressions are absolutely fantastic. They are so lifelike. The lack of photo realism in other features is quickly ignored as you feel at times like you are watching a real life childhood drama unfold right in front of you.

Who hasn't had a spooky house in their neighborhood that was legend? This film taps into that legend and brings to life through gleeful fun the horror that unfolds.

This continues a great bunch of surprises I have experienced this summer at the local multiplex.

Monster House looked cheaply made as far as CGI films are concerned, like they didn't want to spend the extra money creating characters in the background. Until the end, it seems as though DJ, Chowder and Jenny were the only people living in the neighborhood, which is especially odd considering the film takes place on Halloween and lacks a sense of excitement and anticipation.

No cars drive by except the cop car, no one is seen walking outside their houses until after the film's climax, and this Suburbia has the most soundproof houses ever as no one seems to notice a roaring house a few feet away causing quite a raucous. The pizza shop is also completely empty. No crowds gather when the house chases the trio, not even a "Look, Mommy! The house next door is walking!" Was everyone off on holiday? Not to mention DJ's oblivious parents that don't believe Nebbercracker harassed a young girl and swiped her trike when they were right across the street.

Even for a children's film the dialogue is just atrocious. There are so many cringe-inducing one liners. The writing all together was awful. The plot unfolds at a briskly uncomfortable pace. We don't know anything about the characters (or care) and one phone call from the apparently uninhabited haunted house points to one conclusion: it's a ghost and the kids are hellbent on solving the mystery.

After hearing Jason Lee in The Incredibles and the guy who voiced the turtle in Over the Hedge, I'm beginning to believe that it is possible to give a horrible voice-over. Every actor here has an grating voice and play even more irritating characters (Jon Heder, in particular... if any actor was far overdue to portray a mute, he's it). Far too many lines are delivered aggressively, obnoxiously or in an unsuitable tone of voice.

This should have been a modern-day, CGI Stand By Me, a coming of age tale woven into a more convoluted plot while still possessing relevance. There's no moral here, no lesson to be learned. There's a vague sense of the "Don't grow up too fast" tale but it's jettisoned too quickly to matter once the kids decide to go trick-or-treating in the end.

Ultimately, a grating movie experience that had me checking my watch and rolling my eyes constantly.

I don't really see the appeal of this movie. I enjoy a lot of cartoon movies, both geared towards kids and a wider audience, but this one just didn't seem to come together for me.

It wasn't really captivating enough for the adults in the group I saw it with. Parts of it seemed a bit too intense for small kids, and I think older kids just wouldn't care. The morality lesson of not making fun of people with unfortunate physical characteristics was tired (not that it's not a good lesson, just doesn't always make for a good movie).

Oh, and isn't this a Halloween movie? Maybe they released it now so the video would get a sales boost by having an October release.

All of this just makes this one a bit of a waste of time.

I honestly can't believe what passes for entertainment now. Death (and making fun of death), violence, sexual innuendo, adults threatening children, crudeness, alcohol abuse by minors, drug theft, dysfunctional parents, babysitter from hell, stereotypical jokes about African Americans, police and fat people, and kids sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night - yup, sure sounds like a kids movie to me - NOT!!! Add to that the dark and scary elements - a dead woman possessing and turning into a house and keeping her loving husband a prisoner inside for over 20 years, and also terrorizing an entire neighborhood - how sweet for kids. PARENTS - is this really what you want your kids to be watching - is this what you want to teach them about life?!

This movie is too scary for young kids, and i'm afraid that teens today may be living some of this movie scenario - so why rub it in their faces? As for an adult audience - you won't find it scary or amusing - just boring, contrived and predictable. And the characters are just wrong - clueless parents, ignorant police, stupid and annoying friends, nasty and manipulative babysitters, and beer drinking/womanizing boyfriends. What great material for kids - does this really sound like a children's movie to anyone? Even the computer animation and good voice work aren't enough to redeem this terrible flick. Save your money, save your time, and save your children's minds - go rent Ice Age, Monsters Inc., the Incredibles, Shrek, A Bug's Life - ANY of them are way better than this horrid film. Spielberg and Zemeckis - shame on both of you for making such a disaster and then billing it as a children's/family movie!!