In the dense 80s horror filmography, the following certainly stands out. School of monsters (The Monster Squad), a teen comedy/horror directed by Fred Dekker (Terror size(e) in 1987.
Much loved by fans of the horror genre who grew up at that time, School of monsters is a cult film with which to take a lighthearted and enjoyable dip into the past.
The story of School of monsters sees some of Universal's creatures (Count Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Black Lagoon Monster) materialize in the 20th century to gain possession of an ancient and powerful amulet. Countering them will be a group of horror-loving kids who are experts in killing supernatural creatures. The little humans will join forces to prevent Count Dracula from gaining possession of the amulet and using it as a means to bring evil to earth.
School of Monsters is an entertaining film, certainly indebted to such films as The Goonies (1985) by Richard Donner and reflects the childhood or adolescence of fans of the horror genre. In its naivete (in the script) and inconsistencies (typical of the era) it knows how to be engaging, thanks also to appreciable doses of humor and enjoyable special effects (Stan Winston). The film manages to entertain for its entire duration, still proving to be an unforgettable cult film of the 1980s.
Well realized then are also the monsters (the Lagoon Monster, the Mummy, Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula, and the Werewolf), characterized by neat costumes and makeup.
The director also co-wrote the screenplay with Shane Black. In the cast: André Gower, Robby Kiger, Stephen Macht, Duncan Regehr, Tom Noonan,
Jack Gwillim and Brent Chalem.
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Sinister Film, distributed by CG Entertainment, enriches its catalog ("Art-house Horror" series) for the digital home video market by bringing School of Monsters finally on DVD in a not-to-be-missed remastered edition that, however, has some shortcomings in the audio (Italian) but not the video. The extras, on the other hand, are limited only to a photo gallery in which the film's original posters are not missing.
Format: DVD
Label: Sinister Film
Video: 2.35:1
Audio: Dolby Digital dual mono Italian and English
N. Discs: 1
Subtitles: Italian
Extra: photo gallery
