So, I'm sat here, I'm bored, I don't know what to watch.
Then.....It happened......
In the corner of my eye I spotted it, a film so obscure that you can't get it on DVD over here (well you can get it on import from the US)
Little Monsters
You see, as a kid we had a guy called "The Video Man" come round to the house. He rocked up in a burgundy coloured jeep and when he swung open his boot it was loaded up with crate upon crate of VHS tapes. We paid him like £5 every 2 weeks and took about 5 tapes off of him. They weren't always the new releases but most of the time they were classics and real random films, you know the type I'm talking about, the sort that the 80's was famous for! Well one day I'm sat there probably playing on my NES (yes kids a NES, one of the greatest computer console's of all time!) and the door went. My mum opened it and there he was, a bright light shining from behind his jeep and an angelic choir started to sing heralding his arrival....or maybe it was pissing it down with rain and you could hear the local kids causing trouble but still, why let it ruin a perfect image?
Anyways, one night I picked up this, and excitedly popped it into the VHS player.
I loved it. It was funny, it was scary, it was everything a weird kid like me would want.
And then I got it on DVD.
It all came about a few years back. My missus asked me what I'd like for my birthday and being a geek like myself I just said how I'd like a few DVD's that I hadn't seen for a few years. My list consisted of...
The Wizard
Mac And Me
Little Monsters
Now you see I'm a lucky guy when it comes to certain things, and finding this woman was one of them. Not only did she get me a pile of DVD's but in the middle of the pile were these 3 classics from my childhood. Now I will talk about the other 2 some other day soon but this is all about the Fred Savage classic, Little Monsters.
So back to the beginning of our story. I couldn't decide what to do today so thought, hell I'll watch Little Monsters. Let me give you a brief idea of what it's about.
The story follows Brian, a 6th grader who's family have just moved into a new house. Pretty soon strange things start happening in the house and after being told by his brother, Eric, that there are monsters who come into the house at night, Brian decides to confront the problem. This leads to Brian trapping Maurice, the monster who's been causing all the trouble. After a few chats, Brian and Maurice become friends and Maurice starts taking Brian on scare jobs, which leads to them causing trouble to a variety of kids from his school. Pretty soon though Brian learns he's slowly turning into a monster and after Eric is kidnapped by the monsters, Brian gathers together his friends and goes into the monster world to get him back.
Sounds fun I admit and as a kid it really was. Maurice was the sort of character you fell in love with instantly, he was crude and naughty and funny and as a kid, the sort of guy you wanted to be friends with.
At 25 though? Wow this film is totally different from how I remembered it! There's swearing, piss jokes and a joke about having your head blown off by a 12 gauge shotgun!! Eyes popping out of someones head!! Monsters melting!! Masturbation jokes!! Faces melted off by light!!
Not really the sort of things you' really want your kids watching. Is it? I didn't think so. I can honestly say sitting here, at 25, I'm genuinely shocked at how adult orientated this actually is. Obviously some kids films have to have something for the adults to see so they can sit through them but this was possibly one step too far, even for me.
As always here's the trailer for you;
Even looks weird doesn't it? Now as I said, it can't be bought in the UK, only as an import but if you look hard enough, you can watch it on YouTube in it's entirety. Now though, it's time for the Vader Winks.
If I was reviewing this from memory 5 years ago, it would probably have got a good solid 4 from me. Now though? Well after sitting through it again, and realising what the hell was going on, I can only give it one score...
2 VADER WINKS!!!
Maybe a little low but I can honestly say I'm quite shocked with how adult it actually is! On a bonus note though Ben Savage, who plays Brian's cute little brother Eric, is the guy from Boy Meets World, which I loved as a kid, it was a great programme!
Even more funny though is the guy who plays Maurice. Howie Mandel is his name and it may not mean much to many of us. But to some he is actually the host of America's version of Deal or No Deal!!!! He's also a judge on America's Got Talent! Just proof that even after acting in something like this, you can still make a career in entertainment.
Unlike Fred Savage. He had the world at his feet and now.....He directs TV shows.....
Oh, and he directed Daddy Day Camp...hmmm
Such a shame.
Vader Out
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