Monster House is one of those movies from your childhood that lives in you like a particularly bad nightmare: you vaguely remember bits and pieces but the fear it elicited is crystal clear. Prior to rewatching the film, I assumed this review would consist of making fun of the fact that Monster House is viscerally terrifying for a supposed children’s movie (don’t get me wrong, it still is). In reality, watching it back as an adult led me to appreciate the depth of its message, and its novelty as a twist on a very old genre.
The imaginativeness of Monster House comes from using the age-old trope of a haunted house and the common childhood experience of a scary neighbour to create a scenario where a house becomes the literal manifestation of the spirit that haunts it. As an adult, I can appreciate the creativity of this framing since it allowed for so many interesting house/human hybrid ideas to be animated. But as a child, it made me scared of walking in front of any house out of the fear that I’d get eaten. Hopefully that’s not just me.
The film really shines in its narrative. Although nothing groundbreaking, having the archetypal “angry old man” Nebbercracker turn out to be putting up an act to save children from his own house is legitimately a great subversion. Constance’s (the spirit haunting the house) backstory of being in a freak show, and later dying whilst chasing away children making fun of her weight may be quite a lot for most children to handle; but the depth of the film’s message essentially relies on this, which is what separates this movie from other less interesting children’s entertainment. Needing to let go of pain and grudges in order to move on and stop hurting people yourself is frankly a beautiful idea to end the film with, even if most of the audience of children would have missed it.
Monster House is definitely a film you should rewatch: not only to relive the simpler days of being scared of haunted houses instead of academic referencing, but also because it surprisingly has a lot of heart. The animation is hit or miss (personally not a huge fan), but the performances are great, and above all, the overarching theme is captivating even as an adult. Just make sure you don’t walk onto someone else’s lawn afterwards.
“Haunted House” by Trostle is licensed under CC BY 2.0.