Little Monsters (1989)

I was pretty disappointed to find out that this film has a rating of 6.1 as it happens to be Doug Walker's pick for the third worst movie he reviewed as the Nostalgia Critic. I really am on his side as I find this to be a terrible movie. The worst part is probably how it's for kids. This isn't meant to be kid's entertainment. This is a movie that actually has a scene where a monster rips a kid's head off. Okay, there isn't blood, but it's still pretty unpleasant! I just hate the overall negative tone of this movie. It features the main character (Fred Savage) with this dad (Daniel Stern) who is really mean to him.Bad stuff starts happening around their house and he blames it on his son. I was appalled by all the bad language in this movie. This was a PG film that seriously used the words "piss" and "shit" a lot. There's this monster played by Howie Mandel, who is so obnoxious. He pulls pranks with the main character, but most of these pranks are just plain mean. He actually replaces a kid's apple juice with his own urine and we see the kid drinking it! It's just a very gross film inappropriate for kids. There's this main villain that appears at the end with no explanation on who it is.When he's defeated, we actually see his face getting ripped off. Hard to imagine what parent would allow their kid to watch this. Some people claim that "Monsters Inc." ripped off this movie about monsters in the closet, but it doesn't really matter as "Aaaah! Real Monsters!" (released between them) also has the plot. On top of that, the sets are very ugly looking. They're building up this magic world when it's just a bunch of stairs and boxes with random sparkles thrown around. I guess if the film was rated PG-13, it wouldn't be as bad, but for me, it's an awful film. Your kids deserve better. *

After moving house and witnessing his parents' marriage crumbling in front of him, Brian (Fred Savage) investigates his brothers claims that monsters keep coming from under his bed and scaring him at night. After swapping rooms, Brian is visited by a big blue monster, and the next night Brian manages to trap him in his room using his engineering skills. The monster turns out to be hyperactive troublemaker Maurice (Howie Mandel) who befriends Brian, and shows him the wonders of the monster world under his bed, where every night, the monsters reek havoc in the homes of young children. But the mysterious monster Boy (Frank Whaley) wants Brian for himself and keep him under the bed until the sun comes up, and thus turning him into a monster.Apart from the first four Rocky films, Little Monsters was hands down the main film I watched religiously as a child, my face no further than two feet from the TV screen. I remember finding it strangely eerie amongst all the fun, and being genuinely disturbed by some scenes. Boy's henchman Snik, a giant, hunchbacked monster with large bottom teeth, really frightened me, and the scene where he breaks one of Maurice's horns always shocked me. Re-visiting the film, roughly around fifteen years later, I can see that I was right to feel unnerved.Yes, the film is certainly childish and playful, but has a surprising line of darkness flowing through it from beginning to end. From early on, where Brian finds an overturned TV in the darkness of his closet that is showing the climax of The Fly, to the finale that sees Boy's face burned off to reveal a hideous face underneath, the film often steps out of the childhood safety area. It's certainly refreshing to see, and this sort of atmosphere can only be found in the Golden Age of kiddie flicks, the 80's, where films like The Dark Crystal and The Goonies showed creepy creatures and foul-mouthed kids that the target audience could really enjoy and relate to.Not to say that Little Monsters quite matches up to the two films just mentioned - it has some annoying child characters and Maurice does become slightly tiresome - but it is certainly an imaginative, funny and exciting little film. It's sad to see another of the key child stars of the era, Fred Savage, come out of the decade and dissolve into the woodwork, similar to the likes of Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. Although his maniacal behaviour does occasionally become exhausting, Howie Mandel's performance is certainly energetic, and you can't help but love him when he drinks a bully's apple juice, only to refill it with p**s. Hardly a classic, but certainly a film I will absolutely cherish from my youth, and will enjoy revisiting once every decade or so.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

I saw..and loved..this film as a child. Now, that I have children, I got the pleasure of watching it once again through the eyes of an adult. I was disappointed in what I saw. Like most childhood films it didn't hold up to the charm and magic I felt as a small one.Though, my children love it! I felt like the story line it self was fine, but many times the story would tail off or become choppy. Howie Mandell was pretty good in the film but sometimes became annoying. There were also some crude scenes I didn;t remember seeing. I forgot how much stuff was allowed in kids films back in the day.I would suggest this movie for children over the age of 8 or so. Anything under that would probably be a little scared or you might have problems with the language or some of the gags. Like making a bully drink pee.

This movie has always been a favorite of mine . It's one I always want to see and would let my kids see . OK so maybe that might be for me too. It never gets old and always keeps you smiling. I didn't realize this move came out when it did, because it stays with you like you just seen it.I can still see parts from the movie in my head that make me laugh. My kids would love this movie. I just need o get it now. If I did get it it would be playing all the time .It's not a movie that is gonna scare kids . It's a good family film for the whole family of all ages .The move is always gonna be a favorite with me!!