History Film / TheMonsterSquad

* BodyHorror: Wolfman [[spoiler: after he's blown apart by dynamite.]] He is still ''[[NightmareFuel awake and aware,]]'' though he eventually [[PullingThemselvesTogether pulls himself together...]] there's [[SilverBullet only one way to kill a werewolf after all.]]

* TheCavalry: Not the Army; they arrive too late. But [[spoiler: Van Helsing shows up just in time.]]

* PeopleInRubberSuits: Well done, thanks to Stan Winston. Many people consider the costume and effects for the Gillman in this film to be the best representation of the [[Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon Gill Man]] in film history, despite the fact that he gets very little screen time.

The film was an out-of-print classic for a long time, but was given a new spiffy DVD release in time for its twentieth anniversary (with a BluRay release two years later). The makeup and special effects work on this film is a lesser-known effort of the late StanWinston (who is better known for the frighteningly realistic puppets from classics as the ''{{Terminator}}'' and ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' films).

* EmbarassingNickname: Most of the characters refer to Horace as "Fat Kid".

* AllGermansAreNazis: Teased with the Scary German Guy, but he turns out to be a concentration camp survivor. So apparently Germans are Nazis except the Jewish ones.

-->'''Patrick:''' He's not a virgin, stupid!\\

'''Patrick:''' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Aww, man! Fat kid farted!]]\\

* DangerTakesABackSeat: The man who becomes the Werewolf causes an incident at the police station when he tries to get the cops to lock him up, and when he grabs an officer's gun he's shot several times and apparently dies. He's taken away in an ambulance and transforms during the ride, grabbing the driver from behind and killing him.

* FanService: The girl in the window (and how!)

* GroinAttack: The kids have an argumet about whether the Wolfman has "nards." A groin attack reveals the truth of the hypothesis.

* StabTheSalad: "Children, your time is almost up..." ''* brandishes butcher knife* '' "...It's your last chance for more pie!"

* VirginPower: Invoked (with Phoebe) and Subverted to hell and gone with Patrick's sister ("DOESN'T COUNT?!")
* WolfMan

** [[NapoleonDynamite Uncle Rico]] is the WolfMan in human form!

* TheFatGuy: Horace.

->''"Wolfman's got nards!"''\\
-- [[strike:Fat Kid]] '''[[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs Horace]]'''

* CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon: Well, his AlternateCompanyEquivalent anyway. Often referred to as "the Gillman".

* PeopleInRubberSuits: Well done, thanks to Stan Winston. Many people consider the costume and effects for the Gillman in this film to be the best representation of the CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon in film history, despite the fact that he gets very little screen time.

-- [[strike:Fat Kid]] '''[[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs Horace]]'''

'''''The Monster Squad''''' is a 1987 film directed by Fred Dekker and written by Shane Black. The film follows the exploits of a group of [[GenreSavvy genre-savvy]] kids who seek to stop {{Dracula}} -- and a host of other infamous monsters -- from finding a mystical amulet and bringing about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

The film was an out-of-print classic for a long time, but was given a new spiffy DVD release in time for its twentieth anniversary (with a BluRay release two years later). The makeup and special effects work on this film is a lesser-known effort of the late StanWinston (who is better known for the frighteningly realistic puppets from classics as the ''{{Terminator}}'' and ''Film/JurassicPark'' films).

* BattleAura: Dracula displays one before he lays waste to the local cops.

** ''What about the car??''

-->'''Dracula''': Give me the amulet, ''[[PrecisionFStrike you bitch!]]''
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Scary German Guy.

* GilliganCut: "Two-thousand year old dead guys do not get up and walk away by themselves!" Cut to the two-thousand year old dead guy, walking away by himself.

* HeyItsThatGuy:

** [[TheSopranos Richie Aprile]] is the pilot who transports Dracula.

* KillTheCutie: The peasant girl in the opening scene.

* MoodWhiplash: A major problem with the film is that it doesn't really know if it wants to be a a tongue-in-cheek MonsterMash or a family friendly adventure film with little horror-flavor thrown in. This leads into awkward moments where the [[MoodDissonance level of gore/body count doesn't really match with the general mood of the scene]] and funny moments are followed by serious ones with little to none time catch breath in between.

** The Army isn't entirely useless, however, seeing as they get up and ready for battle with monsters on the word of a six-year-old kid. They arrive after the battle's already gone down, granted, but you have to applaud the effort.

* SeekingSanctuary: The heroes try to seek refuge in a church...except it's locked.

* TheSoCalledCoward: "Fat Kid" Horace guns down the Gill Man while his former bullies cower and watch.

* TheSlowWalk: Played deadly straight towards the end of the film, when Dracula brutally murders a bunch of cops without breaking his stride towards Phoebe and the amulet.

* FridgeBrilliance: Scary German Guy mentions how he knows about real monsters. Then as he closes the door, you can see a concentration camp tattoo on his forearm, which many kids would not recognize, but parents would.

* BodyHorror: TheWolfman [[spoiler: after he's blown apart by dynamite.]] He is still ''[[NightmareFuel awake and aware,]]'' though he eventually [[PullingThemselvesTogether pulls himself together...]] there's [[SilverBullet only one way to kill a werewolf after all.]]

The film was an out-of-print classic for a long time, but was given a new spiffy DVD release in time for its twentieth anniversary (with a BluRay release two years later). The makeup and special effects work on this film is a lesser-known effort of the late StanWinston (who is better known for the frighteningly realistic puppets from classics as the ''{{Terminator}}'' and ''JurassicPark'' films).

* ClassicalMovieVampire

* ThisWasHisTrueForm

* SuperStrength: The titular Monsters (save for Film/TheMummy). Each one of them gets a scene where they demonstrate it. Curiously, it seems to be the [[LawyerFriendlyCameo Gillman's]] only power (aside from his NightmareFace), as he [[spoiler: gets gunned down pretty easily]].

* TheUndead: DemBones, FrankensteinsMonster, TheMummy, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampires.]]

** Sean and Phoebe's mother is [[LethalWeapon Dr. Stephanie Woods]] and also has [[TheGoonies two other sons]].

* MoodWhiplash: A major problem with the film is that it doesn't really know if it wants to be a a tongue-in-cheek MonsterMash or a family friendly adventure film with little horror-flavor thrown in. This leads into awkward moments where the [[MoodDissonance level of gore/body count doesn't really match with the general mood of the scene]] and funny moments are followed by serious ones with little to none time catch breath in between. Then again, YourMilageMayVary on whether or not it actually hinders the movie.