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Monster House (film)
Encyclopedia
Monster House is a 2006 computer animated
motion capture
horror
/comedy film
produced by ImageMovers and Amblin Entertainment
, and distributed by Columbia Pictures
. Executive produced
by Robert Zemeckis
and Steven Spielberg
, this is the first time since Back to the Future Part III
that they have worked together. It is also the first time that Zemeckis and Spielberg both served as executive producers of a film. The film's characters are animated primarily utilizing performance capture
, making it the second film to use the technology so extensively, following producer Robert Zemeckis
' The Polar Express
.
) spies on his neighbor, Mr. Nebbercracker, (Steve Buscemi
), who takes any item that lands in his yard. DJ's parents (Catherine O'Hara
and Fred Willard
) leave town for the weekend for a convention, leaving him in the care of Elizabeth "Zee", (Maggie Gyllenhaal
). Charles "Chowder" (Sam Lerner
), DJ's best friend, loses his basketball on Nebbercracker's lawn. DJ tries to recover it but is caught by Nebbercracker, who rages at him before apparently suffering a heart attack and being taken away in an ambulance. That night, DJ receives phone calls from Nebbercracker's house. He enlists Chowder's help to investigate the house. DJ eavesdrops on Zee's boyfriend Bones (Jason Lee
), who tells Zee about losing his kite on Nebbercracker's lawn when he was younger. Later, Bones sees his long-lost kite in the doorway of the house, but is consumed by the house as he tries to retrieve it.
The next morning, a girl named Jenny Bennet (Spencer Locke
) is on the street selling Halloween chocolates. DJ and Chowder see her going to Nebbercracker's house, and they rush out to warn her, managing to catch her before she is eaten by the house. Jenny decides to call for the police, but when police officers Landers and Lester (Kevin James
and Nick Cannon
) arrive, they do not believe their story, as the house does not react to the kids' teasing while the cops are there.
The trio seek advice from Reginald "Skull" Skulinski (Jon Heder
), a strange video-game addict working in a pizza parlor who is claimed to be an expert on killing monsters. They learn that the house is a "domus mactabilis" (Latin for "deadly home"); a monstrous being created when a human soul merges with a structure. They assume the house is inhabited by Nebbercracker's soul. The only way to kill the house is to destroy its heart; its source of life. They conclude that the heart must be the fireplace, as DJ realizes that the chimney has been smoking since Nebbercracker died. Chowder provides a dummy
filled with drugs that should cause the house to sleep long enough for them to douse the furnace. The plan almost succeeds, but Officers Landers and Lester (Kevin James and Nick Cannon
) thwart it. Landers discovers the cold medicine inside the dummy, which Chowder took from his father's pharmacy, and arrest them. The cops place the trio in the police car while they examine the house. The house eats Landers, Lester, and the car. DJ, Chowder, and Jenny escape the car but are trapped in the house.
The house falls asleep and they begin exploring. They fall into the basement and find a locked cage that DJ opens with a key he found on Nebbercracker's lawn. They find the body of Constance the Giantess (Kathleen Turner
), Nebbercracker's wife, covered in cement. The house realizes they are inside and begins attacking them. DJ, Chowder, and Jenny force the house to vomit them outside by grabbing onto its uvula
. The trio are surprised when Nebbercracker arrives home alive, but with his arm in a sling, revealing that the house is possessed by Constance. Nebbercracker reveals that as a young man he met Constance, who was an unwilling member of a circus sideshow, and fell in love with her despite her obesity
. After helping her escape, she and Nebbercracker began building the house. One Halloween, as children tormented her due to her size, Constance lost her footing and fell to her death in the foundations of the house, with the cement burying her body. Nebbercracker finished the house following Constance's death, knowing it was what she would have wanted. Aware that Constance's vengeful spirit made the house come alive, Nebbercracker tried to keep people away by pretending to be a child-hating old man.
DJ tells Nebbercracker it is time to let Constance go, but she overhears. Constance breaks free from the house's foundation and chases the group to a nearby construction site. Nebbercracker attempts to convince Constance that she should die while holding a stick of dynamite, but Constance refuses. As she tries to eat him, Chowder fights the house off with a back hoe, causing her to fall into a pit. DJ is given the dynamite, and he and Jenny climb to the top of a crane while Chowder distracts Constance. DJ throws the dynamite into the chimney, destroying the house and Constance. The trio see Nebbercracker with Constance's spirit for the last time before she fades away. DJ apologizes to Nebbercracker for the loss of his house and wife, but Nebbercracker thanks DJ for freeing him and Constance after 45 years of being trapped. That night, children in their Halloween costumes are lined up at the site of Nebbercracker's house, where DJ, Chowder, and Jenny help him return all of the toys to their owners. Jenny's parents pick her up and DJ and Chowder decide to go out trick-or-treating, which they had previously thought they were too old for.
As the credits roll, those who were eaten in the house emerge from the basement.
.
This process was pioneered by Robert Zemeckis
on his film The Polar Express
, also produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks
.
had announced that they were contributing a song entitled "The House is Alive" to the movie but is not included. The song was rumored to appear on their album Libertad, but it was not included. Fountains of Wayne
wrote a song entitled "Monster House" for the movie which also was not used, but it may appear in their next album or the movie soundtrack album.
The score utilizes a large orchestra, as well as piano, percussions, electronic sampled sounds, and the electronic instrument known as the theremin
.
The Japanese pop-rock band Ikimono Gakari sung the theme song "Seishun no Tobira" in the Japan version of the film.
, a stereoscopic
3-D
version of the film was created and had a limited special release in digital 3-D stereo along with the "flat" version. While The Polar Express was produced for the 3-D IMAX
70mm giant film format, Monster House was released in approximately 200 theaters equipped for new REAL D Cinema
digital 3-D stereoscopic projection. The process was not based on film, but was purely digital. Since the original source material was "built" in virtual 3-D, it created a very rich stereoscopic environment. For the film's release, the studio nicknamed it Imageworks 3D.
The Rotten Tomatoes
film-critics aggregate site gave the film 74% positive reviews. Michael Medved
called it "ingenious" and "slick, clever [and] funny" while also cautioning parents about letting small children see it due to its scary and intense nature, adding that a "PG-13 rating
" would have been more appropriate than its "PG rating." Dissenting critics included Frank Lovece
of Film Journal International
, who praised director Gil Kenan as "a talent to watch" but berated the "internal logic [that] keeps changing.... DJ's parents are away, and the house doesn't turn monstrous in front of his teenage babysitter, Zee. But it does turn monstrous in front of her boyfriend, Bones. It doesn't turn monstrous in front of the town's two cops until, in another scene, it does."
The American Film Institute
nominated Monster House for its Top 10 Animated Films list.
was developed by A2M
and published by THQ
.
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
/comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
produced by ImageMovers and Amblin Entertainment
Amblin Entertainment
Amblin Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1981. Amblin is only a production company, and has never distributed its own movies, nor has it fully financed its...
, and distributed by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. Executive produced
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
by Robert Zemeckis
Robert Zemeckis
Robert Lee Zemeckis is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future film series, as well as the Academy Award-winning live-action/animation epic Who Framed Roger Rabbit ,...
and Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, this is the first time since Back to the Future Part III
Back to the Future Part III
Back to the Future Part III is a 1990 American science fiction comedy Western film. It is the third installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson. The film...
that they have worked together. It is also the first time that Zemeckis and Spielberg both served as executive producers of a film. The film's characters are animated primarily utilizing performance capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
, making it the second film to use the technology so extensively, following producer Robert Zemeckis
Robert Zemeckis
Robert Lee Zemeckis is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future film series, as well as the Academy Award-winning live-action/animation epic Who Framed Roger Rabbit ,...
' The Polar Express
The Polar Express (film)
The Polar Express is a 2004 motion capture computer-animated film based on the children's book of the same title by Chris Van Allsburg. Written, produced, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, the human characters in the film were animated using live action performance capture technique, with the...
.
Plot
12-year-old (male) DJ Walters (Mitchel MussoMitchel Musso
Mitchel Tate Musso is an American actor, singer-songwriter and musician. Musso is best known for his three Disney Channel roles as Oliver Oken in the Disney Channel sitcom, Hannah Montana, Jeremy Johnson in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb and his role as King Brady in the...
) spies on his neighbor, Mr. Nebbercracker, (Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
), who takes any item that lands in his yard. DJ's parents (Catherine O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara is a Canadian-American actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV, and her roles in the films After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also in the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest...
and Fred Willard
Fred Willard
Fred Willard is an American actor, comedian, and voice over actor, best known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as...
) leave town for the weekend for a convention, leaving him in the care of Elizabeth "Zee", (Maggie Gyllenhaal
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Margaret Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal born November 16, 1977) is an American actress. She is the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She made her screen debut when she began to appear in her father's films...
). Charles "Chowder" (Sam Lerner
Sam Lerner
Sam Lerner is an American teen actor, who made his major debut as the role of Chowder in the 2006 Oscar-nominated computer-animated film, Monster House. Lerner also played a lead role in the feature film Envy as the son of Ben Stiller and Rachel Weisz...
), DJ's best friend, loses his basketball on Nebbercracker's lawn. DJ tries to recover it but is caught by Nebbercracker, who rages at him before apparently suffering a heart attack and being taken away in an ambulance. That night, DJ receives phone calls from Nebbercracker's house. He enlists Chowder's help to investigate the house. DJ eavesdrops on Zee's boyfriend Bones (Jason Lee
Jason Lee (actor)
Jason Michael Lee is an American actor and skateboarder known for his role as the title character on the NBC television series My Name is Earl, his portrayal of Syndrome in the film The Incredibles, his role as Dave Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and his work with director Kevin...
), who tells Zee about losing his kite on Nebbercracker's lawn when he was younger. Later, Bones sees his long-lost kite in the doorway of the house, but is consumed by the house as he tries to retrieve it.
The next morning, a girl named Jenny Bennet (Spencer Locke
Spencer Locke
Spencer Locke is an American actress who has had various appearances as "Kylie" on ABC's Cougar Town.-Life and career:...
) is on the street selling Halloween chocolates. DJ and Chowder see her going to Nebbercracker's house, and they rush out to warn her, managing to catch her before she is eaten by the house. Jenny decides to call for the police, but when police officers Landers and Lester (Kevin James
Kevin James
Kevin James is an American playwrite, actor, writer, and producer. He is widely known for playing Doug Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens. He is also known for his lead roles in the comedy films I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Grown Ups, The Dilemma, and...
and Nick Cannon
Nick Cannon
Nicholas Scott "Nick" Cannon is an American actor, comedian, rapper, entrepreneur, record producer, radio, and television personality. On television, Cannon began as a teenage sketch comedian on All That before going on to host The Nick Cannon Show, Wild 'N Out, and America's Got Talent...
) arrive, they do not believe their story, as the house does not react to the kids' teasing while the cops are there.
The trio seek advice from Reginald "Skull" Skulinski (Jon Heder
Jon Heder
Jonathan Joseph "Jon" Heder is an American screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His feature film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite...
), a strange video-game addict working in a pizza parlor who is claimed to be an expert on killing monsters. They learn that the house is a "domus mactabilis" (Latin for "deadly home"); a monstrous being created when a human soul merges with a structure. They assume the house is inhabited by Nebbercracker's soul. The only way to kill the house is to destroy its heart; its source of life. They conclude that the heart must be the fireplace, as DJ realizes that the chimney has been smoking since Nebbercracker died. Chowder provides a dummy
Dummy
Dummy may refer to:*Military dummy:**dummy round—a cartridge that is inert, i.e. contains neither primer nor gunpowder**decoy—fake military equipment intended to deceive the enemy...
filled with drugs that should cause the house to sleep long enough for them to douse the furnace. The plan almost succeeds, but Officers Landers and Lester (Kevin James and Nick Cannon
Nick Cannon
Nicholas Scott "Nick" Cannon is an American actor, comedian, rapper, entrepreneur, record producer, radio, and television personality. On television, Cannon began as a teenage sketch comedian on All That before going on to host The Nick Cannon Show, Wild 'N Out, and America's Got Talent...
) thwart it. Landers discovers the cold medicine inside the dummy, which Chowder took from his father's pharmacy, and arrest them. The cops place the trio in the police car while they examine the house. The house eats Landers, Lester, and the car. DJ, Chowder, and Jenny escape the car but are trapped in the house.
The house falls asleep and they begin exploring. They fall into the basement and find a locked cage that DJ opens with a key he found on Nebbercracker's lawn. They find the body of Constance the Giantess (Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner
Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...
), Nebbercracker's wife, covered in cement. The house realizes they are inside and begins attacking them. DJ, Chowder, and Jenny force the house to vomit them outside by grabbing onto its uvula
Uvula
The palatine uvula, usually referred to as simply the uvula , is the conic projection from the posterior edge of the middle of the soft palate, composed of connective tissue containing a number of racemose glands, and some muscular fibers .-Function in language:The uvula plays a role in the...
. The trio are surprised when Nebbercracker arrives home alive, but with his arm in a sling, revealing that the house is possessed by Constance. Nebbercracker reveals that as a young man he met Constance, who was an unwilling member of a circus sideshow, and fell in love with her despite her obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
. After helping her escape, she and Nebbercracker began building the house. One Halloween, as children tormented her due to her size, Constance lost her footing and fell to her death in the foundations of the house, with the cement burying her body. Nebbercracker finished the house following Constance's death, knowing it was what she would have wanted. Aware that Constance's vengeful spirit made the house come alive, Nebbercracker tried to keep people away by pretending to be a child-hating old man.
DJ tells Nebbercracker it is time to let Constance go, but she overhears. Constance breaks free from the house's foundation and chases the group to a nearby construction site. Nebbercracker attempts to convince Constance that she should die while holding a stick of dynamite, but Constance refuses. As she tries to eat him, Chowder fights the house off with a back hoe, causing her to fall into a pit. DJ is given the dynamite, and he and Jenny climb to the top of a crane while Chowder distracts Constance. DJ throws the dynamite into the chimney, destroying the house and Constance. The trio see Nebbercracker with Constance's spirit for the last time before she fades away. DJ apologizes to Nebbercracker for the loss of his house and wife, but Nebbercracker thanks DJ for freeing him and Constance after 45 years of being trapped. That night, children in their Halloween costumes are lined up at the site of Nebbercracker's house, where DJ, Chowder, and Jenny help him return all of the toys to their owners. Jenny's parents pick her up and DJ and Chowder decide to go out trick-or-treating, which they had previously thought they were too old for.
As the credits roll, those who were eaten in the house emerge from the basement.
Cast
- Mitchel MussoMitchel MussoMitchel Tate Musso is an American actor, singer-songwriter and musician. Musso is best known for his three Disney Channel roles as Oliver Oken in the Disney Channel sitcom, Hannah Montana, Jeremy Johnson in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb and his role as King Brady in the...
as DJ Walters, a 12 year old boy, who is known for spying on Nebbercracker through a telescope. He acts, and is treated, like a younger boy and is often thought crazy. - Sam LernerSam LernerSam Lerner is an American teen actor, who made his major debut as the role of Chowder in the 2006 Oscar-nominated computer-animated film, Monster House. Lerner also played a lead role in the feature film Envy as the son of Ben Stiller and Rachel Weisz...
as Charles "Chowder", DJ's best friend. He has a habit of acting slightly strange and immature throughout the film and seems to have an unstable home life. - Spencer LockeSpencer LockeSpencer Locke is an American actress who has had various appearances as "Kylie" on ABC's Cougar Town.-Life and career:...
as Jennifer "Jenny" Bennett, an intelligent 13 year old girl who attends an all-girls school named Westbook Prep. Both DJ and Chowder have crushes on her, although she only returns DJ's affections. - Steve BuscemiSteve BuscemiSteven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
as Horace Nebbercracker, an old man and former "demolition squad" expert who lives across the street from DJ. He is known for stealing anything that lands on his lawn. - Maggie GyllenhaalMaggie GyllenhaalMargaret Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal born November 16, 1977) is an American actress. She is the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She made her screen debut when she began to appear in her father's films...
as Elizabeth "Zee", DJ's rude and sarcastic teenage babysitter. Zee pretends to be a sweet girl who likes listening to songs by Olivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
for parents, when she's really that of a punk or GothicGoth subcultureThe goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
look, and a huge fan of a band called 'SkullxBones'. - Catherine O'HaraCatherine O'HaraCatherine Anne O'Hara is a Canadian-American actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV, and her roles in the films After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also in the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest...
and Fred WillardFred WillardFred Willard is an American actor, comedian, and voice over actor, best known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as...
as Mr. and Mrs. Walters, DJ's parents. - Jason LeeJason Lee (actor)Jason Michael Lee is an American actor and skateboarder known for his role as the title character on the NBC television series My Name is Earl, his portrayal of Syndrome in the film The Incredibles, his role as Dave Seville in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films, and his work with director Kevin...
as Bones, Zee's boyfriend. He takes great pleasure in torturing DJ, and according to Zee, is in a band. - Jon HederJon HederJonathan Joseph "Jon" Heder is an American screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His feature film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite...
as Reginald "Skull" Skulinski, a videogame-crazed comic geek who once played on an arcade game for 4 days on one quarter, a gallon of chocolate milk and an adult diaperAdult diaperAn adult diaper is a diaper made to be worn by a person with a body larger than that of an infant or toddler. Diapers become necessary for adults with various conditions, such as incontinence, mobility impairment, or dementia...
. - Kevin JamesKevin JamesKevin James is an American playwrite, actor, writer, and producer. He is widely known for playing Doug Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens. He is also known for his lead roles in the comedy films I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Grown Ups, The Dilemma, and...
and Nick CannonNick CannonNicholas Scott "Nick" Cannon is an American actor, comedian, rapper, entrepreneur, record producer, radio, and television personality. On television, Cannon began as a teenage sketch comedian on All That before going on to host The Nick Cannon Show, Wild 'N Out, and America's Got Talent...
as Officers Landers and Lester. Landers is an experienced cop with an easygoing, joking manner while Lester is a rookie on his first week. - Kathleen TurnerKathleen TurnerMary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...
as Constance the Giantess/Mrs. Nebbercracker, an enormous woman who featured in a circus's freak show in the 1950s. Throughout her life, children ridiculed Constance because of her size, causing her to develop an intense hatred for children and everyone.
Performance capture
The film was made in performance capture, which the actors/actresses did all the movement by themselves, wearing wet suits, with sensors glued to their bodies. The movement was then transferred into a computer, and animation took place around their bodies. All of the props were made out of a wire material to also be animated. Although the background was completely animated in CGIComputer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
.
This process was pioneered by Robert Zemeckis
Robert Zemeckis
Robert Lee Zemeckis is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future film series, as well as the Academy Award-winning live-action/animation epic Who Framed Roger Rabbit ,...
on his film The Polar Express
The Polar Express (film)
The Polar Express is a 2004 motion capture computer-animated film based on the children's book of the same title by Chris Van Allsburg. Written, produced, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, the human characters in the film were animated using live action performance capture technique, with the...
, also produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks, Inc. is a visual effects and character animation company headquartered in Culver City, California, USA. SPI is a division of Sony Pictures Digital Productions, which oversees the digital production and online entertainment assets of Sony Pictures Entertainment.The company...
.
Music
"Halloween" by Siouxsie and the Banshees plays over the credits. Velvet RevolverVelvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
had announced that they were contributing a song entitled "The House is Alive" to the movie but is not included. The song was rumored to appear on their album Libertad, but it was not included. Fountains of Wayne
Fountains of Wayne
Fountains of Wayne is an American power pop band that formed in New York City in 1996. The band consists of members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter and Brian Young.-Early years:...
wrote a song entitled "Monster House" for the movie which also was not used, but it may appear in their next album or the movie soundtrack album.
The score utilizes a large orchestra, as well as piano, percussions, electronic sampled sounds, and the electronic instrument known as the theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
.
The Japanese pop-rock band Ikimono Gakari sung the theme song "Seishun no Tobira" in the Japan version of the film.
Digital 3-D version
As with The Polar ExpressThe Polar Express (film)
The Polar Express is a 2004 motion capture computer-animated film based on the children's book of the same title by Chris Van Allsburg. Written, produced, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, the human characters in the film were animated using live action performance capture technique, with the...
, a stereoscopic
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
3-D
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
version of the film was created and had a limited special release in digital 3-D stereo along with the "flat" version. While The Polar Express was produced for the 3-D IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
70mm giant film format, Monster House was released in approximately 200 theaters equipped for new REAL D Cinema
Real D Cinema
RealD Cinema is a digital stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD Inc. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3-D films in theatres.-Technology:...
digital 3-D stereoscopic projection. The process was not based on film, but was purely digital. Since the original source material was "built" in virtual 3-D, it created a very rich stereoscopic environment. For the film's release, the studio nicknamed it Imageworks 3D.
Reception
The film grossed $73,661,010 in the United States and Canada, and its worldwide gross is $140,175,006.The Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
film-critics aggregate site gave the film 74% positive reviews. Michael Medved
Michael Medved
Michael Medved is an American radio host, author, political commentator and film critic. His Seattle, Washington-based nationally syndicated talk show, The Michael Medved Show, airs throughout the U.S...
called it "ingenious" and "slick, clever [and] funny" while also cautioning parents about letting small children see it due to its scary and intense nature, adding that a "PG-13 rating
MPAA film rating system
The Motion Picture Association of America's film-rating system is used in the U.S. and its territories to rate a film's thematic and content suitability for certain audiences. The MPAA system applies only to motion pictures that are submitted for rating. Other media may be rated by other entities...
" would have been more appropriate than its "PG rating." Dissenting critics included Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece is an American journalist, author, comedy performer and comic book writer. He was additionally one of the first professional Web journalists, becoming an editor of a Silicon Alley start-up in 1996....
of Film Journal International
Film Journal International
Film Journal International is a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It is a sister publication of Adweek, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and other periodicals....
, who praised director Gil Kenan as "a talent to watch" but berated the "internal logic [that] keeps changing.... DJ's parents are away, and the house doesn't turn monstrous in front of his teenage babysitter, Zee. But it does turn monstrous in front of her boyfriend, Bones. It doesn't turn monstrous in front of the town's two cops until, in another scene, it does."
The American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
nominated Monster House for its Top 10 Animated Films list.
Video game
A tie-in Monster House video gameMonster House (video game)
Monster House is an adventure video game released in 2006 by A2M. The game is based on the film of the same name.Although the game was marketed toward the same pre-teen audience as the accompanying film, its gameplay was highly reminiscent of Resident Evil 4; the game was generally higher-quality...
was developed by A2M
Artificial Mind and Movement
Behaviour Interactive [formerly Artificial Mind and Movement ], founded in 1992 in Québec City, Québec as Megatoon Entertainment Group, is the largest independent game development studio in Canada, specializing in the production of 2D and 3D action/adventure games for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3,...
and published by THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
.