Little Monsters (1989)

Absolutely Fantastic

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

If I could, I would give this movie a - 23365416274176246712376246871267127562751765176381278364867.2The best part of this movie is that the guy sleeping in the lawn chair in Malibu, California (which his parents didn't know where it was?) was Not Bill Murray. Thank God.This is best troll movie ever. What the hell just happened?Out of the 7 of us watching (b/w ages 17-19) 1 one of us shook herself into a fever, 2 of them barely survived their second viewing, the other 4 of us are in physical pain. (none of this is exaggerated.)This movie of 1 hr and 42 minutes took us 3 freaking hours (we started @ 8, and stopped @ 11:11) to finish because we kept pausing to scream at the screen.In conclusion, if you watch this movie, you will die.

I remember when this movie first came out. Snooty critics ripped it to shreds but the kids loved it. Two critically acclaimed critics did a scathing review of the movie but the movie still had its fan base. Besides who cares about the wayward opinions of the same high brow Beavis and Butthead critics that gave Speed 2: Booze Control two thumbs up? Exactly, now lets move on.Story: Eric Stevenson(Fred Savage) moves into a different state and has a hard time adjusting there. He later on befriends a mischievous monster named Maurice(Howie Mandell) that is easily harmed by bright lights. Eric and Maurice become friends and they visit Maurice underworld home. Later on Eric's brother is kidnapped by the same creature that bullies Maurice as well as the ruler of that underworld and now has to rely on the help of Maurice as well as a friend and a former bully to help him retrieve his brother.This movie brings back a lot of memories and after seeing it recently it still holds well after all these years. Howie Mandell is hilarious as the wise-cracking but fun-loving Maurice. Fred Savage as well as the rest of the cast is good also. I love the imagination of the writers also. Sure the movie has some dark undertones but as I kid I loved it and as an adult I still love it. The sets are creative down to the monsters. Now for the people that are comparing Maurice to Beetlejuice, there is a stark contrast there: Maurice is a likable doofus with a heart that sometimes takes his antics to far(like using hands to chew up an unlucky person's homework). Beetlejuice, on the other hand is an unlikable creep that put his ulterior motives before anything else. There is a very big difference in character there.Little Monsters is one of those movies that defined childhood memories of the 80s. You cant mention great movies that defined the 80s without mentioning Little Monsters. That's like talking about movies that defined the 90s without mentioning T2: Judgment Day. Its impossible. Plus Little Monsters is not only creative and unique but its also fun to watch something that is absent from a lot of movies nowadays. You remember the word "fun" right? Its what movies used to be before they became mundane and extremely repetitive. I recommend this movie to anybody that is a fan of 80s movies and I also dare you to not get choked up in the final scene where Maurice says goodbye to Eric. You look at me and tell me that scene doesn't move you to tears. Ahh, the memories. Movie like this are the reason why people always go back to the 80s and after the recent crop of garbage out now who can blame them?

An astounding film like this should be in the top fantasy and family lists, and I'm shocked that it isn't. I first saw it actually about a year ago, but completely forgot about it after that until about a month ago. Since then I've probably watched it 7 or 8 times. It just plunges you into believing in magic. Kids movies are NOT made like this today...and I wasn't even alive in the 80's. But this movie has more substance, more of a story and reason to being made. It starts off showing what kind of life Brian has, but quickly picks up when Maurice enters the scene. And it all turns to fun and games. But just as quickly it turns serious, but I won't give that away. The sets are amazing, the acting is great, the costumes are fun and wild looking. The swearing caught me off guard, but it's nothing kids haven't heard already. Either this movie was rated by another system or the MPAA just overlooked it since it did have such a small release...sadly. This film has to be the most underrated film I have ever wathced...It has quickly become one of my favorites and probably will always be...If you're a fan of quality movies then watch this one because it will blow you away.

Being a kid is always going to be tough. Mischief and mayhem is all normal. At night they are afraid to sleep because of monsters. An early stage of common childhood fears. But what if the monsters they encounter are childish themselves? Yes, they are scary, that doesn't mean they are also mean. That's where Brian and his brother Eric are about to find out in this movie, "Little Monsters". It stars "The Wonder Years'" Fred Savage, and his brother, future "Boy Meets World" star, Ben. Fred plays Brian, Ben plays Eric. Brian gets blamed for the the accidents and mischief in the family home. He insists there's a monster who did it. His father(Daniel Stern) doesn't bite. In some reason, he does speak the truth. He meets a very mischievous monster named Maurice(Howie Mandel, "St. Elsewhere", "Bobby's World" & "Deal or No Deal") who lives underneath his bed. Knowing that he was telling the truth, he goes into Maurice world and sees that not all monsters are bad. They just like to have a little fun. Both he and Mo bond, and create all the trouble they want. They even help Brian with the bully by sabotaging his lunch: replacing the tuna with cat food, and Maurice drinks all the apple juice and pees into the bottle to p--- him off! However, he went too far by destroying his favorite girls school project. Brian got very mad! There is one monster who bullies the other ones and breaks Maurice's horn. Brian and his friends help him by taking out the mean monster, and his cronies. Life is tough for a kid, having a friend that's not human is everlasting. I liked this movie a whole lot, it was a lot of fun. 3 out of 5 stars!