Monster House (Blu-ray 3D)

[Barney_DaPurple1]

"In My travels to the video store and comic book conventions, I've seen many strange and wondrous things. And I've heard tell of man made structures becoming possessed by a human soul. So the spirit becomes merged with the wood and brick, creating a new form of monster known as Domus Mactabilis...sss...sss."


Distribution Studio Sony Pictures
Director Gil Kenan

Cast Mitchel Musso (DJ), Sam Lerner (Chowder), Spencer...+>

Cast Mitchel Musso (DJ), Sam Lerner (Chowder), Spencer Locke (Jenny), Steve Buscemi (Nebbercracker), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Zee), Jason Lee (Bones), Kevin James (Officer Landers), Kathleen Turner (Constance), Jon Heder (aka Napoleon Dynamite-Skull)<-

BO Release Date July 21, 2006
BD Release Date September 14, 2010

MPAA Rating PG, for scary images and sequences, thematic...+>

MPAA Rating PG, for scary images and sequences, thematic elements, some crude humor, and brief language.<-

Genres Animation, Horror, Mystery
Runtime 1 Hr. 31 Mins.
Video 1080/24p | 2:40:1 | MPEG-4 MVC | MVC Encoded 3D - Full Resolution L/R Eye

Audio English (Default), French, Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio...+>

Audio English (Default), French, Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital<-

Subtitle English, English SDH (Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing)...+>

Subtitle English, English SDH (Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing), French, Spanish, Portuguese<-

Region ABC
BD-Live 2.0
BD-Java (unknown)
Blu-ray 3D
Bargain Price $28 @ Wallyworld.com and BigRiver


OTHER MOVIE COMPARISON
The Amityville Horror meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid | How to Train Your Dragon, A Nightmare Before Christmas, The Lord of the Rings, The Haunted Mansion, The Polar Express, Carrie, Halloween, Paranormal Activity, Poltergeist, The Orphanage, Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen




WHAT'S THE MOVIE ABOUT?
DJ lives across a haunted house occupied by the estranged old Nebbercracker. He's overly protective of his property especially around Halloween. This year proves different when Nebbercracker suffers a heart attack and the haunted house is left unattended. Now is the time for DJ, Chowder, and Jenny to try to solve the mystery inside the haunted house and find a way to kill it before all of the children start coming knocking on its doorsteps for treat-or-treating.



TRAILERS, CLIPS, AND MUSIC VIDEOS

BARNEY'S BOOMOO FUNFACTS AND TRIVIA
Barney does not assume the accuracy for these funfacts. They are to be used for entertainment purposes only.

• Monster House is Gil Kenan's first directed film coming out of UCLA. He went on to direct City of Ember (2008).

• Gil Kenan's first and only wishlist for the cast of Monster House all signed on.

• Executive Producers of this film Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg worked together in Back to the Future 3 (1990).

• Robert Zemeckis directed Forrest Gump (1994). In Monster Houser, there are a few references to Forrest Gump and Tom Hanks.
  
  
  • Chowder says, "Jenny, I've always loved you", (Forrest Gump) as the kids are being swallowed by the house.
  • The opening scene of Monster House had the fallen leaf whistling in the air, similar to the feather blowing in the wind of Forrest Gump opening scene.
  • The house dribbles Chowder's basketball and when it rolled slightly toward them, you can see the evil jack-o-lantern face on it... or one can say it's Wilson from Cast Away which also starred Tom Hanks.
  • In DJ's room, the wallcover has the same pattern and color as Sheriff Woody's (Tom Hanks) shirt in Toy Story.

• Known for its working title, The Zemeckis/Spielberg Motion Capture Project.

• Monster House is filmed using motion/performance capture involving over 200 cameras in capturing the actors' full motion and voice and then projecting them to the computer aided animation models. Kinda like what they did to Angelina Jolie and her sexy back and bosoms movement in Beowulf.

• Skull (aka Napoleon Dynamite - Jon Heder) mentioned the term "Domus Mactibilis", which translates to lethal or deadly house in pig latin.

• Jenny tells the police officers, "We need your help. It's your job to help us." On the side of the police car reads "We Wanna Help".

• To receive a PG rating instead of PG-13 by the MPAA, almost all of the dead had to return to the land of the living in the ending credits.

BD Loading Animation





BD MAIN MENU

BD PLAYERS PERFORMANCE

OPPO BDP-80

Total Loading Time: 1 min. 52 sec. | OSD Shift: Yes | Subtitle Shift: Yes | Zoom: No
Firmware Version: 14-0522

Sony PlayStation 3 80GB

Total Loading Time: 1 min. 38 sec.
Firmware Version: 3.50

Panasonic BDT-300

Total Loading Time: 2 min. 43 sec.
Firmware Version: 1.61

Samsung BD-P1400

Total Loading Time: 3 min. 15 sec.
Firmware Version: 2.3

* Note: Top Menu does not work during playback for all the players, just Pop-up Menu.


DISC FEATURES, BONUS MATERIALS, AND PACKAGE CONTENT WORTH NOTING

• Annoying Menu Button Sound or Option Option to turn off or on under Main Menu, Speaker Icon. Audible only in stereo or PCM mode.

• Secondary Audio Filmmakers' Commentary

• Skip Previews "Shortcut" N/A

• Resume Play Some BD players will prompt for resume play during disc loading.

• Bookmark

• Play Movie in 3D or 2D • Inside Monster House • Evolution of a Scene: Eliza vs. Nebbercracker • The Art of Monster House

WHADABOUT THE MOVIE BARNEY?

Boomoo Rent-O-Meter
Boomoo Collection Worthiness
Overall Home Theater Experience

Barney's Comment on the Movie

Movie: Stupid So-So [ Spectacular ]

I was surprised by how intense Monster House really is as a "kids' movie". There are some spooky theme-nematic sequences which rivals some of the adult classic horror movies like Halloween, The Amityville Horror, and Poltergeist. My four year old refuses to watch it to this day. For yaw parents who thought Up was inappropriate for the young ones, this movie is out of the question. I don't recommend letting the young ones watching it by themselves.

Having said all that, Monster House was actually entertaining for me (and probably all of the bigger "kids" included). The storyline does keep you at the edge of your seat. I found myself fully immersed in the story, anticipating what's gonna happen next. The motion capture experience was also something that's on the back of mind as I watch the movie. Most of time with this type of animation, the characters look like the caricature drawings of their real life voice counterpart. Such is not the case in this case. The characters don't resemble any of their real-life actors. Just their personalities (or fake acted out personalities) are personified through the animation models. This is a compliment in every form to this well-made, supposedly kids' only but for adults too, movie.

Barney Rating the Video
The picture quality is quite decent. There's really nothing to complain about the picture but being a HDJ reviewer, I'll just nitpick (it's in my nature to). Lighting of some scenes is probably the weakest link of the chain. Sharpness wasn't near something Tinker Bell, edges seem to moire and smear a little in some scenes, but still respectable. Blackness level was very good and does not appear to be inky-crushed in any way. You can appreciate the natural movement from the motion capture method they used in filming. Overall an excellent video presentation.


Overall Picture Quality Rating

Picture Clarity and Sharpness
Color Richness and Saturation
Picture Detail and Definition
Lighting
Blackness Level

Barney Commenting on the Blu-ray 3D Experience
This my first Blu-ray 3D review. I have to put in perspective on what I've expected and what I've actually observed. Here are some of the notes I've kept while viewing my first Blu-ray 3D disc.

• 3D glasses are uncomfortable as hell.
• I'm not sure those who wear prescription glasses can fit one in between the 3D glasses and get the full effect (although Panasonic claims to build it's bigger than normal glasses just to do that.)
• The 3D effects wasn't terrible. They have come a long way since those red/blue/green 3D glasses which hurts the eye when having it on for more that just five minutes. But, I not buying into the hype that the 3D effects is so amazing BS. It's great but don't expect something like Avatar 3D at IMAX.
• Bigger is better. I shouldove went with the 65" TV. For me, I have to watch it about 4' from the screen to fully optimized the 3D experience. The film's 2.40:1 aspect ratio didn't help used my premium 58" real estate screen area neither.
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Blu-ray 3D review coming up next.

Barney Rating the Audio
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is outstanding. Surround sound bass was enriching and room filling. Dynamics are with range and velocity, transition smoothly around the surround sound stage. Audio output balance seems to suffer in most of the scenes. However, this was probably done intentionally to create the silence before the spooks to make you jump out of your seat experience. LFE was unexpected plentiful. Very appreciative audio presentation to go with the 3D effects.


Overall Audio Presentation Rating

Dialog Clarity
Balanced Volume
Detail, Integrity, Resolution, and Definition
Dynamics (Bass, Treble, Separation, and Transition)
Ambient Background Music and Soundtrack
Low Frequency Effects


Reference Listening Volume : 57.0 db (abs)

Barney's Recommendations
Monster House gets a heck yea recommendation from Barney. Halloween is just around the corner and to get the older kids into the festive spirit, yea give it a spin. Purchasing consideration for your newly Blu-ray 3D area of library collection is highly recommended. Plus it's future proof. This Blu-ray 3D can be played with legacy BD players in 2D mode. Take a look before the trick-or-treaters cometh knockin' on the door!

[bravestime]

Thanks Barney. Wife and I have seen the previews so many times and we thought this might be an entertaining movie. Glad to see your review confirming my thoughts. Funny thing is, I never placed it my queue. It's done now though.

Thanks for the review and reminder Barney!

[Barney_DaPurple1]

My pleasure, buddy. Yaw enjoy.

[bravestime]

Viewed it the other day. Very entertaining, not great, but definitely worth a rent.