Monster House (2006)
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A group of children must confront a sentient, haunted house that has become a threat to their neighborhood.
The story
On the eve of Halloween, young D.J. Walters and his friend Chowder find themselves in a neighborhood where a local man, Horace Nebbercracker, is known for his eccentric and frightening behavior. When a series of strange occurrences occur involving a local house, the boys begin to suspect that the structure is not merely old, but possessed. With the help of a local supernatural expert and a girl named Jenny, they must navigate the mysteries of the property. As the holiday approaches, the trio faces the challenge of uncovering the truth behind the house's behavior before it can cause further harm to the neighborhood.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
On the eve of Halloween, D.J. and his friend Chowder discover that their neighbor's house is possessed by a poltergeist. After a local man, Horace Nebbercracker, is hospitalized, the boys, along with a girl named Jenny and a supernatural expert named Skull, attempt to neutralize the house by targeting its 'heart'—the furnace. They are interrupted by local police officers who are subsequently consumed by the house. Inside, they find a shrine to Nebbercracker's wife, Constance, whose spirit is merged with the building. The truth is revealed: Constance was a victim of the house's construction and her spirit became its consciousness. To save her and the neighborhood, the group must confront the house's physical manifestation. They eventually lure the house to a construction site where D.J. uses dynamite to destroy it, allowing Constance's spirit to find peace and Nebbercracker to reclaim his life. The film ends with the victims emerging from the basement unharmed and the boys going trick-or-treating.
- First release year
- 2006
- Runtime (minutes)
- 91
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Gil Kenan
- Cast and characters
- Mitchel Musso · Dustin James "D.J." Walters; Sam Lerner · Charles "Chowder" Peterson; Spencer Locke · Jenny Bennett; Steve Buscemi · Horace Nebbercracker; Kathleen Turner · Constance "The Giantess" Nebbercracker; Maggie Gyllenhaal · Elizabeth; Kevin James · Officer Landers; Nick Cannon · Officer Lister; Jon Heder · Reginald "Skull" Skulinski; Jason Lee · Bones; Fred Willard · D.J.'s unnamed father; Catherine O'Hara · D.J.'s unnamed mother
- Genres
- animated; supernatural; comedy; horror
- Themes
- supernatural; bravery
- Tone and mood
- spooky; scary; funny
- Premise and plot tags
- haunted house; Halloween; animation
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was described as a 'visually dazzling thrill ride' and a 'marvelously creepy animated feature.'
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 75% · scale: percentage · review count: 161; Metacritic · score: 68 · scale: 100 · review count: 32
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Animated Feature · nomination; Golden Globe Award · Best Animated Feature Film · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film used motion-capture animation for the human characters.; It was Sony's first computer-animated film produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks.; The production design was inspired by 1980s films like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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