 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Monster House
- Review Date: October 22, 2006
- PG
- Genre: Family and Kids
- 2006
Common Sense Media says
Frightful fun for tweens and up.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know this is a pretty scary movie, and the last 20 minutes, in particular, take a turn for the dark. With windows like eyes and a flying carpet that unfurls tongue-like out the front door to scoop up trespassers, the house is a wonderfully alive structure. But it's creepy. You don't want your kids waking up in the middle of the night freaked out that their house is going to eat them. Most of the PG content comes from the scariness; there are very few crude jokes or language issues. The kids are in constant peril, and they're not exactly role models. They break and enter, steal cough medicine, operate heavy machinery, and use sticks of dynamite. Likewise, the adults in this movie are creepy –- not just Old Man Nebbercracker, but also the uninterested babysitter, detached parents, and clueless cops.
What's the story?
You know that scary old house down the street? Turns out, it's a real live monster! This animated family horror movie –- yup, that's what it is -- centers around three kids who discover that a neighbor's house is actually a living, breathing monster. It all begins when DJ (Mitchel Musso) looks out his window at the creepy house across the street. It's old. It's run-down. And it's owned by "Old Man Nebbercracker" (Steve Buscemi), the meanest guy in town who loves terrorizing the neighborhood kids. And heaven forbid any toys should land on his lawn or he'll snatch 'em away forever. DJ starts keeping track of all the lost items, so much so that he becomes a bit of an outcast. Right before Halloween, DJ's parents (Catherine O'Hara and Fred Willard) head to a convention and leave him home with a Goth babysitter, Zee (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Zee's slacker boyfriend, Bones (Jason Lee), knows all about the house. DJ's friend, Chowder (Sam Lerner) and neighbor Jenny joins in the house observations. On their watch, the kids discover that Nebbercracker isn't the only thing that's creepy about the house. The house, it seems, has a life of its own. Rounding out the cast are Skull (Jon Heder - sweet!), a pizza delivery guy and video game champ; Officer Lister (Nick Cannon), a rookie cop; Officer Landers (Kevin James), a jaded cop who's seen it all; and the house itself (Kathleen Turner, the original Jessica Rabbit).
Is it any good?
This is one of those movies where all the planets align: a top-notch crew (director Gil Kenan; executive producers Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis), memorable voices that fit the characters perfectly; and a great story, ingenious backstory, and twisty-turny ending. The motion-capture animation is the same as that used in The Polar Express, where the characters have so much personality you feel like you're watching real people. But even more important is the story, which is approaching Pixar quality. The characters and animation revolve around the story, rather than the other way around.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about what the kids could have done differently.
When the adults in their lives brush off their concerns about the
house, is it okay for them to figure out a solution on their own that
puts them in danger?-
And where WERE the adults anyway? What should THEY have done differently to help the kids through this situation?
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- Teens & kids
Kid, 11 years old
September 2, 2011
AGE
Nice movie!
Well, I watched this when I was 8. It didn't scare me at all, and I watched it AT NIGHT. Again, it just depends on if you are used to this stuff or not. But I think it's for 9 yrs, because I barely noticed the word crap in there. And kids 6 and under may notice the word and start saying it and get their selves in trouble or whatever.
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Kid, 11 years old
March 20, 2010
AGE
WORST MOVIE EVER
Okay Im still afraid of this movie it is stupid DON"T Watch or your kids will be scared for life of that stupid house . NEVER EVER WATCH IT the scaryist part is when the kids find the old lady's body . never ever watch it
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AGE
A Good Movie
I think this is a great movie! Violence might be a problem for younger kids. The house comes alive. It eats people, toys, and pets. The babysitter's boyfriend does seem drunk in one part. The kids give cough syrup to the house to make it go to sleep. I think it's a great movie for ages nine and up.
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Kid, 10 years old
April 12, 2011
AGE
property
property is in valved in this movie.t j wants to defeat the house with chowder and jenny.a few mentions about kissing.the babysitter Z boyfriend BONES drinks beer [BONES is a weird name.] this is iffy for 8-10
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Kid, 12 years old
October 9, 2010
AGE
scary movie better than gory horror flicks. not for kids, though
we can all agree. this movie is way too scary for your young ones. this is a surprisingly good movie but it's not for anyone under the age of 10. the babysitter's boyfriend does not respect her "property", and...are there really any good role models here. this movie also has adult characters that are so oblivious of anything that it almost convinces kids that adults are terifying, lazy, oblivious, unloving, deviant people that cannot be relied on. this is a scary, and disturbing message that kids will NOT be able to handle. I don't know why they call this a family movie, but all I know is it's FREAKING AWESOME. not 4 kids though.
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Kid, 12 years old
July 4, 2011
AGE
Not for young children
I've seen this movie when I was 6 years old. I didn't like it at all. This movie scared me a lot when I saw this movie. I'd say this is not for young children.
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Kid, 9 years old
July 1, 2011
AGE
pg movie
good movie i love it i have it on dvd
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AGE
Depends on the kid, but not that bad!
I want you all to know.... I was eight to ten years of age when I saw this :P
and I loved it, wasn't scared a bit.
Nope! Not at all.
And my four-year-old brother beside me was just fine too!
I lol'd at you guys saying "This movie is SO scary!"
lawl, orly?
Not really. It's just dark at moments, the only "scary" moment was when the house chased them, and the revealing of N.'s wife's skeleton.
and even then, it felt like a serious moment, not so scary.
More suspense, but that's just me.
I found it funny no one mentioned this joke:
"....but, I thought If I shot at it's heart, then--?!"
"That's not it's heart. If that's the teeth, and that's the mouth, then that must be the uvula"
"....oh....so itsa GIRL house...."
"...what?! It stimulates the gag reflex, EVERYONE has a uvula."
"Psh, not me."
that joke made everyone in the theatre laughed.
Srsly.
Even the kids, who had no idea what the word chowder mistook uvula for.
Any sexual things in the movie were really vague so that a kid wouldn't be too disturbed by it, you see.
It wasn't bad at all, I enjoyed it :)
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AGE
hmm
Did anybody not remeber when Cheddar, or Chowder or whatever says "vulva?" That deserves a PG-13 rating right there. Good entertainment witha valuable lesson, though
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| Topics: | monsters, ghosts, and vampires |
| Studio: | Sony Pictures |
| Director: | Gil Kenan |
| Cast: | Jon Heder, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Nick Cannon, Steve Buscemi |
| Genre: | Family and Kids |
| Run time: | 91 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | July 21, 2006 |
| DVD release date: | October 24, 2006 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | for scary images and sequences, thematic elements, some crude humor and brief language. |
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