Voices of David Soblov, French Tickner, Scott McNeill, and Jaynse Jaud
Directed by Guido Manuli
Music and Lyrics by various
The live-action Monster Mash wouldn't be the last time Pickett's song turned up as the title of a film...and I never heard of this one before a few days ago, either. This direct-to-video feature was apparently a co-production between DIC, Universal, and the Italian TV company RAI Fiction. What they came up with may be the weirdest musical I've done yet this month. How freaky is the story of how three of the most famous monsters of filmdom try to scare a family in order to regain the respect of their frightening peers? Let's start in the distant past, when Dracula (Tickner), the Wolf Man (McNeill), and Frankenstein's monster (Soblov) were considered the most popular creatures in Universal's roster, and find out...
The Story: Dracula, Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's monster were for years the most frightening freaks in Universal's roster...until they became more associated with laughter than scares. The Superior Court of Horrors demands that they scare the Tinklemeister family, or be forced to give up scaring forever.
Meanwhile, the Tinklemeisters have their own problems. Their youngest son Spike (Jaud) was struck by lightning as a child and, though he's a chemical genius, hasn't spoken since. They're thrilled when they're offered a an all-expenses-paid vacation to Transylvania. The monsters easily scare the already-nervous father and finally get through to the mother, but the kids are a harder nut to crack. They finally tell the family the truth and, with their help, prove to a trio of modern slasher monsters that for youngers, the older-style freaks are just scary enough.
The Animation: If you know anything about DIC's work around this time, you know what to expect. It's pretty typical Saturday-morning fare. The colorful and wild hair styles and sketchy character designs (not to mention some of the voice actors) makes this sound a lot like a spooky version of Nicklelodeon's wildly popular Rugrats series.
The Song and Dance: This was honestly better than I thought it would be from the low-budget pedigree. The story is pretty funny, and some of the satire does land, especially in the second half, when they're trying to scare the Tinklemeisters. And heck, "Tinklemeister" is a pretty funny name. The music's kind of catchy, too, including a nifty version of the title song in the opening and closing.
Favorite Number: In addition to "Monster Mash," I also like "When We Were Bad." The Monsters show the Tinklemeisters movies of their younger years and how cool and terrifying they were, before people started to consider them parodies of themselves. The Tinklemeisters explain what happens to their youngest son and why he can only whistle while they're "Waiting for Spike to Speak."
What I Don't Like: Not only is the story pretty silly, the old monsters vs. new monsters theme gets really annoying after a while. The satire of 80's horror icons is barely veiled, a bit mean-spirited, and honestly kind of lame. Not to mention, by the early 21st century, everyone from Tiny Toon Adventures to the Scary Movie franchise made fun of horror icons in general and slasher films in particular.
The Big Finale: Fairly enjoyable after-trick-or-treat filler for elementary-school age kids who love horror and may recognize some of the characters and clichés that are being satirized here.
Home Media: Out of print and expensive on DVD. Streaming is your best bet for this one; it's currently playing for free on Pluto TV.
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