PRESENTS

What might I have felt about this film had I viewed it for the first time when I was nearer the age of its target audience? I can't say. I may have been terrified of Maurice's gnashing, yellow toothed grin or I may just have easily fallen in love with his quippy irreverence and monster heart of gold. Watching through the lens of BITENIGHT, the monster movie authority, I am utterly taken by the myriad of classical creature makeups and the writing that's full of double entendres and cheeky little licks that that wink to the parents while sailing straight over the kid's heads. That said, watching through the lens of someone who is not fully prepared for what they are about to witness, I can imagine being shocked by Mandel's fully over the top rendition of a real 'monster's monster' like Maurice. I can see shutting down at the numerous hackneyed 80's kid hero tropes. I gave it a higher-than-usual because in the end it's all done good, even the bad, and I'm not sure anyone could watch this movie and leave feeling nothing. I think that's worth something.