THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987) – Episode 282 – Decades of Horror 1980s
Decades of Horror | Horror News Radio
Release Date: 04/18/2025
Decades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“Lucifer! Lucifer! Barabas! Barabas! By Santanica, Santanica! Come! Come! Etcetera?” Keep it down in there! Sounds like you’re trying to raise the dead. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Gregory Crosby, and Jeff Mohr – as they discuss (1974), a microbudget Canadian horror flick with a micro-release. Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 240 – Corpse Eaters (1974) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with the WICKED...
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“Ah, my friend. Our theory of glandular stimulation through electrical impulses was correct. A few days ago, you were as small as your companion, and now look at you!” Glandular stimulation? Is that a thing you can get? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they all go sans-after-shave while investigating (1940), starring Bela Lugosi! Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 202 – The Devil Bat (1940) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to...
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“Keep your shirt on, asshole.” Did he mean on “your” asshole or is he calling you an asshole? It does make a difference, you know. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they follow the battle for survival between the tiny, very hungry, escaped, galactic prisoners and a band of mostly courageous, small-town residents and farmers in (1986). Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 283 – Critters (1986) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new...
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“You play a good game, boy, but the game is finished. Now you die.” Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it, B-O-O-Y-Y-Y? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Gregory Crosby, and Jeff Mohr – as they cover this legendary franchise-starter, Don Coscarelli’s (1979). Balls of steel, anyone? Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 239 – Phantasm (1979) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL () which now...
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“The son of a b**** was strong as hell! Like a demon with an iron club! I was sure I’d wind up as rust on that club.” Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guest Dirk Rogers – as they take in this Japanese classic from writer and director Kaneto Shindô, who brought us Onibaba (1964). The film is Kuroneko (1968, Black Cat), also known by its original title, Yabu no naka no kuroneko. Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 201 – Kuroneko (1968) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube...
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“One hundred years before this story begins, it was a time of darkness in Transylvania, a time when Dr. Abraham Van Helsing and a small band of freedom fighters conspired to rid the world of vampires and monsters and to save mankind from the forces of eternal evil. … They blew it.” Will the Monster Squad blow it, too? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they follow the battle between the young monster fighters and the pseudo-Universal Monsters in (1987). Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 282 – The Monster Squad...
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“Are you trying to say that Abby has… flipped out?” Uh, pretty much. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Gregory Crosby, and Jeff Mohr – as they cover the oft-mentioned, discussed at last, William Girdler’s (1974), featuring William Marshall, Carol Speed, Terry Carter, Juanita Moore, and Austin Stoker. Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 238 – Abby (1974) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV...
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“There are certain unseen things that are more real than those which you can see and touch. I know that.” This episode’s opening is a recording from in which It!, a golem movie starring Roddy McDowall, is discussed. It’s the Grue Crew’s introduction to Chad’s talents. Sounds just like Roddy, right? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guests Bill Mulligan and Joseph Perry – as they discuss their favorite films from each decade of the Classic Era. They’re calling this episode Grue Crew...
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“I’m running this monkey farm now, Frankenstein!” Who wouldn’t want to run the monkey farm? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they discuss George A. Romero’s (1985), a film worthy of sitting alongside Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978). Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 281 – Day of the Dead (1985) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! Gruesome Magazine is partnering with...
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“They celebrated a ceremony last night. All that blood indicates the procession by the devil Balujaru.” “All that blood,” you say? What about all the drums? No one could get a wink of sleep! Join your faithful Grue Crew – Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guest Jerry Chandler – as they again discuss some European horror, this time from Spain, with Amando de Ossorio’s (1974). Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 237 – The Night of the Sorcerers (1974) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get...
info_outline“One hundred years before this story begins, it was a time of darkness in Transylvania, a time when Dr. Abraham Van Helsing and a small band of freedom fighters conspired to rid the world of vampires and monsters and to save mankind from the forces of eternal evil. … They blew it.” Will the Monster Squad blow it, too? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they follow the battle between the young monster fighters and the pseudo-Universal Monsters in The Monster Squad (1987).
Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 282 – The Monster Squad (1987)
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Synopsis: A group of 12-year-olds form a Universal Monsters fan club called The Monster Squad and have to save their hometown from Count Dracula and his monsters when they show up for real.
- Directed by: Fred Dekker
- Writing Credits: Shane Black & Fred Dekker
- Special Effects by: Stan Winston Studio
- Stan Winston (monster creator)
- Alec Gillis (head monster maker: Dracula and bat transformation)
- Shane Mahan (head monster maker: Mummy)
- Matt Rose (head monster maker: Gillman)
- Steve Wang (head monster maker: Gillman)
- John Rosengrant (head monster maker: Wolfman)
- Tom Woodruff Jr. (head monster maker: Frankenstein)
- Monster mechanical department: Steven James, David Kindlon, Richard J. Landon, Dave Nelson, Wayne Sturm
- Monster art department: David LeRoy Anderson, Eric Fiedler, Emilio M. Gonzales, Leonard MacDonald, Lindsay MacGowan, Dave Matherly, Steve Patino, Anton Rupprecht, Shannon Shea, Brian Simpson, Michiko Tagawa, Jackie Tichenor
- Selected Cast:
- Andre Gower as Sean (as André Gower)
- Robby Kiger as Patrick
- Stephen Macht as Del – Sean’s Dad
- Duncan Regehr as Count Dracula
- Tom Noonan as Frankenstein’s Monster
- Brent Chalem as Horace
- Ryan Lambert as Rudy
- Ashley Bank as Phoebe
- Michael Faustino as Eugene
- Mary Ellen Trainor as Emily
- Leonardo Cimino as Scary German Guy
- Jon Gries as Desperate Man (as Jonathan Gries)
- Stan Shaw as Detective Sapir
- Lisa Fuller as Patrick’s Sister
- Jason Hervey as E.J.
- Adam Carl as Derek
- Carl Thibault as Wolfman
- Tom Woodruff Jr. as Gillman
- Michael Reid MacKay as Mummy (as Michael MacKay)
- Jack Gwillim as Van Helsing
- David Proval as Pilot
- Daryl Anderson as Co-Pilot
- Robert Lesser as Eugene’s Dad
- Gwil Richards as Mr. Metzger (as Gwill Richards)
- Ernie Brown as Night Watchman
- Sonia Curtis as Peasant Girl
- Charly Morgan as Vampire Bride with Possom
- Mary Albee as Pantry Girl / Vampire
- Brynn Baron as Pantry Girl / Vampire (as Joan-Carrol Baron)
- Julie Merrill as Pantry Girl / Vampire
- Marianne De Camp as Mrs. Carlsen
The Monster Squad (1987), underappreciated at its release, has, nonetheless, risen to become a fan favorite over the years. With effects provided by the Stan Winston Studio and dialogue from the pens of Shane Black and Fred Dekker, the film follows the proven template used in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), i.e., the copies of Universal monsters are deadly serious while the youthful monster fighters provide humor. In light of current events, it is an excellent time to revisit this horror comedy with a heart and a happy ending. And while you’re at it, take in Wolfman’s Got Nards (2018), the documentary about the film and its growth in popularity. It might bring a tear or two to your eyes.
At the time of this writing, The Monster Squad (1987) is available to stream from Hoopla, PlutoTV, Prime, and several PPV sources. It is also available on physical media as a 3-disc set that includes a 4K UHD disc, a Blu-ray disc, and Wolfman’s Got Nards (2018) Blu-ray disc, from KL Studio Classics.
Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Bill, will be Critters (1986), another franchise-starting film showcasing the effects work of Chiodo Brothers Productions (Killer Clowns from Outer Space, 1988) and an experienced cast featuring Dee Wallace and M. Emmet Walsh. The Grue Crew is excited about discussing this one.
Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the Gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the Gruesome Magazine website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at [email protected].