Director Richard Alan Greenberg’s 1980s kids cult horror comedy returns to the Blu-ray format encased in shiny metal in Little Monsters: Steelbook Edition (Lionsgate Home Entertainment, rated PG, 101 minutes, 1.85:1 aspect ratio, $19.96).
Answering definitively the question of whether monsters live under a child’s bed, years before Pixar’s animated confirmation, the movie introduces Brian Stevenson (the charming Fred Savage), an 11-year-old new to the Boston area, with his 6-year-old brother Eric (Ben Savage) and parents Glen (Daniel Stern) and Holly (Margaret Whitton).
After multiple unsettling nights of sleep and being blamed for mishaps he did not do, Brian sets a trap with Doritos and eventually corners a horned, blue-skinned monster named Maurice (comic Howie Mandel) causing havoc in Eric’s bedroom.
As the pair quickly become friends, Maurice tempts Brian to come to his world under the bed — a wonderland of arcade games, unlimited treats and colorful creatures while also serving as a hub for monsters visiting children’s bedrooms around the world.
After Brian works with Maurice to cause chaos over multiple nights, drama ensues when the young boy realizes he is turning into a monster himself.
The underworld’s leader Boy wants Brian to fully convert into a night beast, and his main minion Snik (a live-action, cigarette-smoking Sully from “Monsters Inc.”) kidnaps Eric to force the issue. Brian must assemble a team of classmates to rescue his brother.
The film thrives due to cute, practical special effects highlighting the monsters in action; the old-school makeup effects; some gross humor; and Maurice acting like a younger brother of Beetlejuice.
“Little Monsters” is made for brave 9-year-olds who appreciate mild frights, cool-looking monsters and laughter. However, it may be a tough sell for today’s sophisticated youth — and perhaps is better enjoyed as a nostalgic jaunt for adults who loved the film as tweens back in 1989.
Although the packaging promises the film has been digitally restored, the screen-filling movie does not look as polished as one would have hoped.
Considering the amount of slight scratches and white pops on the imagery, inexcusable for any level of “restoration,” one must wonder how bad the film looked during its previously released iterations.
The colors are strong but sometimes saturated enough to wash out flesh tones, and at many points viewers will find the clarity akin to watching the movie in a theater back in the day.
Best extras: Lionsgate gives viewers an excellent selection of bonus content duplicated from its 2020 Blu-ray Collector’s Series release led by a geek-ified optional commentary track with Jarret Gahan, former editor-in-chief of the shuttered CultofMonster.com.
A nonstop, sometimes meandering, dive explores making “Little Monsters” touching on the origins of the concept, casting and cast credits, original script comparisons, themes in the film, shooting locations, anecdotes and the history of the movie’s studio Vestron Pictures.
Specifics include that the movie only played on 179 screens as opposed to 500-800 for an average family film back then; the Savage parents actually own the leather jacket worn by Maurice, and the screenwriters disliked the final film.
Equally interesting is an 18-minute entertaining interview to support the 2020 release with an enthusiastic Mr. Mandel, who hated the makeup, loved the character and had a great time reminiscing about the movie.
Also available are interviews with a 2019 stuntman turned Academy Award-winning makeup effects maestro Robert Short and producer Andrew Licht, and 30 minutes of vintage on-set interviews with cast and crew including the Savages.
One more vintage extra and absolutely fascinating for lovers of the history of home entertainment is a nine-minute promotional film geared toward video stores to buy extra copies of the VHS version of the film (for only $89 each) reinforced with footage on free point of purchase items for the retailers, a call-in contest and kids offering reviews of the movies.
So, fans already get a pretty thorough immersion into the production and watch the best-looking version of the film available (meh), but the Walmart exclusive Steelbook case should cement the deal.
The brightly colored container boasts neon pinks, purples and blues as the front offers headshots of a confident Brian with arms crossed and a wild-eyed Maurice with mouth open and wearing his leather jacket and skeleton earring.
The back offers torso shots of the rescue party of Brian and his friends Kiersten and Todd in the underworld with a full-body shot of the beastly Snik standing behind them and blocking their escape.
The interior spread is not as impressive with the right side showing the movie title design and the left displaying a publicity shot of Maurice resting his arm on Brian’s head all set in front of a silvery-white background.
• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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