FEBRUARY 1988 Daly Yo The Monster Squad aa (1987) Duncan Regher, Tom Noonan, Andre Gower. Directed by Fred Dekker. 90 min. Ves- tron. $89.98. Available Feb. 10. VIEWERS GUIDE: PG-13; mild profanity, violence, occult. oung Sean (Andre Gower) and his friends Patrick and Horace love monsters. So they form the Monster Club, whose membership expands to include younger siblings Phoebe and Eu- gene and adolescent Rudy, who’s so cool that he’s not embarrassed to be sitting around a treehouse with a bunch of little kids talking about creature features. Of course, they all know there aren't really any monsters. That is, until Dracula (Duncan Regher) comes to town in a hearse, bringing with him a full complement of friends. There’s the Frankenstein Frightful friends of the “Monster Squad” monster (Tom Noonan), a mummy, a wolfman, and even a gill-man, not to mention a few bats and vampire brides. The adults in town don’t know it — they’re too busy worrying about grown-up things — but the monsters are planning to plunge the world into eternal darkness. And the one night of the century when they just might be able to do it is coming up. The fate of the earth rests on the Monster Club’s members; if they don’t measure up, there’s literally going to behell to pay. Monster Squad is an affectionate romp through classic horror-movie cliches that should delight pre- teens without boring the adults. The makeup and special effects are beautiful. And because the movie plays the monsters straight, the re- sult is gentle humor with mild, up- beat thrills for the whole family. — Maitland McDonagh VIDEO DIGEST © FEBRUARY 1988