Set on Halloween, the script is original and nicely creepy, even when the boys are joined by a redhead named Jenny.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 23, 2006

One of the best animated movies of the past couple of years and the most enjoyable family entertainment of recent months.

| Aug 12, 2006

A scary, sharp, funny movie, this is the best kids' flick of the year so far.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 11, 2006

n the pantheon of CGI films, it's one of the most adult-orientated animations yet. I don't need to tell you that the kids in the screening were enamoured from start to finish.

| Aug 10, 2006

A bracingly icy breath of fresh air, a tween-oriented family film that is unabashedly out to frighten… an excursion into primal fears of places you don’t want to walk past at night.

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 9, 2006

While it might not bring the house down, there's enough here to suggest this Monster won't be moving out of cinemas any time soon.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 8, 2006

Ultimately, the environments are far more interesting than the humans navigating within them.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 24, 2006

Equal parts Ray Bradbury and rickety carnival spook show, this animated tale of a carnivorous, haunted house and the band of neighborhood kids who decide to put it out of commission feels maddeningly unfinished...

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 23, 2006

This follows in the grand tradition of adventure stories with middle-school-aged heroes (and heroines), the big, scary world of the story standing in as a metaphor for the big, scary world of adolescence and adulthood.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jul 21, 2006

Monster House benefits from strong graphic design and lovely lighting, but the script is nothing to write home about.

| Jul 21, 2006

Until this animated horrorfest turns shrill, debuting director Gil Kenan delivers enough visual goods to justify the faith of producers Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 21, 2006

The storytelling skill in Monster House isn't always up to its visuals. But as a roller-coaster summer entertainment, it's a heck of a lot more fun than Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, not to mention a full hour shorter.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 21, 2006

The difference between Monster House and most other animated movies is a little thing called story. It actually has one, and doesn't just trot out cheeky characters spewing gratuitous pop-culture references.

Full Review | Jul 21, 2006

An enjoyable ride on a dark but not-quite-scary-enough-to-make-you-scream roller coaster, told in elegant motion-capture animation.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 21, 2006

The hybrid computer animation technique used by Robert Zemeckis in Polar Express finds both better expression and a more appropriate holiday -- Halloween -- in the witty kids' horror movie Monster House.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 21, 2006

The movie treats children with respect. Monster's pre-teens are sarcastic, think they're smarter than their parents and are going crazy over the opposite sex.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 21, 2006

What the movie lacks in story development it makes up for in spooky thrills.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 21, 2006

Monster House, a frankly horrific and full-tilt hilarious family yarn about a man-snacking mansion. It's engineered to scare your pants off, split your sides and squeeze your tear ducts into submission.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 21, 2006

Monster House chooses not to take the interesting route, opting more often for wisecracking dialogue and bombastic effects.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 21, 2006

The result is an efficient film that never really catches fire, but satisfies along the way.

| Original Score: B- | Jul 21, 2006