Monster House
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Release Date: July 21, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Kenan never loses sight of the wonderment that children (and adults) experience when the inanimate becomes animate. Anthropomorphism is basic to the art of animation. So is a good story, and Kenan has that, too. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The most imaginative and delightful computer-animated movie of recent years outside of the Pixar brand, Monster House is a Halloween ghost story by way of monster-movie adventure. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Monster House makes its intentions clear: It wants to wrap you in a thick, warm blanket of 1980s nostalgia. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Kenan directs with a zingy sense of kids, comedy, fright, and visual perspective. But the movie also shimmers and shakes in all its motion-capture animated beauty with the slyly deep sensibilities of executive producer Robert Zemeckis. Read full review
90
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
One of the best movies of the year, and a great accomplishment for Messrs. Harmon and Schrab. Maybe now we’ll get a feature length "Robot Bastard" movie. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Easily the best computer-animated feature to come from Hollywood in a long while, Monster House is also one of the weirdest. A creepy-crawly, freak-show Halloween yarn. Read full review
88
PremiereSara Brady
Smaller kids might find the movie too intense at times, especially when DJ, Chowder, and Jenny find themselves literally in the belly of the beast. But everyone else should enjoy a good, goosebumpy scare. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Unpretentious, smartly written and a lot of fun. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
Has a return-to-innocence sweetness that recalls some of the work of another of its executive producers - Steven Spielberg. Kids may grow up too fast today to embrace the film's familiar message of the virtues of an unhurried adolescence, but it's nice to be reminded of the possibility. Read full review
80
EmpireIan Freer
A scary, sharp, funny movie, this is the best kids’ flick of the year so far. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Becomes one of those wonderfully weird adventure stories beloved of children who don't mind getting a good old-fashioned case of the heebie-jeebies. It's kind of a blast for adults too. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Set around Halloween, Monster House manages to cull bits and pieces from Hammer, Hitchcock and the old-dark-house genre of 19th Century literature and early 20th Century stage and film. Read full review
75
USA TodayScott Bowles
Monster House may be the first true horror film for children. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
While Monster House is in no way groundbreaking, it's an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes, and is suitable for all but the youngest children. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
The house itself - which walks down the street in one impressive scene - is memorably voiced by Kathleen Turner. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
A captivating piece of visual wizardry. The house, which eventually frees itself from its moorings and chases after our trio of tweener heroes, is a genuine original. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Monster House was designed as a family movie and a scary movie. It may scare children, but it won't terrify them. So it's no scarier than it should be. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
What's missing is what Pixar never fails to provide: The kind of storytelling heart that is inseparable from imagination. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
I was a little disappointed by the cop-out ending, in which debut director Gil Kenan gives up the film's frightening elements and comforts the audience with comedy and superficial emotion. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
Ultimately, what happens with the house is not only entertaining, but a marvel of what animation can accomplish in this day and age. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Director Gil Kenan has a feel for dizzying "camera" work, and the screenplay combines witty gags with a sweet, albeit familiar, suggestion that kids shouldn't be in any great hurry to be anything but kids. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The three neighborhood kids who venture inside this toothy trap are wittily conceived (as are other characters, like a goth babysitter), but though the overall conception suggests Hayao Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle," the frenetic pacing seems as American as an apple pie in your face. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Constant shock cuts and souped-up music and sound effects will keep small fry in a state of moderate petrification, while the trio of tweeny leads plus attitude-redolent cohorts will make teens feel welcome. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
The movie might be scary for small kids--but good scary, with goose-bump-inducing frames, witty repartee, and three resourceful kid protagonists. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Surprisingly enough, puberty-stricken J.D. and Chowder actually sound like real teenagers, but the cartoony look will probably alienate real-life kids that age, and the man-eating house might be downright terrifying to younger kids. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
A serviceable story served up as a large animation experience for kids. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The voice work is exceptional, with a special nod to Maggie Gyllenhaal as a toxic-tongued baby sitter and Jason Lee as her raunchy-to-the-point-of-depraved boyfriend. Kenan is a talent to watch, even in a flick that doesn't know when to quit. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Monster House benefits from strong graphic design and lovely lighting, but the script is nothing to write home about.
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Monster House is the first horror comedy made exclusively for fourth-graders. Read full review
40
Village VoiceLuke Y. Thompson
The coolest thing about Monster House is that Kathleen Turner's face was actually motion-captured to create the house's movements, but actual human beings on-screen might have ratcheted up the tension, of which there is none. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
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. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A grisly, often cynical piece of work whose joyless, aggressive spirit is made even less appealing by its soulless visual style. Read full review
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