Flashback Friday

The Monster Squad (1987)

Happy Friday Rockers, apologies for the hiatus the last few weeks.  I'm back this week with a fun-filled favorite perfect for the Halloween season and features some of history's classic monsters.

1987's The Monster Squad, directed by Frank Dekkar begins 100 years in the past with Dr. Van Helsing and his freedom fighters planning to use an ancient amulet and words spoken from a German diary by a true virgin to rid the world of vampires and monsters but fail to do so and Dracula escapes.  Now, present day, 12 year old Sean is given Van Helsing's diary but he can't read German.  He and his rag-tag group of adolescent monster movie enthusiasts begin to think these monsters are real when Sean overhears his father, Police Detective Del, talking about a man being shot while claiming to be a werewolf and the disappearance of a mummy from the museum.  Vowing to eliminate these monsters they dub themselves "The Monster Squad."

Dracula re-emerges and has plans to destroy the amulet and the diary.  He hitches a ride amongst a cargo plane transporting old crates, including the corpse of Frankenstein which gets dumped by the pilot after he's spooked by Dracula who then follows after it into the swamp nearby where he meets up with the Black Lagoon's Gillman, the Werewolf, and the Mummy to resurrect Frankenstein's corpse and orders him to retrieve the diary from the kids even if it means killing them.

Unable to translate Van Helsing's diary, The Monster Squad seeks help from a mysterious old German man who explains the purpose of the diary and what is required to open a limbo and eliminate evil, but can the group locate a German speaking virgin to recite the words from Van Helsing's diary and acquire the amulet before Dracula and the rest of the monsters capture and destroy it?

The film features an awesome hit by the infamous Michael Sembello called "Rock Until You Drop" and concludes it's credits with an enjoyably catchy monster rap.  If you're interested in a great Halloween themed synthwave album then check out last year's Miami Cannibal Massacre Compilation which features a huge dose of well known producers in the scene.

So if you're looking to itch that nostalgic 80's film void, and have a lot of fun doing it, then definitely revisit this awesome classic!  'fTil next time my fellow Synthaholics, take care and be safe!

-Magnum Crockett