Greetings, my horror-loving friends and welcome back to round 3 of our new Necessary Evil column. I had fun messing around with the whole horror-on-a-holiday trope with our last Necessary Evil and hope that you did too. For today’s idea entry, we would like to continue to feed our Halloween spirit as our favorite holiday is rapidly approaching by bringing up a classic film which features all the scary monsters so widely represented every October 31st! I’m speaking, of course, about The Monster Squad! And if you’re as big a fan of the flick as I am, then you probably would be down for a true sequel (NOT a remake)! I don’t know if there’s been “talk” of some kind of sequel, but I haven’t seen anything solid. That needs to change!
IDEA: A sequel to the 1987 cult hit and horror fan favorite, The Monster Squad.
OUTLINE: It has been 28 years since Sean Crenshaw and his band of monster butt-kickers did battle with Dracula and his fellow creatures of the night. But we all know that evil does not stay dead and buried forever! I say the sequel’s story begins with a group of teenagers, possibly related to now deceased Scary German Guy, come across Van Helsing’s diary and end up blowing a hole in Limbo. And guess who happens to be waiting on the other side? Yup, ol’ Dracula still alive (undead) and well. See, if you remember at end of The Monster Squad, Sean stakes Drac right before Van Helsing pops out of Limbo to grab him… but Drac isn’t dead as he’s being sucked back in the vortex! He even screams “No!” Seems to me that Sean missed Dracula’s heart!
Once Dracula learns that it’s only been 28 years and he still has to wait another 72 more until he can attempt to make evil rule the world (it happens every 100 years), revenge becomes his main course of action. “Where is Sean Crenshaw?” I could just hear him muttering in his old Transylvanian accent. So he sets out to find and destroy the boy (who is now a man) that put an end to his evil plans back in 1987. Luckily, someone else crossed over from Limbo: Van Helsing, the only person who can warn Sean!
Before Drac makes his big arrival, we are all introduced to the grown-up versions of the Monster Squad. Sean is a horror filmmaker and is currently working on Groundhog Day: Part 20. He is married and has kids which he calls his “Junior Squad”. His sister, Phoebe, also has a family of her own now, but still has fond memories of her brief friendship with Frankenstein. Rudy and Patrick are now related because Rudy ended up marrying Patrick’s hot sister. Eugene is now a Sergeant in the military and knows a thing or two about weaponry. As for Horace, aka “Fat Kid”, I’m on the fence whether to bring him back as a character since the actor who played him sadly passed away. His character could have also passed far too soon, allowing the Squad to all pay homage to him in some way.
As soon as Dracula discovers where Sean is, he “let’s it begin” all over again, raising his vicious team of monsters to do battle with both the original Monster Squad as well as the Junior Squad. And this time, both Squads have Van Helsing alive and present to put an end to Drac once and for all!
WHY IT COULD WORK: For a movie that bombed at the box office over 28 years ago, it’s amazing how popular it is today! There have been screenings, recent articles (like this one), and cast reunions. It’s good to know that the original actors are still around and very fond of their film because they should be the top choices to reprise the roles. The fans would love it and trust me, this little horror comedy has TONS of fans! It took some time, but Monster Squad is now huge! A sequel is almost a no-brainer!
CHARACTERS: As for the Squad itself, I say you have to get back all the original cast members that are willing to reprise. Andre Gower, Ryan Lambert, and Ashley Bank would definitely be down for another monster throwdown as they are always at the special screenings and horror conventions. I say also bring back Stephen Macht who was so bad-ass as Sean and Phoebe’s father. Definitely make him a widower since the wonderful Mary Ellen Trainor also passed away in real life.
And I’m not sure how Duncan Regehr has aged, but he was so fantastic as Dracula back in 1987, I wouldn’t mind him returning if a special effects/make-up team can still make him look the part. Tom Noonan is still around as well (I catch him on Facebook once in a while), so if Frankenstein can be worked into the sequel’s story, I say bring it!
CONCLUSION: The Monster Squad has always been a great movie and now in this day and age, EVERYONE knows it! Vampires and monsters are also currently all the rage. And it doesn’t matter if there is a huge gap between the original and the sequel as that is also common with movies these days. In fact, I think the gap plays to the sequel’s advantage, affording it to deliver a very fresh, fun take!
I have to hear your thoughts on a second helping of Monster Squad. Have you been waiting for a sequel like this to get the green light? What would you want to see in a Monster Squad 2? Or are you a big-time naysayer and want well enough left alone? Kindly shout out “My name… is Horace!” and fire them bullets below! And if you have any ideas that you think should be made into horror reality, let me know at mikecatalano@joblo.com.