Double Features – Mystery Kid Films

Features

We’ve all seen them and we have our favorite lines from them. Imagine yourself at a football game and you see your friends in front of by a couple rows but its way too loud for them to hear you. After yelling their names and waving your arms, the only other thing you can think of is to scream “HEY YOU GUUYYYSS!”

And if you’ve ever watched a horror film and gotten scared, there’s bound to be something to eventually lighten the mood and make you calm down. But what happens if you don’t find that moment and things continue to scare you to death. Just hope that you’re watching a film where the Wolfman is involved because then you can laugh and just repeat to yourself, “Wolfman’s got nards.”

There’s really no better way to spend an evening then to watch a couple of films that involve nothing but kids and are made pretty much for kids. Well, the best thing about both The Goonies and The Monster Squad is that they are actually enjoyed mostly by adults or at least anyone that grew up in the eighties.

Director: Richard Donner

Notable Cast Members: Sean Astin, Corey Feldman, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Martha Plimpton, Kerri Green, Jonathan Ke Quan, Anne Ramsey, Joe Pantoliano

Synopsis: A bunch of kids are about to have their neighborhood turned into a golf course if their parents can’t pay the mortgage so they take it upon themselves to find a hidden treasure and remain the Goonies.

Director: Fred Dekker

Notable Cast Members: Andre Gower, Stephen Macht, Robby Kiger, Tom Noonan, Duncan Regehr

Synopsis: Dracula is alive and has plans to take over the world so he’s enlisted the help of Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Wolfman, and the Gill Man to make his task complete. No-one can possibly stop them except for a group of loser monster fanatic kids that know their weaknesses.

Connecting Points: The easiest thing to see that brings these two films together is of course the kids. Things have gotten really bad for both groups and they must band together and do whatever is necessary in order to save the world and their homes. The similarities are really quite odd when you actually sit down and watch both films. Both groups are made up of some ragtag rejects that know their strength comes when they work together. Even when things are getting out of hand and more frightening then anything they’ve ever experienced in their entire lives; they know that the only option is to press on.

Both films have a lot of adult humor that kids may not get today. I for a fact know that some of the jokes, especially in Goonies, made no sense to me as a child but I watch the flick today and crack up about them. Throw on top of that some really dark surroundings and foreboding moods and both films can be rather intimidating. Darkness, monsters, and threats of danger make for some scary situations and tense-filled moments. It’s the things like that which makes me realize how these films may actually be more for adults then kids all together.

Ideal Audience: As I was saying, both films are aimed at adults more so then children even though most of us growing up in the eighties watched them repeatedly. The only thing is that we never really got all the jokes back then and luckily still love the films now so we can get the full affects. Children of today may not even really like either film although if they were to pick one; my guess is they’d prefer Monster Squad. Hell, I’ve met numerous people born in the mid-eighties or later that have seen Goonies and think it is just incredibly stupid. Guess you had to be born in the mid-seventies or early eighties to really appreciate the film and want to be a Goonie for life.

You’re not going to get really pumped up over either flick and they aren’t going to make you feel like a real man or sexy woman. But you will realize the true meanings of friendship and that if you believe in one another, you can do anything.

Ideal Setting: Watching these films together is great on a night that has a big storm brewing outside. The sound of the rain and the flashes of lightning would really make for a good setting. But if no storm is available, then simply pull down all the shades, turn off all the lights, and gather together in a big room like your living room or den. Have a lot of friends over to watch too because the more people, the better. Just make sure that anyone you invite knows both films and likes them. Nothing worse then getting a Goonie-hater to ruin your evening.

Get a ton of candy and soft drinks. Maybe some pizza and popcorn and just set it all out on the coffee table so it can easily be reached by everyone. Turn the air-conditioner down as low as you can get it and bring a bunch of big blankets and pillows into the room. Everyone find a spot on the sofas or the floor and start your films. As the films go on, discuss them. Recite your favorite lines or talk about what films you’ve seen the actors in lately. Talk about how cool it would be to see Frankenstein walking straight at you. Bring up how Data talks about the octopus at the end of the film yet you never see it anywhere throughout the duration. Be a kid again and just have fun.

Conclusion: Don’t be so serious for once in your lives. Don’t worry about your clients. Forget about how close Monday is to getting there. Just stop wondering about how you are going to pay next month’s electric bill. Go back in time to when everything was carefree and you could live life anyway you chose. Well, at least until the street lights came on and you had to get home.

Experience the horror that the classic movie monsters could instill in you by biting your neck, howling at the moon, or slowly creeping out of the lagoon. Remember what it was like as Andy was hitting the notes of the skeleton piano and Brand almost fell to his death. Just for a few hours, let all your problems go away and enjoy your life again. Feel the strength of being a kid that has great friends and together they could do anything. Maybe when you’re done, break out your old Atari 2600 if you still have it and trade some Garbage Pail Kids’ cards. It’s never too late to still be young.