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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    Monster House

    Featured In Issue 115, December 2006

    Picture4
    SoundNR
    WSR Score3
    Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
    (Studio/Distributor):
    Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
    (Catalog Number):
    15595
    (MPAA Rating):
    PG
    (Rating Reason):
    For scary images and sequences, thematic elements, some crude humor, and brief language
    (Retail Price):
    $38.95
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    91
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    A
    (Theatrical Year):
    2006
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    10/24/06
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Gil Kenan
    (Screenplay/Written By):
    (Story):
    (Music):
    (Director Of Photography):
    (Production Designer):
    (Visual Effects):
    (Costume Designer):
    (Editor):
    (Supervising Sound Editors):
    (Re-Recording Mixers):
    (Executive Producers):
    (Co-Producers):
    (Producers):
    (Academy Awards):
    (Principal Photography):
    (Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
    (Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
    (Disc Soundtrack):
    Dolby Digital 5.1
    (Theatrical Sound):
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (DTS Bit Rate):
    (Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
    (Additional Languages):
    (French Language):
    (Spanish Language):
    (Chinese Language):
    (Subtitles):
    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
    (Japanese Language):
    (Italian Language):
    (German Language):
    (Portuguese Language):

    Who is the Monster that lives in the House across the street? That's what young DJ (Mitchel Musso) wants to know and intends to find out. Anytime anything lands on the lawn of Old Man Nebbercracker (Buscemi), it disappears, never to be seen again. But when DJ and his friends Chowder (Sam Lerner) and Jenny (Spencer Locke) find themselves trapped inside the spooky place, they find out the truth inside the scary old house. (Tricia Spears)

    Like the DVD, special features include filmmaker commentary; Inside Monster House, which contains several featurettes: the 3-1/2 minute storyboarded Imaginary Heroes, a 2-1/2-minute Beginner's Luck casting featurette, The Best Of Friends (three minutes), Lots Of Dots (2-1/2 minutes), Black Box Theater (four minutes), Making It Real (six minutes), and Did You Hear That? (three minutes); a multi-angle featurette that takes you into various stages of animation, depending on which angle you choose—Evolution Of A Scene: Eliza vs. Nebbercracker—broken into the following chapters: "Story Reel Animatic," "Performance Capture," "Layout Stage," "Animation," "Final Film," and "Composite." The Art Of Monster House includes three still image galleries: Conceptual Art, People, and Places And Things; and there are also previews, but no up-front ads.

    The MPEG-2-encoded 2.40:1 Blu-ray Disc picture Is a marked improvement over the DVD release, without the bothersome edge enhancement and pixilation that marred the standard-definition version. Colors are vibrant and details are well resolved, although the image does not quite have the same level of dimensionality as the best high-definition releases. Now if we could only get a reference-quality Blu-ray Disc player… (Danny Richelieu)

    The uncompressed linear PCM 5.1-channel soundtrack features exceptional dynamic range and well-placed images around the soundfield. Dialogue is recorded and played back well, and fidelity is impressive. (Danny Richelieu)

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    Harlan Wynn
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