The Corner Penthouse

Little Monsters arrives on Blu-ray as the 19th entry in Lionsgate's Vestron Video Collector's Series, "a line of classic and unique genre films, remastered and numbered, and packed with special features." I have reviewed several other titles in the series.


Little Monsters (1989) is the story of Brian (Fred Savage), a sixth-grader who's recently moved to a new town and made friends with Maurice (Howie Mandel), the monster who lives under his bed! Maurice introduces Brian to the world of monsters, where junk food rules, adults aren't allowed, and the fun and games never end. However, when Brian's brother Eric (Ben Savage) is kidnapped, it's time for Brian to get serious and fight the monsters on their turf.


Well, this certainly was an unexpected title to find as a part of the Vestron Video Collector's Series. All 18 previous releases (listed at the end of this review) are movies that are meant for adults. Even something as comical as C.H.U.D. II: Bud The CHUD isn't really for the kiddies. Little Monsters is the first "kid's movie" to be a part of the series, though it's not the type of "kid's movie" that would be made today. It received its PG rating due to content that you would not hear in a kids movie today: several utterances of "shit", a "bitch" or two, a female monster commenting on Brian's "nice ass", some cigarette smoking, pissing in a bottle, and two subtle masturbation references ("Man's best friend: his right hand" and "Why doesn't Boy just play with himself?"). Yeah, this movie was made back when they didn't feel the need to dumb things down for kids. The filmmakers treated the kids as young adults, not as babies.


I have fond memories of watching Little Monsters back when I was 12 to 13 years old. I distinctly remember owning the 6-part comic book adaptation from Now Comics, though I saw the film later on VHS and not in the theater when it was first released in August 1989. That's not surprising since the film only had a brief run in theaters. Although Vestron Pictures financed the film, MGM/United Artists got distribution rights here in the states after Vestron filed for bankruptcy. As such, the theatrical release was limited to only 179 theaters, and the film grossed only $793,775 against a $7,000,000 budget. If you've wondered why MGM released the DVD in 2004, even though it's a Vestron (now Lionsgate) film, there's your explanation.


Directed by Richard Alan Greenberg (his only motion picture directorial effort) from a script by Terry Rossio & Ted Elliott (both later scribes of Aladdin, Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean, Small Soldiers, The Mask of Zorro, Godzilla), Little Monsters features an interesting cast of actors. Fred Savage, who plays the lead of Brian Stevenson, was at the height of his popularity coming off the previous year's The Wizard and his regular role as Kevin Arnold on the hit television series The Wonder Years. Interestingly, the voice of the adult Kevin Arnold on The Wonder Years, Daniel Stern, plays Glen Stevenson, the father of Fred Savage's character. The following year, Daniel Stern would play Marv, one of the Wet Bandits, in the first two Home Alone films. Devin Ratray, who plays the bully Ronnie Coleman, was also in the first two Home Alone films as Buzz, the brother of Macaulay Culkin's character. In the new "Beneath The Bed" interview on the Blu-ray, Little Monsters producer Andrew Licht informs us that they almost hired Macaulay Culkin to play Brian's brother Eric, but they passed on him because he didn't look like he could be Fred Savage's brother. Instead, they hired Fred's real brother, Ben Savage, who would later go on to play the lead in the classic 1990s teen sitcom, Boy Meets World.


The Blu-ray does not contain any new interviews with Fred, Ben, or any of the other child stars. I'm really disappointed that I don't get to see and hear from Amber Baretto. Little Monsters stars two of my 1990s red-haired teen crushes when they were younger. Amber Barretto, from the TNBC Saturday Morning series Hang Time (1997-2000), plays the supporting role of Kiersten. Natanya Ross, from The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994-1998), appears briefly as one of the Kids on Trial (kids being blamed by their parents for pranks that the monsters pulled).


The Blu-ray does contain a new interview with Howie Mandel, who played the lead monster, Maurice. Maurice is like a kid-friendly version of Beetlejuice. In the new interview, Howie claims that he didn't base his portrayal on the Michael Keaton character, even though they both seem to be cut from the same cloth. While I have to take him at his word, it's clear that the film Beetlejuice (4K reviewed here) is a heavy influence on Little Monsters. Special makeup effects creator Robert Short won an Oscar for his work on Beetlejuice, and his work from that film (the Barbara Maitland creature) appears in the background of his vintage interview footage.


Little Monsters is presented in a 1.81:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1:41:25. (NOTE: This version of the movie is different from the one on the MGM U.S. DVD. More on that further down. Also, the case says it's a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, but there is a tiny bit of black bars at the top and bottom.) On the audio side, there's an English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track. The film includes English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles.


This is a dark film, both in tone and appearance. It mostly takes place at night and in the monster world, which is usually basked in blue and red lighting. The Blu-ray does not contain a new transfer, and is likely the same HD transfer that has been floating around on streaming services. This would explain why it contains differences that are in the TV airings and not in the previous DVD release. The DVD/Blu-ray comparison video clips at the end of this review can also serve to show how much darker some scenes are on the Blu-ray than they are on the DVD. I can't tell you which best represents the theatrical look of the film. It's possible that the DVD image was lightened up considerably to make it easier to see what's going on. The print used on the Blu-ray contains some very quick appearances of dirt and scratches here and there, if you look for them, but for the most part, it's clean. That said, there is one very noticeable ONE FRAME DEFECT at 57:39 as Snik says "you" in the line, "If you screw up, I drop you!" Here's the frame in question:


Here's a list of all of the special features that can be found on the Blu-ray disc.

• Audio Commentary - with Jarret Gahan, editor-in-chief of CultofMonster.com.
• Isolated Score Selections and Audio Interview with Composer David Newman
• Call Him Maurice (18:39) – A new 2020 interview with actor Howie Mandel.
• Beneath The Bed (13:54) – A new 2020 interview with producer Andrew Licht.
• Monsters Big & Small (14:55) – A new 2020 interview with special makeup effects creator Robert Short.
• Vintage Interviews with Actors Fred Savage, Ben Savage, Special Makeup Effects Creator Robert Short, and Director Richard Alan Greenberg (29:02)
• Behind-The-Scenes Footage (11:37)
• Making Maurice (16:16) – Vintage footage of Howie Mandel's makeup transformation.
• Vintage EPK & VHS Promo (9:19) - A very late 1980s/early 1990s promo for video store owners, after which (at 7:17) is a two-minute "Little Monsters Rap" ad for a 1-900 phone contest. The "Dial M For Monsters" contest ended on June 15, 1990, so don't bother calling the number provided.
• Theatrical Trailer (1:28) - A trailer with Vestron Pictures branding in 16:9 widescreen.
• Still Gallery (3:36) - Production and behind-the-scenes photos, posters, and video covers.

A digital copy code voucher is also included in the standard one-disc Blu-ray case. The first print run includes a shiny slipsleeve featuring the beautiful new cover art by Justin Osbourn of Slasher Design. For some reason, Lionsgate failed to mention the artist's name in the press release or on the packaging, or even to make a big deal of the fact that the release features newly commissioned artwork.


The only previous digital disc release that Little Monsters has had here in the United States is a DVD that was released by MGM in 2004 (and later repackaged by Fox). The DVD contains a 4:3 Fullscreen copy of the movie, though as the images below demonstrate, it's an open matte presentation that shows more image on the top and bottom. As you can see, the Blu-ray does not really gain any picture on the sides.



The movie on the DVD also includes the MGM and UA logos at the start, and a copyright for Vestron and another MGM logo at the end, which is why it has a longer runtime. That's not the only difference. There are two differences in the audio track, which prove to me that Lionsgate is using a premium TV HD master for the Blu-ray.

1. (DVD 38:24, BLU 38:00) - When Brian first visits the monster's world, he runs into a creature named Gomer who has long legs. In the original theatrical cut and the DVD, Gomer says, "Trick or treat, smell my feet." For some reason, in the television airings and on the Blu-ray, his line is changed to "Any friend of Maurice is a friend of mine."


2. (DVD 1:06:10, BLU 1:05:46) - In the original theatrical cut, "Little Bitty Pretty One" by Bobby Day plays during the scene where the monsters attempt to scare a baby. On the DVD, this song is replaced with "Ooh Wow" by Buckwheat Zydeco (though the end credits still list the original song). The Blu-ray and the television airings, keep the original song.


Also, it should be noted that the trailers on the DVD and Blu-ray are different, as well. The DVD's trailer is 0:52, has United Artists branding, and is presented in 4:3 fullscreen. The Blu-ray's trailer is 1:28, has Vestron Pictures branding, and is presented in 16:9 widescreen. Both versions are embedded at the end of this review.


Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that little note included under the credits block on the back of the Blu-ray (and DVD) case. I find it funny that Lionsgate is still legally required to include the note: "Not associated with the TV series 'Monsters' from Laurel". I have no doubt that very few people in 2020 even remember that long-forgotten 1988-1990 TV series, much less draw any connection between the two. If anything, some people will confuse this "Little Monsters" with the 2019 film of the same name starring Lupita Nyong'o and Josh Gad, or Splash's animated "Little Monsters" DVDs: here, here, and here. I wonder if any of those releases had to carry this same stupid disclaimer.


As of right now (updated 9/15/2020), the Vestron Video Collector's Series includes the following Blu-ray releases, all of which contain new bonus materials just like the one I reviewed.




Images were framegrabbed by me (Paul Rudoff) from the Blu-ray, taken from the still image gallery on the disc and/or the IMDB gallery of the film (where I contributed three dozen framegrabs from the Blu-ray). This item has been provided by Lionsgate for review on this site.