’80s Cult Classic ‘The Monster Squad’ Gathered the ‘Avengers’ of Horror and It’s Streaming Free

The ’80s will always be famous for its outstanding horror output. The decade kicked off with Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining reinvigorating the genre in 1980 and it ended in 1989 when Brian Yuzna’s Society delivered the most outlandish take on familiar horror tropes. It was the decade that saw the birth of Jason, Freddy, Chucky, and Pinhead, long considered horror icons. However, there was one project that represented the real deal in terms of a horror all-star team. Though it is a stretch to call them the Avengers of the genre, how else would you categorize a group that included the best of the best in classic horror?

Such an iconic gang assembled for 1987’s The Monster Squad. The film, directed by Fred Dekker and co-written by Dekker and Shane Black, gathered the Universal Classic Monsters lineup for a fun adventure film that still embraced its horror backdrop. Such an iconic gathering is available for horror fans to watch, as The Monster Squad has just been added to Tubi’s free streaming library.

Over the years, the film garnered a cult following that has remained strong to this day. Even documentaries have been made about the loyal fan base that has kept the film alive in the cultural mindset as a bold, family-friendly adventure that pulled off the impossible, and achieved one of the most memorable moments in horror film history (more on that sequence shortly).

Horror Avengers, Assemble!

Dracula and the rest about to revive Frankentein’s monster in The Monster Squad

Tri-Star Pictures

The Monster Squad follows Sean Crenshaw, a small boy who leads a group of horror-obsessed children. They find out that there’s an amulet that can control the monsters they’re familiar with and send them back to where they came from. Dracula has entered the human realm, and the Mummy, the Gill-man, and the Wolf Man have joined the vampiric leader who wishes to get his hands on the amulet. Frankenstein’s monster also arrives in town, but he refuses to help Dracula, and instead becomes friends with Phoebe, Sean’s younger sister.

Dracula leads his Avengers-like band of terrifying monsters on a quest to get his hands on the amulet and take over our realm. The squad decides to make a stand, and with the help of the journal that used to belong to legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing and Frankenstein’s monster, they will do their best to defeat the almighty vampire.

You Will Wish You Had a Monster Squad of Your Own

The Monster Squad belongs to that lineage of horror films from the ’80s that made the decade special in terms of balance. Yes, the ’80s were famous for slashers and edgier-than-usual horror films. But some gateway movies also came from this era, with Poltergeist, Gremlins, Ghostbusters, and Beetlejuice getting much of the credit. Nevertheless, Dekker’s cult classic is one of those films that helps bridge the gap between adult horror and what younger audiences can enjoy. It has its scares, but they’re perfectly harmless.

At the same time, it is a film about horror monsters – some of which are etched into the collective cultural imagination as the classic ghouls inhabiting the nightmares of many viewers. We’re not kidding when we say that almost the entire roster makes an appearance, and they mean business, as you can see in the above clip. This all-star show by the Universal Classic Monsters had only taken place in minor form in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and would not happen again, except in other minor projects like Van Helsing, which only featured Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and the Wolf Man. The Dark Universe that Tom Cruise killed with 2017’s The Mummy would likely have seen a reunion of some sorts, but we all know what happened to that ambitious crossover plan.

The Monster Squad is, by definition, a “safe” horror comedy crafted for the entire family. Though some makeup effects are scary enough to make little ones cover their eyes, that sense of friendship and adventure brought by the leads is heartwarming and almost infectious. You will wish these had been your friends when you were younger, and that they were by your side whenever those monsters came out of your closet.