The Monster Squad(1987)

Pooper:
The Monster Squad (composed of middle school and younger kids) manages to kill the Wolfman, Mummy, and Gillman. Phoebe and the Scary German Guy manage to open the portal to banish Dracula (and sadly, Frankenstein’s Monster) to limbo forever. The military arrives to help just after the day is saved by the Monster Squad.

Long Ending:
The film opens 100 years ago with Van Helsing storming Dracula’s castle. He has a young girl read a spell that opens a portal to limbo. The portal begins sucking all the monsters into limbo. His goal is to trap Dracula (Duncan Regher) and all other monsters. However, both the girl and Van Helsing are sucked in, causing the spell to end prematurely and Dracula to survive.

In the 1980s, we meet the Monster Squad – a bunch of middle school aged kids obsessed with monsters and the horror genre. They are led by Sean (André Gower), whose parents Del (Stephen Macht) and Emily (Mary Ellen Trainor) are heading towards a divorce. The Squad’s fellow members include Patrick, Horace, Eugene, Eugene’s dog, and cool kid Rudy. Sean’s younger sister Phoebe (Ashley Bank) desperately wants to join them, but is not allowed in because she’s a girl. By chance, Emily buys Van Helsing’s diary as a gift for Sean. But he can’t read it because it is written in German.

A plane unknowingly carrying the body of Frankenstein’s Monster (Tom Noonan) is attacked by Dracula. To save himself, the pilot ejects the box out of the cargo hold and it falls in the town where the Monster Squad lives. Dracula descends upon the town and prepares for a final stand against humanity. He calls his fellow monsters, the Wolfman (Carl Thibault), Gillman aka Creature from the Black Lagoon (Tom Woodruff, Jr.) and the Mummy (Michael MacKay) to his side. They retrieve and resurrect Frankenstein’s Monster as well.

It turns out the amulet Van Helsing used to open the portal to limbo is hidden in the town. The monsters cause havoc looking for it, and Dracula learns that Van Helsing’s diary is with Sean. The Monster Squad learns of the monsters too when Eugene sees the Mummy hiding in his closet. As daylight arrives, Dracula sends Frankenstein’s Monster to retrieve the diary and kill the children.

Sean, Patrick and Horace visit a Scary German Guy (Leonardo Cimino) living in town to ask for his help translating the diary. It turns out he is actually very friendly (and a Holocaust survivor). They learn about the spell to banish the monsters to limbo and discover that the only time to perform the spell is the next night (then the amulet’s power goes dormant for another century). The spell must be spoken in German and by a virgin girl (thus why Van Helsing recruited a young girl to his cause). They also learn Dracula has the power on the same night to destroy the amulet, which would allow the monsters to be unstoppable.

Phoebe befriends Frankenstein’s Monster (thus gaining her membership to the Monster Squad). Rudy makes silver bullets and wooden stakes in shop class. Peter and Rudy blackmail Peter’s hot older sister to read the spell to open the portal (as she is studying German in school). And Eugene writes a letter (in crayon) to the military asking for help. Meanwhile, Dracula finds the amulet and converts three women into his new vampiric brides. While human, the Wolfman calls Del (a cop) and tells him Dracula is after his son.

The Monster Squad break into Dracula’s base and steal the amulet (although Frankenstein’s Monster is incapacitated during the attempt). In anger, Dracula reveals himself to the world, blows up the Monster Squad’s treehouse, and attacks Sean’s parents.

The kids, having also recruited the Scary German Guy to help them, lure the monsters downtown. They are also joined in the battle by Del and Emily. The kids manage to kill the Mummy, Wolfman, Gillman, and Dracula’s Brides. But the portal is not opened because it’s revealed that Peter’s sister isn’t a virgin. The Scary German Guy has Phoebe read the spell by repeating the words as he reads them. Dracula rampages, killing many cops, in order to get to Phoebe. Just as he is about to kill the young girl, Frankenstein’s Monster appears and battles Dracula. This gives Phoebe time to finish the spell and open the portal. Dracula attacks Sean, but is staked for his troubles. Van Helsing then reaches out of the portal and drags Dracula in. Phoebe and Frankenstein’s Monster bid a tearful goodbye (and Phoebe gives the Monster her beloved stuffed animal) before he too is sucked into the portal. The portal closes just as the military arrives in response to Eugene’s letter. Sean introduces his friends and adult allies as the official Monster Squad as the credits roll.

Order of Deaths: