FMC 147: The Monster Squad Directed and Written by Fred Dekker

Full Episode Transcript
This episode of Filmmaker Commentary dives into Fred Dekker's 1987 cult classic, "The Monster Squad," discussing its initial box office failure, enduring legacy, and detailed production insights, alongside current industry news and other film/TV recommendations.

Opening Discussion and Film Overview
Reginald Titus Jr.: Filmmaker Commentary, episode 147. Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary, where we cover movies with commentaries from directors who take the time to record them on Blu-ray and DVDs. We also give our detailed insights, so look out for spoilers. We discuss the latest in showbiz news along with movies and TV shows that we've been watching. So join Reginald Titus Jr. That's me. And K.C.G. Smith. That's me. Every week here on Filmmaker Commentary.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Welcome to another episode of Filmmaker Commentary. I'm Reginald Titus Jr., I'm joined with K.C.G. Smith. Welcome back, sir.
Casey G. Smith: Good to be back, sir.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And today we're talking about Monster Squad, 1987, directed by Fred Dekker, written by Shane Black and Fred Dekker. What do we have for budget and box office for Monster Squad?
Casey G. Smith: So for Monster Squad on a $12 million budget, it had a whopping $3.8 million worldwide gross at the box office.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, cuz I didn't expect that.
Casey G. Smith.: Neither did I.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That's a nail.
Casey G. Smith.: That is a crash and burn.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow. Did it get any awards?
Casey G. Smith.: So, Monster Squad did get nominated for four awards, and it had three wins. One not coming until 2008 at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films for Best DVD Classic Film Release. And then also it won for the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, also in 1988 for the Silver Raven Award. And then also in '88, the Young Artist Awards for Outstanding Young Actors/Actresses Ensemble in Television or Motion Picture.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. What was like the sentiment at the time? Were like, what were some of the people thinking about this film and
Casey G. Smith.: Not too much because not many people saw it. The sentiment was that because when they saw the trailer, parents thought it was too scary for their kids to see, so they didn't take them. And the kids, yeah, they didn't get taken to see. So it was they, they, they kind of canceled each other out. The the marketing canceled out both audiences. The kids thought it was too, I don't know, too, too whatever. But uh, so yeah, no, nobody ended up really seeing it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So the parents thought it was too scary for kids, and then the adults thought it was for kids.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow.
Casey G. Smith.: So, wow. So yeah, therefore just bad, bad marketing. Bad, bad positioning.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I didn't even check the trailer out to kind of see what the trailer looked like at the time.
Casey G. Smith.: I did. I checked it out. I was like, I mean, I mean, I thought it would be okay. I guess at the time it uh, you could see some of the the humor elements within it mixed with the the horror, which is kind of what it's a blend of. Again, I feel like it's kind of like, you know, Goonies meets horror.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Goonies meets The Boys. What was The Lost Boys.
Casey G. Smith.: Ooh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But they were in high school.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah. Yeah, it's kind of like in the vein of Ghostbusters, where you've got the the comedy and the horror kind of blending together.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah, but uh, didn't uh, didn't quite get that that word of mouth to keep it going, but it it did find its audience in the uh, the home in the home. Home, home release.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Home release. It would be cool to see what those, of course, we already talked about that, just what those numbers are because I mean, to this day, I mean, this is, you know, got the you got it on DVD, got it on Blu-ray, it's streaming, like it's making money. So.
Casey G. Smith.: This is one of those films that once I saw it as a kid, I I I instantly loved it. And then years later when I would see it pop up, like, oh man, Monster Squad, it's one of those things that instantly gives me nostalgia. Oh, Monster Squad. Yeah. Just good vibes. Every time I when I would think about it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Good stuff. But before we talk further about Monster Squad, let's talk about TV, news, and movies watched.

Industry News and Recent Watches
Reginald Titus Jr.: What you got in the news, sir?
Casey G. Smith.: So in the news, we'll start a little bit on a on a a dour note. I want to talk about the the passing of the founder of Deadline. Uh, who unfortunately has passed away. I'm trying to pull up the article.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's all right. We can go to another news if we don't have it.
Casey G. Smith.: It was there, but there's a lot more that's come in since since then and it's like way, way down the feed. All right, so I'll come back to that in a moment. But at the box office, uh, the film Smile is still uh, taking a bite out of the box office according to The Hollywood Reporter, uh, raking in around uh, 17.6 mil. And unfortunately, Amsterdam bombs, and they say Lyle, Lyle, the Crocodile limps.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Amsterdam?
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah, that's a a new film that has uh, Margot Robbie in it. It has Christian, I think Christian Bale, yeah, Christian Bale, and also uh, David Michael Washington. It's kind of a, it's like set maybe in the '30s or so.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, I thought that was a, I didn't know that was being dropped on '30s. Hmm.
Casey G. Smith.: Yes. David O. Russell film.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Um, I thought that was a Netflix direct film, or maybe I just got it mixed up.
Casey G. Smith.: You know, it's uh, it is, it is.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a period piece.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah, period piece.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I I don't think I've seen the trailer.
Casey G. Smith.: I I'd seen the trailer. I was like, oh, okay, this looks like, you know, again, it looks like a David O. Russell thing. It looks it looks like it would be fun. Uh, I did I did want to check it out. Come on, Amsterdam.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Amsterdam. Um, uh, as we're talking about box office, if you look for that, um, uh, looks like Woman King made its money back, it's right title, right? Yes. Woman King, uh, basically made its budget back and I think it's a little bit over. It was a $50 $50 million budget, and it's currently around like 60-something. Um, and so like two days ago, as of this recording, um, yeah, made its money back. So, you know, that's a relief. Depends on like your perspective on it. Gina Prince-Bythewood, who's the director, you know, was kind of basically saying that she saw no other choice but to be successful with this film just because, um, having a woman action film like and just action films with with, you know, black actors, it just doesn't happen. And if you have, you know, these failures at the box office, then you kind of don't get your your time at bat. Um, on the flip side, um, I don't know if y'all know out there that with this film, there was like some controversy, um, just kind of with the history of those warriors. Um, you know, they were they were kind of known for, which I didn't know until, you know, this movie came out and people started talking about it was that these warriors, which is kind of loosely based on the the Black Panther uh warriors, the Dora Milaje. Yeah, so when you see them, uh, you know, Black Panther, oh my god, where did this come from, bald heads, and the kicking brick and stuff like that. So they're loosely based on this on this tribe out of Africa, and, uh, so you kind of think of it from an inspirational standpoint, like, oh man, that's pretty cool. You know, but upon further research, um, that, you know, they were responsible for like basically crimes against humanity, you know, uh, finding slaves and selling them to their European counterparts. And, uh, it's a very, very tragic story to this day. And, um, Lupita Nyong'o, who who they actually tapped to kind of be in the film, she had did a documentary on it in 2019 and kind of discovered, you know, a lot of this stuff because, you know, she didn't, some of the history she didn't know about. But, you know, got to hear firsthand accounts from the descendants. And, you know, she was crying on documentary and she actually turned down the role for for moral reasons. So, it's one of those movies that are at the box office that's kind of like got, you know, the audience kind of like, oh, I don't know. Kind of like a torn audience there because you want it to win, but then you don't want to to win for the wrong reasons.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah, well, I mean, I guess that's one of those things when you look at any kind of uh pick that's biographical in nature, the with any real living person, like everybody has darkness or or skeletons and even and and then the portrayal of it's always a question of how much, how much of that do you do you show, whether it's, you know, whether it's Elvis or Michael Jackson or Martin Luther King. It's like, okay, how much of the of the the the not so known or popular or or less moral things are you gonna show in relation to that to that person's legacy. Right. Um, yeah, that's a that's a that's a tough call. Um, that's interesting though. I I I didn't know that the latter part.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith.: About the influence. I I didn't know anything about the Woman King as it was, but I didn't know about the influence or uh potential inspiration for the Dora Milaje as as warriors. Um, based upon uh that that tribe. What was the name of that tribe again?
Reginald Titus Jr.: A Joli. A Joli.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah. Very fascinating.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Hopefully I'm saying that name right.
Casey G. Smith.: Uh, so I did find that other article, uh, again, according to Deadline itself, unfortunately the the the passing of the founder Nikki Finke, uh, who uh, was again the founder of Deadline. Uh, she was 68. That's still that's pretty young. Uh, and uh, she founded Deadline back in 2006 and was considered kind of a disruptor within the industry. Uh, and um, yeah, so just respect for uh, what she was able to put together in Deadline. It's a a solid consistent source of of industry reporting and journalism. So, rest in peace, one Nikki Finke, and may uh, Deadline continue on.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Indeed.
Casey G. Smith.: So what have you been watching, Reginald?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Dude, I there's a I got a couple of trailers. Um, there's a trailer that popped up. It's called, Is That Black Enough for You?
Casey G. Smith.: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, and it's our brother Elvis Mitchell, who's a commentary, well-known commentator on film, film critic, well-known film critic. He's a brother that has a long like uh gray uh locks. Um, he's he's been contributing to film for years and years and years. Very deep database, knowledge-base of just almost all films. Oh yeah. Um, but I didn't but I was like, man, I I remember listening to him talk to uh uh Lawrence Fishburne and just kind of seeing how they were vibing and kind of going back through old knowledge and old films. And even hanging, he's, you know, Tarantino, the things that Tarantino throws out, most people can't catch, you know, but Elvis Mitchell, he's catching all that. And so, uh, I was like, man, it would be cool if he was to make a film one day, some kind of way. And sure enough, you know, he has a film that's coming out on Netflix, I think in a few weeks. Uh, I don't have the exact date, but it's called, Is That Black Enough for You, which is kind of like a deep dive into the history of uh black actors, black directors in film.
Casey G. Smith.: Heck yeah. Heck yeah. I I love seeing those. It's like, um, there was that one that was on Netflix a couple years back that they got to have us.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, yeah, yeah. I remember that one, Barry Jenkins and Ava DuVernay. That was a good one.
Casey G. Smith.: I thought that would be like a docu-series, like I thought there would be more more episodes of that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, I was I was anticipating more of that.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah, maybe something happened. But no, yeah, Elvis, man, he's he definitely knows his stuff. I enjoy when I I would hear him on on NPR. Uh, yeah, his knowledge is absolutely on point. And just his his insights on things that he watches, like, oh, that reminds me of, boom. And he's like, oh, this guy's taking it deep. I appreciate that. Uh, man, I've been taking in a couple of things. I I took in on uh Disney Plus. They had a special called Werewolf by Night.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh oh.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah, Werewolf by Night.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's on Disney. On Disney. Okay.
Casey G. Smith.: It's it's it's their darkest, no, let me take that back. Logan is the darkest thing on on Disney Plus. But as far as original MCU content, this is the darkest. It's about 40, 45 minutes long. But it dives into the kind of more monstrous uh creatures of the night kind of element of of Marvel. That's existed in the comic books for for years. Werewolf by Night has been around since the since the '70s. Uh, but it's all but the the special's all in black and white.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Casey G. Smith.: And directed by Michael Giacchino, who's mainly known for his his scores and his music. And of course, he did score it, but he also directed it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ah.
Casey G. Smith.: Pretty cool. Pretty cool. I would encourage you to give it a give it a look. I'd love to to hear your your insights.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, keep it a go. It's October, so it's time.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah, there's some pretty, I thought there were some pretty cool reveals in it as well that I I was not expecting. I was like, okay. All right. Anyway, so yeah, Werewolf by Night.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I had a trailer. Um, another trailer. Um, what's our guy in Stranger Things, the main love interest, the cop, uh big guy. I can't think of his name, the actor.
Casey G. Smith.: That's uh David Harbour.
Reginald Titus Jr.: David Harbour? Yeah, David Harbour. Okay. He's he's starting he's Santa Claus in a movie called Violent Night, which is basically kind of like a monster in the house movie where he's kind of the monster, but he's also, you know,
Casey G. Smith.: An anti-hero.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Exactly. And I mean, you see Santa Claus kick butt, basically. And he's giving it to all the bad guys or the the people on his naughty list.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah. Saint Nick throwing hands.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, that is very interesting twist on on on the genre. So, looks like a little fun uh holiday movie for adults.
Casey G. Smith.: It's like a badass Santa.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith.: Not just bad Santa.
Reginald Titus Jr. : Badass Santa.
Casey G. Smith.: Nice. I just watched on Netflix, trying to take a little more more comedy, keep things light.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Keep it light.
Casey G. Smith.: Good old Hasan Minhaj's uh newest special on Netflix, The King's Jester. Or Jester. Jester. Jester. Jester. Jester. I feel like I'm not saying that right. It sounds sounds sounds funny saying it right now. The court Jester. Jester. Anyway, uh, so took that in. Again, I always enjoy his comedy because it's it's always very smart and yeah, I think he's great. And you know, always keeps it, you know, personal or stuff that's going on. Some cool revealing stuff that was going on with his life. He talks a little bit about his special that he had, uh, you know, Patriot Act and kind of some things that went down with that show.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Casey G. Smith.: But yeah, if you're into comedy, check out Hasan on Netflix, The King's Jester.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, did you last week we had talked about, um, last week was the Rush Hour episode and we talked, you discovered Atlanta. You know, I said, hey, Atlanta is streaming. Did you get a chance to watch Atlanta?
Casey G. Smith.: I did. I I caught up on it. Uh, yeah, it's still Atlanta's still amazing. Uh, watched up to the most recent episode with
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mr. Chocolate.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah. Man. Okay. Spoiler alert for for this episode.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Spoiler alert. Fast forward three to five minutes as we talk about Atlanta's most recent episode.
Casey G. Smith.: So, Donald Glover.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Genius?
Casey G. Smith.: Yes. Yes. Absolute genius. Not only as a as a a director, but as an actor. When he when he puts on when he puts on the prosthetics and the when he dies into these characters.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes.
Casey G. Smith.: His Mr. Chocolate, who is clearly a parody of of Tyler Perry.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, like when I first, the episode opens up and Van and the and her daughter are in the car and they're waiting. I said, this is, looks like Tyler Perry studios, you know, like, I said, this is Tyler Perry studios. And they're pulling up and then it's like, like uh uh satire of everything Tyler Perry has made. Yeah. I like, oh, this Tyler Perry had to be involved with this because there's no way.
Casey G. Smith.: The the way they but by the end, the way they nail when she says, you know, that she doesn't really like like the work or whatever and when she says that, I can't relate to it. He's like, oh, so you're this, you're this, you're this, you're this. Yeah, you can't relate. I'm like, wow. She just he just kind of called called you out and and read read your mail in front of you. And then when she she's trying to get her daughter back cause all of a sudden she's going from like The mom, your mom is initially there to film just to be a day player for a show. And the daughter ends up interrupting a scene by by telling one of the actors to to shut up for being mean. And then doctor or Mr. Chocolate comes in over the intercom, cause initially you never see him. He's just the voice of the intercom.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, he's like controlling everybody. Nobody sees him.
Casey G. Smith.: Put the child in the scene. And like nobody's ever seen him. They just know that he he just is kind of just He's always watching. He's always watching. He's everywhere. And all of a sudden her daughter goes from that scene to, you know, she, you know, Van looks away and all of a sudden her daughter is gone. And another movie, another movie where the mom eating a crack sandwich. What is happening? Until the point that Van can't find her. And yeah, the the just escalates with that drama, her trying to literally track down her daughter. Um, and then eventually she she sees the the the building where Mr. Chocolate is at and she storms it and gets the help from a a crazy grandmother who brought a pistol on campus. Broad a pistol. So you're with a a an angry black grandmother who packs a pistol.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, man, that's it's great because it's like a satire. It's kind of like a Willy Wonka satire. It's got it's it's got everything. He's like in the castle by himself doing all of these crazy things. And because he's isolated, he's become crazy.
Casey G. Smith.: And he does like he doesn't really know what's what's happening. He's like, it runs itself. And then when she gets mad and he asks her if she wants some grits, right? He offered grits. Yeah, he offer some grits. And then when she like hits him with the pan with the he's like, I've built up an immunity. face me. And then at the end when she's like, it's really pathetic. I need you to, you know, write this all. Call an ambulance. Would you please hurry? It's really pathetic. I was like, oh, what is going on?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, man.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah, it was it was quite wonderful. The the DeAngelo episode.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Oh yeah, that's right. That's right. This episode, the Mr. Chocolate episode reminded me of I can't remember what season it was the one when it was kind of like talking about the Michael Jackson whole situation. Yeah. This is what it reminded me of.
Casey G. Smith.: Exactly. Yeah, when Donald Glover goes in deep into these characters, that's just But it's so smart. Again, like the that that afro surrealism.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow. If you look like when she first, when Van first gets gets into the studios and you start seeing like all their films that they've made, there's this one key artist that says, I ain't crazy. This woman with no hair, you know, short hair, she's like, I ain't crazy. And then part two, still ain't crazy. I'm like, oh, wow. And it's crazy because like the the African-American community, especially filmmakers, uh, and film lovers that go watch movies, talk about, you know, the films of Tyler Perry. Yeah. You know, you might have one you like, you might not, but we do talk about it. Yeah. And, you know, we just it's one of those things where it's like, okay, you know.
Casey G. Smith.: Then like the show, like the pilots for different shows that are being done and oh, yeah. And then like the relationships and excuse me. And it's it's excellent. Man. Atlanta.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Atlanta.
Casey G. Smith.: It is, it is.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I don't know how they're going to close this out.
Casey G. Smith.: Lord.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, I good question.
Casey G. Smith.: It's just it's it's uh, there's nothing like it. Nothing like it. It'll be it'll be amazing to see how it influences other future filmmakers and what comes what comes out of it or after it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Agreed. It'd be cool to see, you know, stuff like this done, but like for other cities.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah. You know.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Agreed. Uh, one of the last things, um, I watched the She-Hulk episode 8.
Casey G. Smith.: Ah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: She-Hulk. And, um, this one, I was like, actually enjoyed this one. I enjoyed some of the other ones, some not so much, but this one more had finally had some action. Come on.
Casey G. Smith.: That's what I that's what I've heard a lot of people saying, like, they they've wanted that action.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith.: She-Hulk's been a been a different kind of build where you do have that, you've had that dichotomy of of the focusing on on the main actress, Jennifer Walters, there we go. Jen, and then, you know, She-Hulk gets some some play. But this one, yeah, spoiler alert for the Fast forward some more if you don't want this to be spoiled. Spoiler alert for She-Hulk. But this one, yeah, she actually gets into it and of course, we have the wonderful Charlie Cox returning as Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, kind of it's interesting when uh when we have these co-stars or somebody that's co-starring for for an episode, how it kind of elevates everything for for a little while and changes it, it changes uh the dynamics quite a bit. And so just the juxtaposition of how she would approach a battle and how Daredevil, how he would approach a battle, it's it's interesting for them to kind of jab each other about it.
Casey G. Smith.: What you're watching is been done in the comic books for years. It's called the team-up. The classic team-up. You literally like there were comic books that are that were called Marvel Team-Up, where you'd have different different characters you normally wouldn't see together, all of a sudden for whatever strange reason, they're literally put in a situation, they always have a misunderstanding and fight first and then they team up and take on the bad guys. Interesting. Classic. That's that that is the classic formula. Wow. We meet up. Hey, what are you doing here? What are you doing here? Are you the are you the the nuisance causing all this? Yeah. No, you're the nuisance. Let's fight. Boom boom. Oh, wait, you're not. Oh, there's the bad guy. Let's team up. Okay. Boom, get him.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It was it was interesting because like uh She-Hulk discovering Daredevil for the first time as he's doing his thing and she throws a car at him. Like, I said, this ain't going to end well, you know, if they keep going, he's done for it. Yeah. And she just does the She-Hulk clap, you know, the thunderclap. Thunderclap. Does that was like, oh, it's it's a wrap now.
Casey G. Smith.: When she did that, I was like, oh, his ears because I know he has that superhuman hearing. Yeah. And he even he even he even jokes about it. He goes, I have really good hearing, well, I used to. Like he has the way they play Daredevil in this because in in the Netflix series, he's very dark. Yeah. It's very dark. He has a couple of little lines here and there, but in this one, he's slightly turned up where he has his his humor is is the writing on this one was I thought was brilliant because he's he's nailing these one-liners. I'm like, I I like this slightly turned up more satirical version of Daredevil.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And it seems like it his character transitioned well into this universe. That's right. From Netflix to Marvel. Yes, his guy who knows the character, but he gets to be much lighter now. And it's still writing on I mean, I love the writing in She-Hulk, just the the comedy as a whole. So yeah, but they they nailed Daredevil. I wonder if he had, you know, if he helped with some of the lines and delivery, but it just like, we'll keep it. Yeah, it just it worked, man. It just worked. And then, yeah, I I like some of the lawyer talk, like with the the main character, the the guy who's playing the frog guy. He he's again, he's a character in the comics. He's uh frog-man in the in the comics. Ridiculous. Yeah, ridiculous. He's ridiculous in the comics too. Like, he's yeah. But uh, you know, and then again, that just using when when you know, when Matt Murdock comes into the courtroom, he's like, what kind of fuel did you use in those in those boots, right? Uh-huh. They're like, oh, I used jet fuel. And the the guy who made him was like, oh, like the instructions say not to. He's like, I know, no, no, I didn't. He's just yeah, you can't help with the guy. The rich kid can't help himself, you know, boasting about every single thing. The Lily the the Lily Pad. Yeah, I was like, oh man, this guy is this guy is uh dumb. Absolutely. Yeah, but yeah, I I I really enjoyed the episode and I I enjoyed during the credits, like just the drawings at the end, how they incorporate stuff from the episodes. Yeah. You know, Daredevil doing the walk of shame as he's leaving uh Jess's apartment. But then at the at the end, like it it's funny because I know there are probably people who are watching this show going in saying, oh, you know, She-Hulk this is that she's, you know, they're trying to make her as strong as the Hulk, this and that. And that's the exact group that's like in the show like to the incels, I like to call them the incels. Yeah. I'm like, this guy This guy's that need to get a girlfriend. Yeah, this is the show that's like literally anticipating the trolls and trolling the trolls, like within the show. Like that's meta. That's pretty smart. Yeah. Pretty smart. And yeah, so it'll be interesting to see how they uh how the season ends. Dang. How many more episodes do you know?
Casey G. Smith.: This should be the last episode coming up this Thursday.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. I'm here for it. Yeah, and I always watch this with the family. It's always a good time.
Casey G. Smith.: Nice, nice. Anything else?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, super quick.
Casey G. Smith.: Um, again, I watched the 007, the Sound of 007, a documentary on the music from James Bond. I watched the first James Bond, Dr. No. It was, okay. Um, I'd watched the latest season of Cobra Kai.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Don't tell me anything about it.
Casey G. Smith.: I will not say.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Just because I've been watching it with the family, so we're catching up. Awesome. Are you guys, uh,
Reginald Titus Jr.: We're still in season one, like episode five.
Casey G. Smith.: Season one, episode five? Yeah. Oh, I ain't saying a damn thing. Thank you. You're you're you're welcome. Abbet Elementary, that show's still hilarious. The Laker Dynasty still going. I think it's probably has one episode left. The Patient also on Hulu, still good. Black-ish, also I started Grown-ish as well, which has been actually pretty pretty good also. I got to the point where, spoiler alert for Black-ish, where the the the the oldest daughter had left for college. I started watching something, I'm like, damn, this is this is pretty grown. You know, it takes a takes a nice a nice turn. But uh, but that that actress is she's a she's a does a good job and she's she gets better. Her acting is getting better and better with uh the the these new episodes. So yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. Uh, well, let's jump back into the show.

The Monster Squad: Personal Connection and Marketing Challenges
Reginald Titus Jr.: Thank you for tuning in to Filmmaker Commentary. We're talking about the Monster Squad, 1987, directed by Fred Dekker. And let's jump into the synopsis. Count Dracula has until midnight to retrieve an ancient amulet that will give him final control over the delicate balance between good and evil in the world. To help him, the creepy count calls on some old friends: the Wolf Man, the Gill-Man, Mummy, and freaky Frankenstein. As the ghoulish group gets closer to the amulet, it's up to The Monster Squad, headquartered in the local treehouse, to pull its questionable resources and stop the monster mayhem. The Monster Squad. And if this is your first time listening to Filmmaker Commentary, please know that there will be spoilers. You've been forewarned.
Reginald Titus Jr.: How did you watch this film when it dropped in 1987?
Casey G. Smith.: I watched it after 1987, probably around maybe '89, maybe '90 even on good old HBO. And it quickly became one of my favorite favorite shows. As I said many a time as a kid, I used to love reading books on the original Universal monsters. And to see a film that had all of them in it, I was like, yes. Yes. This is perfect. I I I loved Monster Squad as a kid. How about you, Reginald?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Man, I didn't go to the theaters or anything to watch it, but just like you, like it was on HBO. It was on some cable show and it would just keep showing over and over again. Um, but Goonies was ingrained deep into my brain when this came around, so I I got, you know, Goonies is my top '80s film, you know, with a group of kids on an adventure. Um, but I do remember certain scenes from from this movie. So cable box and I, you know, it it was like a kind of like a fun time. But the vibe, I even caught the vibe back then, it was it was different. It didn't come off really too scary. You know, to me. Um, but yeah, I I do remember. It was cable. Watching it on the cable box over and over again. I remember the Gnarly scene and all that other stuff. So it was like certain things, but I couldn't remember everything that happened in the film. Like I did The Goonies.
Casey G. Smith.: This is one of those films because because it was coming on HBO, and again, this is back in the day, boys and girls, when there was no on-demand. When it came on HBO, that meant it was like live TV. And if you didn't know when it was coming on, you just kind of came upon it. Now, I remember I would I would just catch it like in the middle. So I didn't know how the freaking thing started. I would just see like, ah, what's going on? Oh, monsters. Oh, cool. Wolf Man, if it was Wolf Man, I was always down if there was a Wolf Man in it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And I I agree. Like when the Wolf Man, like what I was always same. Like around the transformation part. I think that's what caught me. I was like, I'm going to stay on this channel. Yeah. He's dude transforming in a in a phone booth. And done well. Yeah. Like, yo, I was always cheering for the Wolf Man. And then wait, he gets blown up and then comes back together. That's right. Only a silver bullet. That's true. Like, wow. I didn't know he could survive an explosion though. Like that. Yeah. And I and I and I I the Dracula in this is my favorite version of Dracula. That's just the way he looks because he's he's channeling the Bela Lugosi look. Yeah. But he but he's got he's but he's not I'm like this is this Dracula. I just yeah, I love the way he he pulls off his his thing and he said, dynamite touting Dracula. That's for sure. Uh, this time around, I actually got the Blu-ray. So I got the Blu-ray, movie train coming and ended up having it. 20th 20th anniversary went to Irvin, got it. I was like, I'm we in there. It was 20 bucks. Used.
Casey G. Smith.: See, I only ended up with the DVD uh at uh movie train in Arlington. I would I would I would have really liked to have gotten the Blu-ray.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, getting the how I'm curious how how it looked on your end.
Casey G. Smith.: It it um, it looked fantastic. Uh, the transfer was spectacular like you couldn't outside of some '80s slang and some other things, like like it could have been made yesterday, honestly.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith.: They I think they really tried not to have too many things that that would that would make it beholden to the time period.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It looks fantastic. It looks great. Like the Blu-ray transfer is real nice and I definitely appreciate that.
Casey G. Smith.: This was one that was just far as like this is this is a testament I think to how how much of a cult classic it is, because when I tried to find it on Amazon, and once I found out which version had the right commentary, because there's there's another version out there, even the Blu-ray doesn't have the commentary. So I was very cautious when I I message, okay, this is the version to get.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. The 20th anniversary.
Casey G. Smith.: That 20th anniversary. I do appreciate that. I would have got snapped for the wrong one.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. I would have got snapped for the wrong one.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah, because I looked on Amazon and they had a they had this version, the 20th anniversary, but it was like 60 bucks or something like that. I was like,
Reginald Titus Jr.: Hey, trip.
Casey G. Smith.: What the heck. But it was it was a little tougher to track down. So once I once I saw that they had the DVD, I was like, no, I will just I'll just I'm going to cut my losses. I will just take this. It was like 11 bucks. I was like, all right, okay. I'll I'll I'll I'll go with the the lesser quality. Um, maybe I'll upgrade later.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. It looks good. It's worth the upgrade. Um, I ended up watching this with the kids. Um, it was a whole family situation.
Casey G. Smith.: Nice, nice. What what did they think?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, my oldest one, he's 14, so he was like, he was in there. He watched the whole thing and was able to catch some of the reference stuff for like old kids when they talk about virginity and stuff like that. He, you know, he's catching those jokes. My middle kids, seven, nine years old, they're just like, they're dialed in. He's like, But like, uh, and then my daughter, she's four, so she was kind of like kind of scared a little bit on certain parts, but yeah, they were all into it though. But I said, so what do you think, you know, between this and Goonies, because they saw Goonies. And they were like, I like Goonies, I like Goonies. And my son, my older son, he's like, I like Goonies. This one seemed short.
Casey G. Smith.: It is. Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: He even called like some editing, something wrong with some of the editing. He says, the editing's kind of weird on the on on one of the parts. I got to look at that. I.

In-Depth Film Analysis and Themes
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. Yeah. So, I was like, huh. he specifically the scene with uh when they meet the when they're in the with the German guy and they're at his house. He says something with the editing's off on one of the parts. I guess it was a continuity error that he caught.
Casey G. Smith.: Nice.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But anyhow, but yeah, but at the end of the day, they still, they still enjoyed it.
Casey G. Smith.: Very cool. The new generation introduced to Monster Squad.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Even Isaiah, he's like, yeah, it reminds me of Chunk. Like the the little kid, he's like, you know,
Casey G. Smith.: That's like that's a that's a trope.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It is. Um, what did you like or not like about the film?
Casey G. Smith.: I like again, like I said before, I like I like the monsters. The fact that we get all of them from all the Universal movies, we get them all grouped together. The only one missing was, well, I'd say Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde, but he wasn't really Universal, uh part of Universal. But um, but yeah, all the monsters together and again, it's you know, '80s kids. Like again, I'm a child of the '80s. So when I see them with with kids from the '80s coming together, you know, no black kids, but yeah. Yeah, you kind of get what you get. Yeah. Goonies Goonies didn't have any either.
Reginald Titus Jr.: This Asian guy, that's it.
Casey G. Smith.: Yeah, you got second. Okay, well, yeah, it's what it is. But we had a yeah, we had a black guy, but we had to kill him. And he was a police officer. Oh, damn. Really? Crying out loud. I didn't I didn't think about that until I watched commentary. I was like, oh, man. Why they do the brothers like this? I was like, yeah, it's the '80s. Trope. Okay. I'll put it down as a trope. It's two black people in the whole movie. One's a one's a reporter on the on the TV. Yeah. And then the other's a brother. The cop.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Blown to bits.
Casey G. Smith.: Blown to bits by Dracula.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, some of the acting at sometimes felt was kind of shotty sometimes with the kids. Um, and that and I remember listening to the commentary on Goonies, how they were kind of saying, you know, it was rough, you know, kind of acting, you know, directing the kids as actors. Yeah, should have been a little more solid, you know, for sure. Limited amount of time you have to work with them also because of the, you know, the certain laws in place with child actors. You only can work with them so many hours and even when it's night time, it's it's very it's very uh protected and controlled. That's should be. Yeah. And so it made me think, like, man, they probably could have did a couple more takes. And sometimes it's maybe like you just need more takes, you know, some some it felt like especially our our squad leaders, he's like, sometimes it was like overacting, like, yeah, that's what I mean, you know, it was just like, just a little bit. maybe a couple more takes would have been fine, but they just took a interesting take. So sometimes it could be awful. But as a kid, you don't really think about that part of it, you know, watching it, it's still entertaining, but I was like, some some things a little just from a technical standpoint. I'm like, we could have did another take of that. Yeah. Uh, I think yeah, I think they had a couple of lines that deliver that might be a little a little strong. But I guess as a leader, he was trying his best to show uh authority or whatever it might be, but yeah, I don't know if did you think about the cop chemistry. I don't know. Did you think they were vibing the chemistry there? Watching it watching it now, it seemed a little like the the the the the brother, he seemed a little a little over the top. Yeah. At times some of the reaction the dialogue felt a little a little more forced. Yeah. In watching this time like, yeah. I didn't I didn't give it too much thought. I was like, okay, they're they're they're ancillary to to playing background to to the kids. But uh, yeah, what about you? I think it felt like the chemistry was off. It um, not that they were not acting well. It just seemed chemistry. And I remember Reginald Hudlin was talking about uh in Boomerang. Even with the smaller parts, when you're casting them, you have to spend time casting that correctly because, you know, amalgamation of everything that uh collectively it could uh give the wrong, you know, the wrong vibe. And that's why I kind of felt with some when you kind of break out and start looking at these different characters, like, something's not right here. I don't believe them as, you know, a partner. Partner. Yeah, I don't believe them. But, you know, I think by themselves are fine. Uh, but them as together, I didn't really, I didn't really uh, buy it. I guess maybe the the the schism that exists is because, you know, having to consider like real monsters being in your in your town. And these crazy stories happening where one is going to be like, this is, how do you expect me to believe this. And then that makes you question your partner. Yeah. Like, I don't know, maybe maybe it's because there's a schism throughout that that chemistry's interrupted. Don't know. Therefore it seems disjointed, or maybe it's just performance. I didn't yeah, I didn't believe them. I didn't want to go on the I didn't want to go on the ride with them. Maybe hang out with Dracula more or somebody else, but I didn't want to hang out with the cops. I ain't want to hang out with the monsters. You like the Dracula, like that guy, that actor killed it, you know what I mean? Dude. Yeah. But like some characters, like, we can just hang out here. Even Frankenstein killed it, you know what I mean? Like, yeah. You know, so like on the don't even say words, you know what I mean? Like, scary. Boogus. So, um, but I did like the look of the film. Yeah. Shot anamorphic. It looks pristine. Nice. I'm going to have to access to the digital version of it to uh take it in its glory. Yes. If I can remember, I'll bring one over. And, um, the score, I didn't feel like like reminded me of Goonies in certain parts. I was like, oh, that guy has a Spielbergian quality like to some of his shows. But maybe I maybe it's just the '80s trope like that. That felt the the strings that come in, you know. Yeah, I was like, and the little sprinkles, whatever those. Maybe it's just maybe more like a John Williams kind of vibe to it. Yeah. Yeah. I thought it was a solid solid score, man. Yeah, score was good. Some of the music cues. '80s. It's '80s. It's it's tropeish. The the Monster Squad rap at the end. I used to love that as a kid. Now I'm like, me and I was playing it. My son we were listening to it. I was like, it sounds like the dude's like reading the lyrics. This is just like, sounds like, huh? I I googled I googled Monster Squad rap and let me show you the guy who uh who did perform this. I said, this guy, it sounds like a old white guy is what it sounded like. He Here is a story that I once I was like, he's reading this. I said, you can't do rap like hip hop like that. Higher who was hot at that time in the '80s. Fresh Prince, uh higher any of those. L.L. Cool J. Dude, higher one of those guys. The sugar crew or the Sugar Hill Gang. Yes. Cause I mean, it was in that style, but it just wasn't present. Oh, that is beautiful. Oh, man. Bruce Brockton. Oh, man. He did the rap. Uh, it sounds like he looks. This ain't Halloween or no funny deal. They've been playing for keeps. They've been playing for real. Oh, my goodness. That makes so much sense. Monster Squad. Oh, yeah. I it just seems like, bring in the horsemen. Sha. They ain't got no money. Jack. They ain't got no fancy cars. Jack. They equally love and hate that. That ain't nothing but the Devil Cross. Why Monster always crossing over? Why can't they cross with us? Oh, that makes so much sense. Uh, it's just a different energy when you, you know, when you have this guy doing the rap and I I I want to know the story how this happened. Um, but it's different when you versus when you get Bobby Brown doing the uh Ghostbusters thing or someone that like that's their thing. It's just different. The energy is totally different. And you can tell when the credit is not it's not hitting hard like it's supposed to. It's not hitting at all. We're the Monster Squad. Then the then the music drops. He's like, it's like It's it's it's commercial, but kind of in the wrong kind of way. It's only uh yeah. But it's also, I mean, budget. I mean, $12 million budget. Good try. Yeah, $12 million budget. It's what you It's what you get. Yeah. Give him the go. It was a good go. Yeah. Oh man. Oh man. I love it. Um, commentary. What do you think? Uh, what do you think about the commentary? Which ones did you listen to?

Tropes, Trivia, and Production Insights
Casey G. Smith.: Uh, listen to both commentaries. So this 20th uh version 20th anniversary edition has quite a number of features. If I run through those real quick. Two audio commentaries, one with the writer/director Fred Dekker along with Andre Gower, the uh, excuse me. Yeah, along with the actors Andre Gower, Ryan Lambert and Ashley Bank. As well as an additional audio commentary with the director along with the DP Bradford May. That was the one that's worth listening to. The one with the with the actors is is okay. Again, as we find in in most uh most commentaries. Um, if you want to hear from the actors, I recommend watching the five-part docu-series that's on this um edition called Monster Squad Forever. It's a five-part retrospective featuring new interviews with writer/director Fred Dekker, actors Andre Gower, Ryan Lambert, Ashley Bank, Duncan Regehr who played Dracula, and Tom Noonan who played Frankenstein. Good. Then there's a conversation with Frankenstein where you have uh Tom Noonan in character still dressed as Frankenstein doing an interview as Frankenstein. Couple deleted scenes that, you know, really aren't uh they they're okay. Uh, the original theatrical and TV spots. There's a still gallery. Uh yeah, and then just some just technical technical stuff as far as the presentation of the film and the sound.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, I I listened to the commentary with the director and the DP and got I enjoyed that commentary. Um, which it was more like kind of filmmaker take. But, um, , I think that one was uh, I liked that one. That commentary was good. Um, what do you feel, like, what kind of tone were they trying to hit with this film?
Casey G. Smith.: It's horror comedy. Like this is uh this is a a horror comedy. And uh, the director even says that he was again, obviously a big fan of the Universal Monster movies, but in particular, he was also a fan of like the Little Rascals, shows like that growing up as a kid. But also for him, like the the pin ultimate film for him was Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Okay. And within that, if I'm not mistaken, there are not necessarily the original actors playing the the Universal Monsters, but there's a bunch of of Universal Monsters within that film that make appearances. Okay. That make appearances. And so this kind of pulls from that obviously with the number of monsters we see that are universal inspired, even though they had to make changes because Universal, they they didn't want to take on the film. So they had to make adjustments to how the monsters look to not, you know, straight copyright infringe. Yeah. And I think that add to that tone when the we hear we see the backstory, we get to read it. The backstory, it's black black backdrop, red letters. And he's talking about the back drop of the history of everything that's going on. And how they were going to save, you know, the world from being becoming all evil and then says, they blew it. And so it's like, okay, there's the comedy, you know, start to, it could be dark and then, okay, some comedy. Then we go into seeing Dracula wake up and, you know, he's a bat with these he with these red eyes that are glowing. They're like beaming pretty heavy. Especially on the Blu-ray when you see it, it's like, man, it's pretty good. Um, and then we see that there's this mob squad that that goes into, where were they going? They they had the, it was a castle, it was a castle. That's right. Dracula's castle in Transylvania, led by Van Helsing. Van Helsing. And so, uh, they had Those dynamite, they're pretty handy with it. They fight with that TNT. Dude, they're like, these large, like they blow up and they go into it. And then soon as they go into this castle, we see this woman, who's a obviously a vampire with these jacked up eyes eating a possum. And in her mouth, you can see some of the meat from the possum. Disgusting. Yeah. And they're for blood, you you get desperate. Man. And then they shoot her in the heart, of course, with stake to the hot. Yeah, with the with the with the bow and arrow. But um, that was the opening and so my daughter was kind of afraid on that part. Yeah. But it was disgusting to see the possum in her mouth and she takes a chunk out of it and it's there. He's like, ah, he's just sitting there. Um, so I think they they they were able to establish their tone very well. Having the dark, a little bit of the comedy. Um, when I when I think of it again, watching the film now, I'm like, okay, this is this is Goonies meets the Universal Monsters. Yeah. Like that's that's how that's yeah, that's how I see it. I'm like, okay, this has has those vibes all all coming together. The only thing you don't have, well, you don't have any older teenage girls kind of except for that one kid's sister. Right. Who's supposed to be the virgin. Right. Supposed to be. Parentheses. Uh, but you don't really kind of have that that that romantic tension. I mean, you know, Rudy, yeah, kind of crushed on her, but you don't have that romantic tension throughout. That kind of separates it from Goonies some. Yeah. But again, the film moves so quick. It's like, I was like, you know, you ain't got time for that. Yeah, yeah, you ain't got time for that. So. Uh, do you like the style, uh, the anamorphic style, how they say it's like elegant and old-fashioned. And it still holds up. Like they talk about how it it holds up. I I do like that about the style. What kind of style did you think they were kind of achieving? Uh, definitely again, like you said, anamorphic. You can see it in some of the the the flares of of of light and especially when there's there's different uh beams and flashes, whether it's the bat size or whether it's the amulet itself when it's when it's glowing and flickering its rays of light. But also the film does a good job of going from from warm to from cool to warm, uh, at different times, especially kind of letting you know it's a bit of a lighter film when you often see the kids during the daytime. It's it's really, really warm. There's a really good scene where Dracula comes to the cell. He has Frankenstein in and it's cool from where Dracula is coming from, but it's warm, it's it's no, wait, obviously wait, it's it's cool inside Frankenstein's cell. But what where Dracula is coming in, it's it's warmer. And so you kind of see this blend of those, uh, in that in that scene. They point that out in in the commentary. Yeah. Agreed. And I you and I as a kid didn't really realize why things looked the way they look, you know, oh, this was on purpose. Like, you know, they lit it a certain way, uh, to give us a feeling. Um, so when you see some of the darker films like the Lost Boys and things like that, you're like, oh, they're going for horror, you know, stay dark. And so, okay, the light is actually more inviting to bring children into it. But it yeah, Goonies felt darker, you know, going back into that. I was like, it it felt like they spent most of the time underground. Yeah. I mean, yeah, once once you and once you're, yeah, underground, like you're there for yeah, for pretty, pretty good, uh, pretty good chunk. Yeah, you know, I think that would probably would have saved him had they had an umbrella. And plus the air where they're at is more overcast. Kind of in what Oregon? Yeah. Yeah, it was like raining. So that also brought in that kind of dark vibe. Uh, but you don't see the light in the movie, which is a visual thing as well. Yeah, the style. Resolution. But also there's a there's a good amount of camera movement. Even even when like in other ways of shooting things, you may not have camera in this in this there there there is different camera movement. There's even, uh, in the scene where they're sitting with the scary, scary German guys, as they as they call them. Um, when he's sitting on the couch and they're they're they're starting to read the the book of Van Helsing and and and translating it. And then there's a slow push in. And then like when you do that, it's good to have a complimentary version of that. And so they have a reverse where they're then pushing in on the on the on the kids. So yeah, so good good uh camera movement going on as well. Absolutely. Uh it's kind of yeah, well, we'll go into that in a little bit. But he also talked about uh for style that they like to shoot backlit whenever whenever they can. And perfect example is that when the kids are outside when they're leaving the German guy's house and the lighting's hitting, they're on the porch looking at the German guy and the light's hitting them from the back. So um that was purposely a style they were kind of going for. All right, themes. Yes. Themes. Okay, there's a theme of friendship. Yeah, absolutely. And family. Mhm. As well as redemption. Mhm. That's what I got. How about you? I I couldn't find. I mean, I'm sure there's some, but it just wasn't too many that was like glaring. Uh that that I was looking for. Um, yeah, so I'll move on. All right, moving on. Uh, I do have a a bit for like director point of view in that they were trying to do have a colorful palette in what they were shooting, visual with their visual style. Like like when we look at uh the movie The Crow. You we see how they were purposely like a lot of the colors were muted in their in the art direction, in the clothing, things that they were wearing. It was it was muted and only certain colors they wanted to pop out. Um, and this one, as you see, the kids wear everything. All kinds of colors are showing up on the screen. They say, yeah, we wanted a colorful palette. And that's just to kind of get the movie to to be more inviting. Um, and they were also going for more of a real look, even though it wasn't necessarily the director's style. I think that was something that was kind of from the executive Peter Hiaman, Hiam. Yeah. Hiam. He was 27 when he directed this movie. That's what I said. Okay, that's not true. Um, at one point the costume designer who they say was a little bit of a jerk, actually, uh, not, no, the costume designer glued Frank's mouth shut. The Frankenstein monster's mouth shut. As a I don't know, as a gag or something like that. Interesting. Um, this was most of the effects, no, all the effects were non-digital and handmade. Mhm. Tom, who's one of the costume designers, also played Gill-Man in the film. Nice. Um, our guy Jason Hervey, who was Fred Savage's Fred Savage from Wonder Years. Yeah. Yeah, he was his brother, his older brother. Kind of still playing that kind of like bullyish older brother, in a way. In The Wonder Years. Wonder Years. Man. Yeah. I used to watch that show all the time. Oh, would you do if I sang out of tune?

Final Thoughts and Conclusion
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, so one of the guys on set was actually knocked out and had blood squirting out of his forehead. He was playing one of the officers. And during the fight with Gill-Man, he got nailed in the head and he had rivets um in his hat that was just holding the badge on it. And when he hit the ground, he went unconscious. So then when they took the hat off him, like the two rivets had gone into his forehead and then blood was like squirting out of his forehead. That's disgusting. Yeah. Uh, they had some issues with the blocking of the iconic treehouse. They had issues with that at first trying to get around with the cameras in there. Mhm. Liam Neeson was originally cast as Dracula. That would have been interesting. Yeah. That's all I have for trivia. I got just a couple more. Uh, Tom, who played Dracula, and excuse me, Tom who played Frankenstein and Duncan who played Dracula, both stayed in character while they were on set. Wow. So the kids, they never like, even even Rudy said when he was he there was a there was shooting a scene and he was just sitting there with Tom and he's like, okay, you know, so, you know, how are you doing? Yaada yaada and the whole time Tom stayed stayed as Frankenstein. I like it. He was like, look, man, I get it. I get you know, you're being method. He goes, but come on, man. But nope, he didn't break. Didn't break. I like that. Some some actors need that, you know what I mean? Stay in that zone. You know, I mean. They felt that helped keep the kids kind of on edge. I think it did. Um, I mean mentioned earlier, but there's a documentary called Wolf Man's Got Nards, just a 2018 documentary that uh that spawned based on the resurgence of the collect that that spawned the resurgence in Monster Squad's popularity and the the release of the collector's edition. Okay. Yeah. That's all I got for trivia. I got a just couple more. Uh, Tom, who played Dracula, and excuse me, Tom who played Frankenstein and Duncan who played Dracula, both stayed in character while they were on set. Wow. So the kids, they never like, even even Rudy said when he was he there was a there was shooting a scene and he was just sitting there with Tom and he was like, okay, you know, so, you know, how are you doing? Yaada yaada and the whole time Tom stayed stayed as Frankenstein. I like it. He was like, look, man, I get it. I get you know, you're being method. He goes, but come on, man. But nope, he didn't break. Didn't break. I like that. Some some actors need that, you know what I mean? Stay in that zone. You know, that's what I'm saying. Like he probably would have survived, maybe. I think he's got a he's got a he's got a pretty awesome ride. Yeah. That can transparently pass through other vehicles on the highway. Like, what? Uh. I don't think we're going to win this one, guys. Yeah. We got too much going on. Um. Manley for the mummy. Mummy, get your slow ass in here. Come on. Drive. I got to drive this guy around. Yeah. Oh, man. Um, my my my other my last question is, uh, because we talked about this, Jackie. How come Dracula couldn't break free from Van Helsing's fairly, fairly casual, hey, buddy, grip around his around his throat. But then, after watching it again, I'm like, okay, a couple things happened to Dracula. He took some damage. Yeah. He did land on the initial rail spike fence spike when when Dracula gave him the uppercut. Yeah. And then Sean, when he grabs Sean to to pull him into the vortex, Sean grabs a wooden stake and drives it into his heart. Uh-huh. Now, it doesn't that that that's. You don't see it while he's in the vortex. Exactly. That's a mistake. It doesn't show when he's in the vortex. Clearly that that, you know, post or whatever. They have them a few times with them. When that stake doesn't show. Yeah. Dracula just, you know, he's just pristine again. Like, it's it's a he's a he's a beautiful shot and I do like the master shot to actually in this. And it kind of gives him more leeway from from a director standpoint. Nice, nice. So you can hire actors who can't read, but, you know, you have to have them memorize their lines. So Phoebe, when she played the role, she wasn't able to read yet. And so her mom would work with her to help her memorize the lines. Good for them. Cuz she, I mean, she had she was bringing the charisma on this one. She was. The the scene that that that kind of endears you to her early on is when when Horace, you know, calls her Phoebe the Fee or something like that. And then she gives a real sad face. Like, it's like, oh, this is a little kid. Like that that that instantly kind of ingrained you to her. Like, okay. She's just a little kid, you know, a little kid, you know. Absolutely. Uh, that's all I have for maker tips. I didn't get too many. Uh, just I got two more. So this is in relation to once again, Peter Hiams, the the executive uh producer. Um, if you are an executive producer and you hire a director, then then, you know, let them direct. Yeah. Uh, even though I'm had had a lot of experience and Decker looked up to him as a mentor and they they still had a good relationship going forward. But, uh, the DP, you know, he made mention of that in the commentary. And pardon me again, a good DP will offer complimentary shots, which I I mentioned earlier in the scene with the the old German guy when the kids are in his house eating pie. Yeah. Where they have one push-in shot on him and they do a reverse one pushing in on the kids. Yeah. That's a beautiful film. And that that scene is actually kind of funny when he says, you want pie? And then the fat kid starts smiling. Like, all right. Playing up the trope. Yes. Uh, , good film. It it was entertaining. Uh, looks good. Um, holds up. I purchased it. So, definitely going to be playing this back. Uh, especially to get some tips from just how they were doing some of their blocking, especially on a limited budget. Uh, but yeah, good. Yes, sir. It's a a cult classic. Monster Squad, if you haven't seen it before, I don't know if you'd listen to this episode, but it's a it's it's a fun one. It's a fun one. Again, it holds up pretty well. Aside from some of the some of the language that's that's dated. That's that's from the '80s. Yeah. Yeah, but that that's that's being real to the to the time. And how kids talked then. I heard kids. Oh man, kids are still rough. Yeah. They would just dropping to the left and right. But the director, this uh time stamps this when they recorded it was 2007 when they recorded this audio. He actually says the word. And so it's like, you know, he's like, hey, that's how they that's how they would talk, you know, sometimes people are too, you know, as things get more politically correct. Don't go back and try to change certain things. I mean, things are they are what they are. Yeah, that's I mean, that that really that's that's how it was in in the '80s. That uh sensitivity was was not there. Um, but, you know, times times have changed. But yeah, it it is a that's that's one of the few things that dates the film, but it it is reality. So going in, just so you know. Uh, what are we watching next time? Next time, we're going to take you to the hood with some Tales from the Hood. Okay. This is '90s. Yes, sir. Oh, it's been a while since I've seen Tales from the Hood. I know it sounds bad. But it sounds good. Yes, sir. Domino. Yes. Where's that brother at? I don't know. The ghetto jam. Uh, and you can catch us where? Facebook.com, for, actually, you know what? What? One thing that we didn't mention. Uh oh. This episode of Filmmaker Commentary has been brought to you by Natural Hit the Movie by Grand Rematter Films, available to stream on All Black TV and now for free on Tubi. Please check it out and leave a review. Speaking of that, you can find us on Facebook.com/filmmakercommentary. We're on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio, and on Spotify. He is on Twitter @ReggieTitus. I am on Twitter @KCGSmith32. We are also on the gram @filmmakercommentary. He is at Reginald Titus Jr., that's Jr. And I'm at KCG Smith 32. Until next time. Peace. Respect.
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Full Episode Transcript
This episode of Filmmaker Commentary dives into Fred Dekker's 1987 cult classic, "The Monster Squad," discussing its initial box office failure, enduring legacy, and detailed production insights, alongside current industry news and other film/TV recommendations.

Opening Discussion and Film Overview
Reginald Titus Jr.: Filmmaker Commentary, episode 147. Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary, where we cover movies with commentaries from directors who take the time to record them on Blu-ray and DVDs. We also give our detailed insights, so look out for spoilers. We discuss the latest in showbiz news along with movies and TV shows that we've been watching. So join Reginald Titus Jr. That's me. And K.C.G. Smith. That's me. Every week here on Filmmaker Commentary.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Welcome to another episode of Filmmaker Commentary. I'm Reginald Titus Jr., I'm joined with K.C.G. Smith. Welcome back, sir.
Casey G. Smith: Good to be back, sir.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And today we're talking about Monster Squad, 1987, directed by Fred Dekker, written by Shane Black and Fred Dekker. What do we have for budget and box office for Monster Squad?
Casey G. Smith: So for Monster Squad on a $12 million budget, it had a whopping $3.8 million worldwide gross at the box office.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, cuz I didn't expect that.
Casey G. Smith: Neither did I.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That's a nail.
Casey G. Smith: That is a crash and burn.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow. Did it get any awards?
Casey G. Smith: So, Monster Squad did get nominated for four awards, and it had three wins. One not coming until 2008 at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films for Best DVD Classic Film Release. And then also it won for the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, also in 1988 for the Silver Raven Award. And then also in '88, the Young Artist Awards for Outstanding Young Actors/Actresses Ensemble in Television or Motion Picture.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. What was like the sentiment at the time? Were like, what were some of the people thinking about this film and
Casey G. Smith: Not too much because not many people saw it. The sentiment was that because when they saw the trailer, parents thought it was too scary for their kids to see, so they didn't take them. And the kids, yeah, they didn't get taken to see. So it was they, they, they kind of canceled each other out. The the marketing canceled out both audiences. The kids thought it was too, I don't know, too, too whatever. But uh, so yeah, no, nobody ended up really seeing it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So the parents thought it was too scary for kids, and then the adults thought it was for kids.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow.
Casey G. Smith: So, wow. So yeah, therefore just bad, bad marketing. Bad, bad positioning.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I didn't even check the trailer out to kind of see what the trailer looked like at the time.
Casey G. Smith: I did. I checked it out. I was like, I mean, I mean, I thought it would be okay. I guess at the time it uh, you could see some of the the humor elements within it mixed with the the horror, which is kind of what it's a blend of. Again, I feel like it's kind of like, you know, Goonies meets horror.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Goonies meets The Boys. What was The Lost Boys.
Casey G. Smith: Ooh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But they were in high school.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. Yeah, it's kind of like in the vein of Ghostbusters, where you've got the the comedy and the horror kind of blending together.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, but uh, didn't uh, didn't quite get that that word of mouth to keep it going, but it it did find its audience in the uh, the home in the home. Home, home release.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Home release. It would be cool to see what those, of course, we already talked about that, just what those numbers are because I mean, to this day, I mean, this is, you know, got the you got it on DVD, got it on Blu-ray, it's streaming, like it's making money. So.
Casey G. Smith: This is one of those films that once I saw it as a kid, I I I instantly loved it. And then years later when I would see it pop up, like, oh man, Monster Squad, it's one of those things that instantly gives me nostalgia. Oh, Monster Squad. Yeah. Just good vibes. Every time I when I would think about it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Good stuff. But before we talk further about Monster Squad, let's talk about TV, news, and movies watched.

Industry News and Recent Watches
Reginald Titus Jr.: What you got in the news, sir?
Casey G. Smith: So in the news, we'll start a little bit on a on a a dour note. I want to talk about the the passing of the founder of Deadline. Uh, who unfortunately has passed away. I'm trying to pull up the article.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's all right. We can go to another news if we don't have it.
Casey G. Smith: It was there, but there's a lot more that's come in since since then and it's like way, way down the feed. All right, so I'll come back to that in a moment. But at the box office, uh, the film Smile is still uh, taking a bite out of the box office according to The Hollywood Reporter, uh, raking in around uh, 17.6 mil. And unfortunately, Amsterdam bombs, and they say Lyle, Lyle, the Crocodile limps.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Amsterdam?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, that's a a new film that has uh, Margot Robbie in it. It has Christian, I think Christian Bale, yeah, Christian Bale, and also uh, David Michael Washington. It's kind of a, it's like set maybe in the '30s or so.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, I thought that was a, I didn't know that was being dropped on '30s. Hmm.
Casey G. Smith: Yes. David O. Russell film.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Um, I thought that was a Netflix direct film, or maybe I just got it mixed up.
Casey G. Smith: You know, it's uh, it is, it is.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a period piece.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, period piece.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I I don't think I've seen the trailer.
Casey G. Smith: I I'd seen the trailer. I was like, oh, okay, this looks like, you know, again, it looks like a David O. Russell thing. It looks it looks like it would be fun. Uh, I did I did want to check it out. Come on, Amsterdam.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Amsterdam. Um, uh, as we're talking about box office, if you look for that, um, uh, looks like Woman King made its money back, it's right title, right? Yes. Woman King, uh, basically made its budget back and I think it's a little bit over. It was a $50 $50 million budget, and it's currently around like 60-something. Um, and so like two days ago, as of this recording, um, yeah, made its money back. So, you know, that's a relief. Depends on like your perspective on it. Gina Prince-Bythewood, who's the director, you know, was kind of basically saying that she saw no other choice but to be successful with this film just because, um, having a woman action film like and just action films with with, you know, black actors, it just doesn't happen. And if you have, you know, these failures at the box office, then you kind of don't get your your time at bat. Um, on the flip side, um, I don't know if y'all know out there that with this film, there was like some controversy, um, just kind of with the history of those warriors. Um, you know, they were they were kind of known for, which I didn't know until, you know, this movie came out and people started talking about it was that these warriors, which is kind of loosely based on the the Black Panther uh warriors, the Dora Milaje. Yeah, so when you see them, uh, you know, Black Panther, oh my god, where did this come from, bald heads, and the kicking brick and stuff like that. So they're loosely based on this on this tribe out of Africa, and, uh, so you kind of think of it from an inspirational standpoint, like, oh man, that's pretty cool. You know, but upon further research, um, that, you know, they were responsible for like basically crimes against humanity, you know, uh, finding slaves and selling them to their European counterparts. And, uh, it's a very, very tragic story to this day. And, um, Lupita Nyong'o, who who they actually tapped to kind of be in the film, she had did a documentary on it in 2019 and kind of discovered, you know, a lot of this stuff because, you know, she didn't, some of the history she didn't know about. But, you know, got to hear firsthand accounts from the descendants. And, you know, she was crying on documentary and she actually turned down the role for for moral reasons. So, it's one of those movies that are at the box office that's kind of like got, you know, the audience kind of like, oh, I don't know. Kind of like a torn audience there because you want it to win, but then you don't want to to win for the wrong reasons.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, well, I mean, I guess that's one of those things when you look at any kind of uh pick that's biographical in nature, the with any real living person, like everybody has darkness or or skeletons and even and and then the portrayal of it's always a question of how much, how much of that do you do you show, whether it's, you know, whether it's Elvis or Michael Jackson or Martin Luther King. It's like, okay, how much of the of the the the not so known or popular or or less moral things are you gonna show in relation to that to that person's legacy. Right. Um, yeah, that's a that's a that's a tough call. Um, that's interesting though. I I I didn't know that the latter part.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: About the influence. I I didn't know anything about the Woman King as it was, but I didn't know about the influence or uh potential inspiration for the Dora Milaje as as warriors. Um, based upon uh that that tribe. What was the name of that tribe again?
Reginald Titus Jr.: A Joli. A Joli.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. Very fascinating.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Hopefully I'm saying that name right.
Casey G. Smith: Uh, so I did find that other article, uh, again, according to Deadline itself, unfortunately the the the passing of the founder Nikki Finke, uh, who uh, was again the founder of Deadline. Uh, she was 68. That's still that's pretty young. Uh, and uh, she founded Deadline back in 2006 and was considered kind of a disruptor within the industry. Uh, and um, yeah, so just respect for uh, what she was able to put together in Deadline. It's a a solid consistent source of of industry reporting and journalism. So, rest in peace, one Nikki Finke, and may uh, Deadline continue on.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Indeed.
Casey G. Smith: So what have you been watching, Reginald?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Dude, I there's a I got a couple of trailers. Um, there's a trailer that popped up. It's called, Is That Black Enough for You?
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, and it's our brother Elvis Mitchell, who's a commentary, well-known commentator on film, film critic, well-known film critic. He's a brother that has a long like uh gray uh locks. Um, he's he's been contributing to film for years and years and years. Very deep database, knowledge-base of just almost all films. Oh yeah. Um, but I didn't but I was like, man, I I remember listening to him talk to uh uh Lawrence Fishburne and just kind of seeing how they were vibing and kind of going back through old knowledge and old films. And even hanging, he's, you know, Tarantino, the things that Tarantino throws out, most people can't catch, you know, but Elvis Mitchell, he's catching all that. And so, uh, I was like, man, it would be cool if he was to make a film one day, some kind of way. And sure enough, you know, he has a film that's coming out on Netflix, I think in a few weeks. Uh, I don't have the exact date, but it's called, Is That Black Enough for You, which is kind of like a deep dive into the history of uh black actors, black directors in film.
Casey G. Smith: Heck yeah. Heck yeah. I I love seeing those. It's like, um, there was that one that was on Netflix a couple years back that they got to have us.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, yeah, yeah. I remember that one, Barry Jenkins and Ava DuVernay. That was a good one.
Casey G. Smith: I thought that would be like a docu-series, like I thought there would be more more episodes of that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, I was I was anticipating more of that.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, maybe something happened. But no, yeah, Elvis, man, he's he definitely knows his stuff. I enjoy when I I would hear him on on NPR. Uh, yeah, his knowledge is absolutely on point. And just his his insights on things that he watches, like, oh, that reminds me of, boom. And he's like, oh, this guy's taking it deep. I appreciate that. Uh, man, I've been taking in a couple of things. I I took in on uh Disney Plus. They had a special called Werewolf by Night.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh oh.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, Werewolf by Night.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's on Disney. On Disney. Okay.
Casey G. Smith: It's it's it's their darkest, no, let me take that back. Logan is the darkest thing on on Disney Plus. But as far as original MCU content, this is the darkest. It's about 40, 45 minutes long. But it dives into the kind of more monstrous uh creatures of the night kind of element of of Marvel. That's existed in the comic books for for years. Werewolf by Night has been around since the since the '70s. Uh, but it's all but the the special's all in black and white.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Casey G. Smith: And directed by Michael Giacchino, who's mainly known for his his scores and his music. And of course, he did score it, but he also directed it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ah.
Casey G. Smith: Pretty cool. Pretty cool. I would encourage you to give it a give it a look. I'd love to to hear your your insights.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, keep it a go. It's October, so it's time.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, there's some pretty, I thought there were some pretty cool reveals in it as well that I I was not expecting. I was like, okay. All right. Anyway, so yeah, Werewolf by Night.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I had a trailer. Um, another trailer. Um, what's our guy in Stranger Things, the main love interest, the cop, uh big guy. I can't think of his name, the actor.
Casey G. Smith: That's uh David Harbour.
Reginald Titus Jr.: David Harbour? Yeah, David Harbour. Okay. He's he's starting he's Santa Claus in a movie called Violent Night, which is basically kind of like a monster in the house movie where he's kind of the monster, but he's also, you know,
Casey G. Smith: An anti-hero.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Exactly. And I mean, you see Santa Claus kick butt, basically. And he's giving it to all the bad guys or the the people on his naughty list.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. Saint Nick throwing hands.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, that is very interesting twist on on on the genre. So, looks like a little fun uh holiday movie for adults.
Casey G. Smith: It's like a badass Santa.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Not just bad Santa.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Badass Santa.
Casey G. Smith: Nice. I just watched on Netflix, trying to take a little more more comedy, keep things light.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Keep it light.
Casey G. Smith: Good old Hasan Minhaj's uh newest special on Netflix, The King's Jester. Or Jester. Jester. Jester. Jester. Jester. I feel like I'm not saying that right. It sounds sounds sounds funny saying it right now. The court Jester. Jester. Anyway, uh, so took that in. Again, I always enjoy his comedy because it's it's always very smart and yeah, I think he's great. And you know, always keeps it, you know, personal or stuff that's going on. Some cool revealing stuff that was going on with his life. He talks a little bit about his special that he had, uh, you know, Patriot Act and kind of some things that went down with that show.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Casey G. Smith: But yeah, if you're into comedy, check out Hasan on Netflix, The King's Jester.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, did you last week we had talked about, um, last week was the Rush Hour episode and we talked, you discovered Atlanta. You know, I said, hey, Atlanta is streaming. Did you get a chance to watch Atlanta?
Casey G. Smith: I did. I I caught up on it. Uh, yeah, it's still Atlanta's still amazing. Uh, watched up to the most recent episode with
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mr. Chocolate.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. Man. Okay. Spoiler alert for for this episode.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Spoiler alert. Fast forward three to five minutes as we talk about Atlanta's most recent episode.
Casey G. Smith: So, Donald Glover.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Genius?
Casey G. Smith: Yes. Yes. Absolute genius. Not only as a as a a director, but as an actor. When he when he puts on when he puts on the prosthetics and the when he dies into these characters.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes.
Casey G. Smith: His Mr. Chocolate, who is clearly a parody of of Tyler Perry.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, like when I first, the episode opens up and Van and the and her daughter are in the car and they're waiting. I said, this is, looks like Tyler Perry studios, you know, like, I said, this is Tyler Perry studios. And they're pulling up and then it's like, like uh uh satire of everything Tyler Perry has made. Yeah. I like, oh, this Tyler Perry had to be involved with this because there's no way.
Casey G. Smith: The the way they but by the end, the way they nail when she says, you know, that she doesn't really like like the work or whatever and when she says that, I can't relate to it. He's like, oh, so you're this, you're this, you're this, you're this. Yeah, you can't relate. I'm like, wow. She just he just kind of called called you out and and read read your mail in front of you. And then when she she's trying to get her daughter back cause all of a sudden she's going from like The mom, your mom is initially there to film just to be a day player for a show. And the daughter ends up interrupting a scene by by telling one of the actors to to shut up for being mean. And then doctor or Mr. Chocolate comes in over the intercom, cause initially you never see him. He's just the voice of the intercom.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, he's like controlling everybody. Nobody sees him.
Casey G. Smith: Put the child in the scene. And like nobody's ever seen him. They just know that he he just is kind of just He's always watching. He's always watching. He's everywhere. And all of a sudden her daughter goes from that scene to, you know, she, you know, Van looks away and all of a sudden her daughter is gone. And another movie, another movie where the mom eating a crack sandwich. What is happening? Until the point that Van can't find her. And yeah, the the just escalates with that drama, her trying to literally track down her daughter. Um, and then eventually she she sees the the the building where Mr. Chocolate is at and she storms it and gets the help from a a crazy grandmother who brought a pistol on campus. Broad a pistol. So you're with a a an angry black grandmother who packs a pistol.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, man, that's it's great because it's like a satire. It's kind of like a Willy Wonka satire. It's got it's it's got everything. He's like in the castle by himself doing all of these crazy things. And because he's isolated, he's become crazy.
Casey G. Smith: And he does like he doesn't really know what's what's happening. He's like, it runs itself. And then when she gets mad and he asks her if she wants some grits, right? He offered grits. Yeah, he offer some grits. And then when she like hits him with the pan with the he's like, I've built up an immunity. face me. And then at the end when she's like, it's really pathetic. I need you to, you know, write this all. Call an ambulance. Would you please hurry? It's really pathetic. I was like, oh, what is going on?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, man.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, it was it was quite wonderful. The the DeAngelo episode.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Oh yeah, that's right. That's right. This episode, the Mr. Chocolate episode reminded me of I can't remember what season it was the one when it was kind of like talking about the Michael Jackson whole situation. Yeah. This is what it reminded me of.
Casey G. Smith: Exactly. Yeah, when Donald Glover goes in deep into these characters, that's just But it's so smart. Again, like the that that afro surrealism.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow. If you look like when she first, when Van first gets gets into the studios and you start seeing like all their films that they've made, there's this one key artist that says, I ain't crazy. This woman with no hair, you know, short hair, she's like, I ain't crazy. And then part two, still ain't crazy. I'm like, oh, wow. And it's crazy because like the the African-American community, especially filmmakers, uh, and film lovers that go watch movies, talk about, you know, the films of Tyler Perry. Yeah. You know, you might have one you like, you might not, but we do talk about it. Yeah. And, you know, we just it's one of those things where it's like, okay, you know.
Casey G. Smith: Then like the show, like the pilots for different shows that are being done and oh, yeah. And then like the relationships and excuse me. And it's it's excellent. Man. Atlanta.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Atlanta.
Casey G. Smith: It is, it is.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I don't know how they're going to close this out.
Casey G. Smith: Lord.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, I good question.
Casey G. Smith: It's just it's it's uh, there's nothing like it. Nothing like it. It'll be it'll be amazing to see how it influences other future filmmakers and what comes what comes out of it or after it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Agreed. It'd be cool to see, you know, stuff like this done, but like for other cities.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. You know.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Agreed. Uh, one of the last things, um, I watched the She-Hulk episode 8.
Casey G. Smith: Ah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: She-Hulk. And, um, this one, I was like, actually enjoyed this one. I enjoyed some of the other ones, some not so much, but this one more had finally had some action. Come on.
Casey G. Smith: That's what I that's what I've heard a lot of people saying, like, they they've wanted that action.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: She-Hulk's been a been a different kind of build where you do have that, you've had that dichotomy of of the focusing on on the main actress, Jennifer Walters, there we go. Jen, and then, you know, She-Hulk gets some some play. But this one, yeah, spoiler alert for the Fast forward some more if you don't want this to be spoiled. Spoiler alert for She-Hulk. But this one, yeah, she actually gets into it and of course, we have the wonderful Charlie Cox returning as Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, kind of it's interesting when uh when we have these co-stars or somebody that's co-starring for for an episode, how it kind of elevates everything for for a little while and changes it, it changes uh the dynamics quite a bit. And so just the juxtaposition of how she would approach a battle and how Daredevil, how he would approach a battle, it's it's interesting for them to kind of jab each other about it.
Casey G. Smith: What you're watching is been done in the comic books for years. It's called the team-up. The classic team-up. You literally like there were comic books that are that were called Marvel Team-Up, where you'd have different different characters you normally wouldn't see together, all of a sudden for whatever strange reason, they're literally put in a situation, they always have a misunderstanding and fight first and then they team up and take on the bad guys. Interesting. Classic. That's that that is the classic formula. Wow. We meet up. Hey, what are you doing here? What are you doing here? Are you the are you the the nuisance causing all this? Yeah. No, you're the nuisance. Let's fight. Boom boom. Oh, wait, you're not. Oh, there's the bad guy. Let's team up. Okay. Boom, get him.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It was it was interesting because like uh She-Hulk discovering Daredevil for the first time as he's doing his thing and she throws a car at him. Like, I said, this ain't going to end well, you know, if they keep going, he's done for it. Yeah. And she just does the She-Hulk clap, you know, the thunderclap. Thunderclap. Does that was like, oh, it's it's a wrap now.
Casey G. Smith: When she did that, I was like, oh, his ears because I know he has that superhuman hearing. Yeah. And he even he even he even jokes about it. He goes, I have really good hearing, well, I used to. Like he has the way they play Daredevil in this because in in the Netflix series, he's very dark. Yeah. It's very dark. He has a couple of little lines here and there, but in this one, he's slightly turned up where he has his his humor is is the writing on this one was I thought was brilliant because he's he's nailing these one-liners. I'm like, I I like this slightly turned up more satirical version of Daredevil.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And it seems like it his character transitioned well into this universe. That's right. From Netflix to Marvel. Yes, his guy who knows the character, but he gets to be much lighter now. And it's still writing on I mean, I love the writing in She-Hulk, just the the comedy as a whole. So yeah, but they they nailed Daredevil. I wonder if he had, you know, if he helped with some of the lines and delivery, but it just like, we'll keep it. Yeah, it just it worked, man. It just worked. And then, yeah, I I like some of the lawyer talk, like with the the main character, the the guy who's playing the frog guy. He he's again, he's a character in the comics. He's uh frog-man in the in the comics. Ridiculous. Yeah, ridiculous. He's ridiculous in the comics too. Like, he's yeah. But uh, you know, and then again, that just using when when you know, when Matt Murdock comes into the courtroom, he's like, what kind of fuel did you use in those in those boots, right? Uh-huh. They're like, oh, I used jet fuel. And the the guy who made him was like, oh, like the instructions say not to. He's like, I know, no, no, I didn't. He's just yeah, you can't help with the guy. The rich kid can't help himself, you know, boasting about every single thing. The Lily the the Lily Pad. Yeah, I was like, oh man, this guy is this guy is uh dumb. Absolutely. Yeah, but yeah, I I I really enjoyed the episode and I I enjoyed during the credits, like just the drawings at the end, how they incorporate stuff from the episodes. Yeah. You know, Daredevil doing the walk of shame as he's leaving uh Jess's apartment. But then at the at the end, like it it's funny because I know there are probably people who are watching this show going in saying, oh, you know, She-Hulk this is that she's, you know, they're trying to make her as strong as the Hulk, this and that. And that's the exact group that's like in the show like to the incels, I like to call them the incels. Yeah. I'm like, this guy This guy's that need to get a girlfriend. Yeah, this is the show that's like literally anticipating the trolls and trolling the trolls, like within the show. Like that's meta. That's pretty smart. Yeah. Pretty smart. And yeah, so it'll be interesting to see how they uh how the season ends. Dang. How many more episodes do you know?
Casey G. Smith: This should be the last episode coming up this Thursday.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. I'm here for it. Yeah, and I always watch this with the family. It's always a good time.
Casey G. Smith: Nice, nice. Anything else?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, super quick.
Casey G. Smith: Um, again, I watched the 007, the Sound of 007, a documentary on the music from James Bond. I watched the first James Bond, Dr. No. It was, okay. Um, I'd watched the latest season of Cobra Kai.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Don't tell me anything about it.
Casey G. Smith: I will not say.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Just because I've been watching it with the family, so we're catching up. Awesome. Are you guys, uh,
Reginald Titus Jr.: We're still in season one, like episode five.
Casey G. Smith: Season one, episode five? Yeah. Oh, I ain't saying a damn thing. Thank you. You're you're you're welcome. Abbet Elementary, that show's still hilarious. The Laker Dynasty still going. I think it's probably has one episode left. The Patient also on Hulu, still good. Black-ish, also I started Grown-ish as well, which has been actually pretty pretty good also. I got to the point where, spoiler alert for Black-ish, where the the the the oldest daughter had left for college. I started watching something, I'm like, damn, this is this is pretty grown. You know, it takes a takes a nice a nice turn. But uh, but that that actress is she's a she's a does a good job and she's she gets better. Her acting is getting better and better with uh the the these new episodes. So yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. Uh, well, let's jump back into the show.

The Monster Squad: Personal Connection and Marketing Challenges
Reginald Titus Jr.: Thank you for tuning in to Filmmaker Commentary. We're talking about the Monster Squad, 1987, directed by Fred Dekker. And let's jump into the synopsis. Count Dracula has until midnight to retrieve an ancient amulet that will give him final control over the delicate balance between good and evil in the world. To help him, the creepy count calls on some old friends: the Wolf Man, the Gill-Man, Mummy, and freaky Frankenstein. As the ghoulish group gets closer to the amulet, it's up to The Monster Squad, headquartered in the local treehouse, to pull its questionable resources and stop the monster mayhem. The Monster Squad. And if this is your first time listening to Filmmaker Commentary, please know that there will be spoilers. You've been forewarned.
Reginald Titus Jr.: How did you watch this film when it dropped in 1987?
Casey G. Smith: I watched it after 1987, probably around maybe '89, maybe '90 even on good old HBO. And it quickly became one of my favorite favorite shows. As I said many a time as a kid, I used to love reading books on the original Universal monsters. And to see a film that had all of them in it, I was like, yes. Yes. This is perfect. I I I loved Monster Squad as a kid. How about you, Reginald?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Man, I didn't go to the theaters or anything to watch it, but just like you, like it was on HBO. It was on some cable show and it would just keep showing over and over again. Um, but Goonies was ingrained deep into my brain when this came around, so I I got, you know, Goonies is my top '80s film, you know, with a group of kids on an adventure. Um, but I do remember certain scenes from from this movie. So cable box and I, you know, it it was like a kind of like a fun time. But the vibe, I even caught the vibe back then, it was it was different. It didn't come off really too scary. You know, to me. Um, but yeah, I I do remember. It was cable. Watching it on the cable box over and over again. I remember the Gnarly scene and all that other stuff. So it was like certain things, but I couldn't remember everything that happened in the film. Like I did The Goonies.
Casey G. Smith: This is one of those films because because it was coming on HBO, and again, this is back in the day, boys and girls, when there was no on-demand. When it came on HBO, that meant it was like live TV. And if you didn't know when it was coming on, you just kind of came upon it. Now, I remember I would I would just catch it like in the middle. So I didn't know how the freaking thing started. I would just see like, ah, what's going on? Oh, monsters. Oh, cool. Wolf Man, if it was Wolf Man, I was always down if there was a Wolf Man in it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And I I agree. Like when the Wolf Man, like what I was always same. Like around the transformation part. I think that's what caught me. I was like, I'm going to stay on this channel. Yeah. He's dude transforming in a in a phone booth. And done well. Yeah. Like, yo, I was always cheering for the Wolf Man. And then wait, he gets blown up and then comes back together. That's right. Only a silver bullet. That's true. Like, wow. I didn't know he could survive an explosion though. Like that. Yeah. And I and I and I I the Dracula in this is my favorite version of Dracula. That's just the way he looks because he's he's channeling the Bela Lugosi look. Yeah. But he but he's got he's but he's not I'm like this is this Dracula. I just yeah, I love the way he he pulls off his his thing and he said, dynamite touting Dracula. That's for sure. Uh, this time around, I actually got the Blu-ray. So I got the Blu-ray, movie train coming and ended up having it. 20th 20th anniversary went to Irvin, got it. I was like, I'm we in there. It was 20 bucks. Used.
Casey G. Smith: See, I only ended up with the DVD uh at uh movie train in Arlington. I would I would I would have really liked to have gotten the Blu-ray.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, getting the how I'm curious how how it looked on your end.
Casey G. Smith: It it um, it looked fantastic. Uh, the transfer was spectacular like you couldn't outside of some '80s slang and some other things, like like it could have been made yesterday, honestly.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: They I think they really tried not to have too many things that that would that would make it beholden to the time period.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It looks fantastic. It looks great. Like the Blu-ray transfer is real nice and I definitely appreciate that.
Casey G. Smith: This was one that was just far as like this is this is a testament I think to how how much of a cult classic it is, because when I tried to find it on Amazon, and once I found out which version had the right commentary, because there's there's another version out there, even the Blu-ray doesn't have the commentary. So I was very cautious when I I message, okay, this is the version to get.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. The 20th anniversary.
Casey G. Smith: That 20th anniversary. I do appreciate that. I would have got snapped for the wrong one.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. I would have got snapped for the wrong one.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, because I looked on Amazon and they had a they had this version, the 20th anniversary, but it was like 60 bucks or something like that. I was like,
Reginald Titus Jr.: Hey, trip.
Casey G. Smith: What the heck. But it was it was a little tougher to track down. So once I once I saw that they had the DVD, I was like, no, I will just I'll just I'm going to cut my losses. I will just take this. It was like 11 bucks. I was like, all right, okay. I'll I'll I'll I'll go with the the lesser quality. Um, maybe I'll upgrade later.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. It looks good. It's worth the upgrade. Um, I ended up watching this with the kids. Um, it was a whole family situation.
Casey G. Smith: Nice, nice. What what did they think?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, my oldest one, he's 14, so he was like, he was in there. He watched the whole thing and was able to catch some of the reference stuff for like old kids when they talk about virginity and stuff like that. He, you know, he's catching those jokes. My middle kids, seven, nine years old, they're just like, they're dialed in. He's like, But like, uh, and then my daughter, she's four, so she was kind of like kind of scared a little bit on certain parts, but yeah, they were all into it though. But I said, so what do you think, you know, between this and Goonies, because they saw Goonies. And they were like, I like Goonies, I like Goonies. And my son, my older son, he's like, I like Goonies. This one seemed short.
Casey G. Smith: It is. Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: He even called like some editing, something wrong with some of the editing. He says, the editing's kind of weird on the on on one of the parts. I got to look at that. I.

In-Depth Film Analysis and Themes
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. Yeah. So, I was like, huh. he specifically the scene with uh when they meet the when they're in the with the German guy and they're at his house. He says something with the editing's off on one of the parts. I guess it was a continuity error that he caught.
Casey G. Smith: Nice.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But anyhow, but yeah, but at the end of the day, they still, they still enjoyed it.
Casey G. Smith: Very cool. The new generation introduced to Monster Squad.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Even Isaiah, he's like, yeah, it reminds me of Chunk. Like the the little kid, he's like, you know,
Casey G. Smith: That's like that's a that's a trope.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It is. Um, what did you like or not like about the film?
Casey G. Smith: I like again, like I said before, I like I like the monsters. The fact that we get all of them from all the Universal movies, we get them all grouped together. The only one missing was, well, I'd say Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde, but he wasn't really Universal, uh part of Universal. But um, but yeah, all the monsters together and again, it's you know, '80s kids. Like again, I'm a child of the '80s. So when I see them with with kids from the '80s coming together, you know, no black kids, but yeah. Yeah, you kind of get what you get. Yeah. Goonies Goonies didn't have any either.
Reginald Titus Jr.: This Asian guy, that's it.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, you got second. Okay, well, yeah, it's what it is. But we had a yeah, we had a black guy, but we had to kill him. And he was a police officer. Oh, damn. Really? Crying out loud. I didn't I didn't think about that until I watched commentary. I was like, oh, man. Why they do the brothers like this? I was like, yeah, it's the '80s. Trope. Okay. I'll put it down as a trope. It's two black people in the whole movie. One's a one's a reporter on the on the TV. Yeah. And then the other's a brother. The cop.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Blown to bits.
Casey G. Smith: Blown to bits by Dracula.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, some of the acting at sometimes felt was kind of shotty sometimes with the kids. Um, and that and I remember listening to the commentary on Goonies, how they were kind of saying, you know, it was rough, you know, kind of acting, you know, directing the kids as actors. Yeah, should have been a little more solid, you know, for sure. Limited amount of time you have to work with them also because of the, you know, the certain laws in place with child actors. You only can work with them so many hours and even when it's night time, it's it's very it's very uh protected and controlled. That's should be. Yeah. And so it made me think, like, man, they probably could have did a couple more takes. And sometimes it's maybe like you just need more takes, you know, some some it felt like especially our our squad leaders, he's like, sometimes it was like overacting, like, yeah, that's what I mean, you know, it was just like, just a little bit. maybe a couple more takes would have been fine, but they just took a interesting take. So sometimes it could be awful. But as a kid, you don't really think about that part of it, you know, watching it, it's still entertaining, but I was like, some some things a little just from a technical standpoint. I'm like, we could have did another take of that. Yeah. Uh, I think yeah, I think they had a couple of lines that deliver that might be a little a little strong. But I guess as a leader, he was trying his best to show uh authority or whatever it might be, but yeah, I don't know if did you think about the cop chemistry. I don't know. Did you think they were vibing the chemistry there? Watching it watching it now, it seemed a little like the the the the brother, he seemed a little a little over the top. Yeah. At times some of the reaction the dialogue felt a little a little more forced. Yeah. In watching this time like, yeah. I didn't I didn't give it too much thought. I was like, okay, they're they're they're ancillary to to playing background to to the kids. But uh, yeah, what about you? I think it felt like the chemistry was off. It um, not that they were not acting well. It just seemed chemistry. And I remember Reginald Hudlin was talking about uh in Boomerang. Even with the smaller parts, when you're casting them, you have to spend time casting that correctly because, you know, amalgamation of everything that uh collectively it could uh give the wrong, you know, the wrong vibe. And that's why I kind of felt with some when you kind of break out and start looking at these different characters, like, something's not right here. I don't believe them as, you know, a partner. Partner. Yeah, I don't believe them. But, you know, I think by themselves are fine. Uh, but them as together, I didn't really, I didn't really uh, buy it. I guess maybe the the schism that exists is because, you know, having to consider like real monsters being in your in your town. And these crazy stories happening where one is going to be like, this is, how do you expect me to believe this. And then that makes you question your partner. Yeah. Like, I don't know, maybe maybe it's because there's a schism throughout that that chemistry's interrupted. Don't know. Therefore it seems disjointed, or maybe it's just performance. I didn't yeah, I didn't believe them. I didn't want to go on the I didn't want to go on the ride with them. Maybe hang out with Dracula more or somebody else, but I didn't want to hang out with the cops. I ain't want to hang out with the monsters. You like the Dracula, like that guy, that actor killed it, you know what I mean? Dude. Yeah. But like some characters, like, we can just hang out here. Even Frankenstein killed it, you know what I mean? Like, yeah. You know, so like on the don't even say words, you know what I mean? Like, scary. Boogus. So, um, but I did like the look of the film. Yeah. Shot anamorphic. It looks pristine. Nice. I'm going to have to access to the digital version of it to uh take it in its glory. Yes. If I can remember, I'll bring one over. And, um, the score, I didn't feel like like reminded me of Goonies in certain parts. I was like, oh, that guy has a Spielbergian quality like to some of his shows. But maybe I maybe it's just the '80s trope like that. That felt the the strings that come in, you know. Yeah, I was like, and the little sprinkles, whatever those. Maybe it's just maybe more like a John Williams kind of vibe to it. Yeah. Yeah. I thought it was a solid solid score, man. Yeah, score was good. Some of the music cues. '80s. It's '80s. It's it's tropeish. The the Monster Squad rap at the end. I used to love that as a kid. Now I'm like, me and I was playing it. My son we were listening to it. I was like, it sounds like the dude's like reading the lyrics. This is just like, sounds like, huh? I I googled I googled Monster Squad rap and let me show you the guy who uh who did perform this. I said, this guy, it sounds like a old white guy is what it sounded like. He Here is a story that I once I was like, he's reading this. I said, you can't do rap like hip hop like that. Higher who was hot at that time in the '80s. Fresh Prince, uh higher any of those. L.L. Cool J. Dude, higher one of those guys. The sugar crew or the Sugar Hill Gang. Yes. Cause I mean, it was in that style, but it just wasn't present. Oh, that is beautiful. Oh, man. Bruce Brockton. Oh, man. He did the rap. Uh, it sounds like he looks. This ain't Halloween or no funny deal. They've been playing for keeps. They've been playing for real. Oh, my goodness. That makes so much sense. Monster Squad. That's how they sound, right? That's how they sound. I know it. I Yeah, I heard this. Jack. All right. But yeah, so that's uh, yeah, little little Eugene saying, Mummy came in my room. He got the like, who where did he mail this to? I don't know. I don't know. Um, that's for the question segment. Yes. Uh, but yeah, how does the kid get away with making bullets in shop class? One of my questions, why is Dracula driving? They asked that in the commentary. Oh, did they? Yeah, I think they actually maybe been in the second commentary. Uh-huh. He's like, well, you know, it could be quicker than flying. You got to, you know, I I assume a bat only goes so so fast on uh on the open night sky. He's driving. I mean, it looks cool. You know, the car looks cool. And all that, but it's a flex. Yeah. He's he's just flexing. Just flexing. I can accept that. You know, uh, maybe he can carry all that dynamite, whatever. There you go. He's got to carry the hardware because that bat ain't carry freaking dynamite. That's what it is. This is the dynamite hearse. Watch out now. Yeah. Or maybe it's for his crew that can't fly. I'm you know, but I'm, you know, maybe for the mummy. Mummy, get your slow ass in here. Come on. Drive. I got to drive this guy around. Yeah. Oh man. Uh, my my my other my last question is, uh, because we talked about this, Jake. How come Dracula couldn't break free from Van Helsing's fairly, fairly casual, hey, buddy, grip around his around his throat. But then, after watching it again, I'm like, okay, a couple things happened to Dracula. He took some damage. Yeah. He did land on the initial rail spike, a fence spike when when Dracula gave him the uppercut. Yeah. And then Sean, when he grabs Sean to to pull him into the vortex, Sean grabs a wooden stake and drives it into his heart. Uh-huh. Now, it doesn't that that that's. You don't see it while he's in the vortex. Exactly. That's a mistake. It doesn't show when he's in the vortex. Clearly they that, you know, poster, whatever. They have them a few times with them. When that stake doesn't show. Yeah. Dracula just, you know, he's just pristine again. Like, so that's why I was like, that's a light choke hold. you can get out of that Dracula. But that vortex is still going to suck him in. Just like the little just like the little teddy bear. It's going to suck him in. But that vortex is pretty it's not discerning. It takes it takes everything. If you if you if it ain't nailed down, good or bad, it's going to take you. I mean, Van Helsing's ass is stuff floating around there. Hundreds of years later. Give them people a thumbs up. All right, my mission wasn't in vain. Like, man, Van Helsing, you kind of dropped the boat. You kind of you you did blow it, Van Helsing. You're like, you was like, man, he can't even get out. He's like, you just stuck. Like, eternally battling with Dracula. That's kind of sucks. And then old German guy loses his vehicle. Like, his motor transportation. Get suck in there. Get sucked in there. Goes my ride home. Uh, one of my last questions is, um, the brother that gets blown up in the car. How is he? How can he can I get out of his car? Is it? Now, we would assume that the vampire has locked him in. Till he sees. Yes. That's that's what I that's what we would assume. But we're not shown that. So it looks dumb that he can't get out of his own car and he blows up. And, you know, Dracula's pretty efficient on the the lighting to throw ratio because The, the, the, you know, the Sean's dad has to be on, tells him to freeze. Yeah. So he just, you know, tells him, Freeze. Yeah. And Sean, the kids are in his house eating pie. Yes. Where they have one pushing shot on him and they do reverse one pushing in on the kids. Yeah. This is a beautiful film. And that that scene is actually kind of funny when he says, you want pie? And then the fat kid starts smiling. Like, uh, all right. Playing up the trope. Yes. Uh, , good film. It it was entertaining. Uh, looks good. Um, holds up. I purchased it. So, definitely going to be playing this back. Uh, especially to get some tips from just how they were doing some of their blocking, especially on a limited budget. Uh, but yeah, good. Yes, sir. It's a a cult classic. Monster Squad, if you haven't seen it before, I don't know if you'd listen to this episode, but it's a it's it's a fun one. It's a fun one. Again, it holds up pretty well. Aside from some of the some of the language that's that's dated. That's that's from the '80s. Yeah. Yeah, but that that's that's being real to the to the time. And how kids talked then. I heard kids. Oh man, kids are still rough. Yeah. They would just dropping to the left and right. But the director, this uh time stamps this when they recorded it was 2007 when they recorded this audio. He actually says the word. And so it's like, you know, he's like, hey, that's how they that's how they would talk, you know, sometimes people are too, you know, as things get more politically correct. Don't go back and try to change certain things. I mean, things are they are what they are. Yeah, that's I mean, that that really that's that's how it was in in the '80s. That uh sensitivity was was not there. Um, but, you know, times times have changed. But yeah, it it is a that's that's one of the few things that dates the film, but it it is reality. So going in, just so you know. Uh, what are we watching next time? Next time, we're going to take you to the hood with some Tales from the Hood. Okay. This is '90s. Yes, sir. Oh, it's been a while since I've seen Tales from the Hood. I know it sounds bad. But it sounds good. Yes, sir. Domino. Yes. Where's that brother at? I don't know. The ghetto jam. Uh, and you can catch us where? Facebook.com, for, actually, you know what? What? One thing that we didn't mention. Uh oh. This episode of Filmmaker Commentary has been brought to you by Natural Hit the Movie by Grand Rematter Films, available to stream on All Black TV and now for free on Tubi. Please check it out and leave a review. Speaking of that, you can find us on Facebook.com/filmmakercommentary. We're on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio, and on Spotify. He is on Twitter @ReggieTitus. I am on Twitter @KCGSmith32. We are also on the gram @filmmakercommentary. He is at Reginald Titus Jr., that's Jr. And I'm at KCG Smith 32. Until next time. Peace. Respect.
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