Monster House Review

Three suburban teenagers find out that the housing market can be a true nightmare in this pretty frightening CGI outing. The action centres on DJ, Chowder and Jenny, a trio of friends who discover one Halloween that the house opposite is possessed by the child hating spirit of their miserly neighbour's late wife. Given that the property has shown off a propensity for eating toys, dogs and even local cops, the kids must find a way to try and exorcise the home before a horde of excited trick or treaters walk up the path to their doom.

Shot using the same motion-capture that producer Robert Zemeckis used on festive hit "The Polar Express", first time director Gil Kenan has crafted a fun and good looking little movie here - but be warned, it does get pretty intense and scary at times especially when the trio find themselves trying to escape from the belly of the beast. The characters may not be too original - DJ, Chowder and Jenny come are virtual mirror images of Harry, Ron and Hermione - but a few fun cameos from the likes of Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jon Heder add a bit of colour.

Things start to go downhill slightly towards the end as the house leaves it's foundations and waddles down the street, using trees for arms, but the action packed finale should keep notoriously fidgety younger viewers glued to their seats as the trio and an unlikely assistant try to bring the evil abode's reign of terror to an end. Scary and intense, "Monster House" may not be quite a penthouse but it's certainly a adequate Des Res.