I guess the easy way to describe this would be "The Goonies (1985) with monsters".  And many have.  But, really, if you love classic movie monsters, like I do, this movie is so much more.

     A group of junior high kids, and some elementary school tagalongs, are on the hunt for an ancient amulet.  Their opposition?  Dracula.  Wolf Man.  Frankenstein's Monster.  Mummy.  Gill-Man.  They must seek help in their quest from Scary German Guy (Leonardo Cimino) and Doctor Van Helsing (Jack Gwillim) to blow a hole in Limbo and vanquish these evil forces.

     This movie speaks to the horror fan boy in all of us.  Granted, there are a lot of jokes that many wouldn't consider PC in this day and age.  And yes, it was the 80's, so cheese is plentiful.  But, if any of you remember junior high, this is how they talk to each other.  Except in the real world, it'd be much harder to make silver bullets in shop class.

 

     What Makes This Movie Cool:  Stan Winston.  This man's resume reads like a "What's What" of awesome movies.  The Thing (1982), Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), Predator (1987), Terminator 2 (1991), Jurassic Park (1993), I could go on and on.  Though, this may be one of his least known works, his creations made beautiful modifications of classic movie monsters.  Bonus points for, in this editor's humble opinion, making the coolest looking Wolf Man of all time.  And he's got nards!