More News on The Monster Squad's Long-Awaited DVD Release

Cinematical's own Scott Weinberg reported not long ago that there were rumblings at Lionsgate over a possible release of Fred Dekker's 1987 cult monster flick The Monster Squad. Well, there are more details now, and they've been posted over at Fangoria.com. The disk is being produced by Michael Felsher, President of Red Shirt Pictures and it does look like -- after being mired in rights issues for years -- this is finally going to happen. "The plan is to do a new transfer in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio," says Felsher. "It has never been presented that way in North America; it was transferred on high-definition a couple of years ago, and that looked great, but it was in 1.78:1. So the new one will be 2.35, and Fred is very anxious to make sure it's presented properly."

As for extras, Felsher recorded an audio commentary for the disk at the recent Monster-Mania convention in New Jersey, with the participation of Andre Gower (Sean Crenshaw), Ashley Bank (Phoebe Crenshaw), and Ryan Lambert (Rudy). Felsher also recorded a panel discussion with the three actors along with some of the performers who played monsters in the movie, including Duncan Regehr (Dracula), Tom Noonan (Frankenstein's monster) and Tom Woodruff Jr. (Gillman) who was also head monster maker on the film. Felsher also says several featurettes are in the works. So when will the DVD hit stores? "I can't speak for Lionsgate as to what their plans are," says Felsher. "Obviously their intention is to have it out, I would think, before Halloween. But they haven't made any official announcement, so I'm not really at liberty to say."

I haven't seen The Monster Squad since it was in the theatres, but I recall it was a fun blend of Universal's archetypal monsters (though not officially) and the then popular Spielberg-ian formula of wide-eyed kids getting mixed up in a fantasy adventure. I'm looking forward to seeing it again.