Monster Family | Film review - Top-flight cast fail to lift flat animation

A squabbling family gets turned into monsters after Dracula falls for a harassed bookstore owning mum in Monster Family, a loopy animated comedy getting a simultaneous release in cinemas and on Sky Cinema.

Smitten by the voice of Emily Watson’s Emma after a phone mix up, the bloodsucking Count (Jason Isaacs) dispatches ancient witch Baba Yaga (Catherine Tate) to transform her into a vampire. But Baba ends up accidentally turning the rest of the family into monsters too. So hopeless Dad (Nick Frost) becomes a flatulent Frankenstein’s monster, stroppy teenage daughter Fay (Jessica Brown Findlay) a shroud-wrapped Mummy, and nerdy son Max (Ethan Rouse) a cub-sized werewolf. Can Watson’s Emma stop their bickering, break the curse and return everyone to normal?

Frankly, this lacklustre computer animated effort is about as original as a second-hand Halloween costume and a lot less fun. The story jumps all over the place, the animation is bland, and even the fine British voice cast – speaking with their own accents, although the family lives in New York – appear flat and uninspired.

Certificate PG. Runtime 93 mins. Director Holger Tappe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txKlHpSz71M

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.