By Parker & Kyle Laugh
I know exactly what you’re thinking. “Why in the blue hell are you reviewing a kids movie on such a dark and creepy horror website?” Well, if you don’t know the obvious answer to that question, then get the hell out of here! Just kidding, but in all seriousness, the film is based on all the great monsters of old in which Universal has graced us with since the 1930’s and beyond.
So, why the hell wouldn’t I want to spread the fun around with all the hardcore horror fanatics?
“Hotel Transylvania III: Summer Vacation” is (obviously) the third film in the series which follows Dracula and friends in a series of wacky adventures stemming from meeting and eventually making friends with the human population among many other fun little tidbits and nods towards the genre.
The film is co-written and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky while also co-written by Michael McCullers. It’s voice cast is compiled of the “Happy Madison” gang which includes Adam Sandler (Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, The Longest yard), Kevin James ( King Of Queens, Grown Ups, Here Comes The Boom), Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire, Armageddon, Fargo) and one guy I can not fucking stand who unfortunately portrays my favorite Universal monster, David Spade ( Joe Dirt, Basically any show or movie other than Joe Dirt that was garbage, Tommy Boy). Next to the Sandler bunch, we also have Andy Samberg ( SNL, Brooklyn 99, Hot Rod) and Selena Gomez ( Witches Of Waverly Place, Spring Breakers, Various music videos).
Admittedly, I was originally wary regarding the first two films. Not only did I think it was odd to use the Monsters in a kids film but felt like it was kind of an insult to the genre. Since then, and thanks to having a four year old who loves himself some horror, he was quickly drawn to the two first films when he found them on Netflix. With all this in play, I decided I would sit down with him and give them a try.
The results? I absolutely loved them. The characters were a little goofy but stayed mostly true to their original counterparts. The stories in each of the first two films were fun, entertaining and each delivered a great message by the films end which kids could appreciate as well as adults. So it would come to nobody's surprise that having enjoyed the first few, we would want to take in the third film. Grabbing out ticket stubs and our popcorn, we sat down and got ready for the ride.
As this is a children’s film, I figured it would be a smart idea to ask my son, Parker, what he thought of the film!
Parker: “I really like Hotel Transylvania 3, I like the slimy guy because you can see through him and people can get stuck in him and that’s funny. I also liked Drac because the slime guy was dancing with him. There was a lot of dancing and I really liked it.”
After being ask what he rated in on a scale of 1 to 10, he stated that he gave the film a 100. So clearly, he enjoyed the hell out of it
While I still enjoyed it myself, I can’t say that it was a 100. Personally, the film feels a little distant from the original installments. I understand that in order to keep things fresh, you need to change a few things up on occasion. We’ve seen this happen in many different films, most notably, that one time Jason Took Manhattan… Oh.. Wait… Nevermind.. That didn't go very well at all.
Anyways, HT3 provided viewers with some good laughs, a semi-relatable plot and the addition of some additional Universal characters, it does not even come close to its predecessors thanks to it’s incredibly thin storyline, repetition of gags and overzealous use of a variety of songs which have been popular throughout the years and the dances that went with them. Had they been singing along, I could easily have put this into the musical category and enjoyed it ten times more than I did.
If you have kids who you want to slowly introduce into horror, or some you know have enjoyed the original and / or it’s sequel. This is definitely a must watch for them. As a lonely adult who occasionally enjoys animated films, you may want to save a few bucks and wait for this one to make its way to a streaming platform.
6 out of 10.
TRAILER
It's Beyond The Void Horror Podcasts 100th Episode! Help them celebrate by listening and sharing. It's a fun episode. They give thanks and take on two movies that could be so bad their good. Both from Italy. These movies will change your life. Have listen here or you can Listen/Subscribe on iTunes here!