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Kid Vid: 'Monster House' screams for 'tweens

Jan Crain Rudeen, Special to the News

Published October 27, 2006 at midnight

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Monster House

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; PG; $28.95, DVD (also available on Blu-ray Disc and PSP) Grade: A-

It took me awhile to figure out who the audience for Monster House is supposed to be.

It's too scary for little children but too juvenile for teenagers.

That narrows the target audience down to 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds, and a smattering of animation buffs.

Monster House is a 'tween fantasy. The heroes of this scary, computer-animated tale are smack-dab in the midst of puberty, questioning things around them while the adults are either disbelieving, unaware or absent.

It is up to the kids to contend with the horrific events happening just across the street, and to eventually set things right again.

D.J. has been spying on the house across from his and is convinced it's evil.

Anytime the neighborhood kids skateboard down the front walk or hit a baseball into the yard, their toys disappear. Or, out comes the menacing old homeowner, shaking his fists and warning them to get away.

With Halloween coming in a couple of days, D.J.'s worried what will become of all those doorbell-ringing trick-or-treaters.

D.J.'s parents, who are leaving for the weekend, dismiss his concerns. They leave him alone with his best friend, Chowder, and a self-absorbed teen-age baby-sitter - who could use some supervision herself.

When a cute girl their age comes door-to-door selling Halloween candy and almost literally gets swallowed up by the house itself, D.J., Chowder and the girl, Jenny, decide to investigate.

What they find is a much bigger fright than they had bargained for.

The animation in Monster House is wonderful, and the characters are well fleshed-out.

The baby-sitter and her thrash-rocker boyfriend are amusingly hedonistic and narcissistic, but with an edge. The pair show little mercy when teasing poor D.J., a nice, average but conscientious boy.

He wants to do the right thing, help others who are in trouble; hence his fascination with the house.

His buddy, Chowder, on the other hand, doesn't take much in life seriously, let alone a supposedly haunted house.

The boys are immediately smitten with Jenny, but come to rely on her smarts and bravery.

All the characters in Monster House seem realistic - as does the house itself, which comes to life in terrifying ways.

Recent re-releases

• The Fox and the Hound (Walt Disney Home Entertainment; 83 minutes; $29.99, DVD)

Re-mastered for its 25th anniversary, this tale of friendship between an orphaned fox cub and a hound puppy bred for hunting starts out strong. These two characters are adorable and their story heart-wrenching. But in the last half, the movie loses its emotional authenticity as well as its logic, and never quite regains its footing.

• The Little Mermaid (Walt Disney Home Entertainment; 83 minutes; $29.99, DVD)

Made in 1986 and digitally restored with new bonus material added, this story - a Cinderella-type romance with fins - will still appeal to a boatload of little girls.

• Reading Rainbow, (Educated Products; $14.99 each or $49.99 for the collection of four at readingrainbowdvd.com)

The popular PBS KIDS series and winner of multiple Emmy Awards over the years is now available on DVD. Each disc in the "Reading Rainbow Favorites Collection" features two 30-minute episodes, plus 30 minutes of related bonus material.