Little Monsters: Navigating The Bleak Realities Of Childhood Nostalgia 

Frank Whalley as Boy is one of the most terrifying final bosses in kid movie history. This is an underrated gem.

This movie really terrified me as a child, especially when all of the kids got blamed for Brian and Maurice's pranks. Howie Mandel is always a win.

I'll never forget the term "over the shoulder boulder holder" lmfao

I always thought that it was funny that Fred Savage and Daniel Stern both played Kevin on "The Wonder Years", and they were father and son here. It's amusing to watch both Kevins yell at each other.

I remember watching this as a kid. Howie seemed like he would be the coolest friend. This is a classic, one of those movies that takes you back in time. Man, those were good times.

I still rewatch this little treasure on a yearly basis. It brings me back to simpler times with far less stress.

What I couldn't believe, when I found out, was who was actually playing Snick and Boy. Tom Hank's buddy in The Burbs❤, and Frank'Big Brain Brett' Whaley. That blew my mind when IMDb came along .

This movie does a good job of pivoting between irreverent, solemn and freaky. Also the "you know what happens when I get upset" bit is so funny.

My Art Department teacher at PCC Film School worked on this movie in Wilmington. She said the sets smelled because they shot in an old abandoned factory. Between that and the latex makeup, Howie Mandel must've had nerves of steel given his germ phobia.

So glad I grew up as an 80's and 90's latchkey kid

Damn man your narration drew more than a few tears. Nice work.

I'm 46 and still watch this movie from time to time. When the comic of this movie came out, I used to draw images out of it.😅😅

I Remember Little Monsters When My Uncle Rented It From The Brooklyn Public Library When I Was A Little Girl Around 6 Or 7 Years Old. Along With This Movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, The Goonies And The Monster Squad Memories Abound My Friends Memories Abound.

I was 9 when this came out, I enjoyed it, but only saw it the once. Seeing the kids head come off and them filling the bully’s bottle up with piss took me right back. Great commentary. The distinction between children’s movies then and now could not be any more stark.

Well fucking done. One of my favorites growing up. You said it all perfectly 😢

Thank you for this video. When I was a kid and even as an adult, I never understood that ending scene. An extended heart felt good bye that was followed by ‘where there’s a bed, there’s a way’. That always confused me. Why a long good bye if he can just see him again in less then 24 hours. ‘That was pointless’ I thought. Well after watching your video, I know get it. Thank you for that.

I loved this movie as a kid. Watching it a couple of years ago as an adult, that ending scene where he’s saying goodbye got me all teary eyed.

Bought a shirt of fright rags 2 weeks ago, just got it on Monday. Love this movie and monster inc was definitely inspired by this

This use to be my shit. Pete Docter and Pixar will never admit it but Monsters Inc. totally ripped this movie off. Same with Short Circuit and Wall-E.

That scary freedom we grew up with back then was glorious my heart yearns for this

Finally, someone else that sees this film through the same lens I do. I’ve always felt like this movie got overlooked for its darker and more mature elements that reflect real life parallels. The themes of divorce, youth runaways and its use of child endangerment are especially prominent. This movie is such a gem, even more so for reasons that I think a lot of people often miss.

"Who put piss in my apple juice!?" - Little Monsters (1989) In all seriousness, this was a really great retrospective to a really great flick!

I love Little Monsters. It was a fun gateway to horror and special effects make up. Howie Mandel was awesome. It's also funny hearing old Kevin Arnold yelling at young Kevin Arnold throughout the movie.

I still say "Window pain!" when the shades are up. I'm sensitive to sunlight, and heat in general.

My favorite movie is a child. As an adult, it was really hard for me to reconcile the relationship between Maurice and our main protagonist. Maurice… Someone who is clearly aged well beyond childhood, but is a forever child and also a monster living underneath his bed. Plus the sexual innuendos. But as a kid… I freaking loved it. This video brought some tears to my eyes. Great job.

Great flick and one hell of an underrated performance from Howie Mandel, itself made more impressive by how agonizing the entire makeup aspect of the role must have been given the funnyman's well-known aversion to practically everything that such a transformation would entail.

Great perspective. We honestly need to get back to making content like this. I always appreciated when cartoons, tv shows, and films didnt talk down to us or spell it out in a way that insults our intelligence. Thats why films like this, cartoons like XMEN, and many others withstand the test of time. They were written in a way to teach us as kids and as adults later.

I loved this movie when I found it as a kid. I watched it countless times and still watch occasionally as a boy for a nostalgia ride. The imagination of the story gave me an escape from my childhood situations. I've since introduced it to children as a way to share my connection with them. It'll always be a good memory from when I was young enough to embrace the feelings associated with the plot.

Man Little Monsters was my Child hood Love THIS MOVIE ❤❤

Classic right here. This and the wizard were my Fred savage staples. The pissing in apple juice and cat food tuna sandwich is forever burned in my mind

i love the sound of breaking glass!!

This is such a treat for me to watch. Loved this film growing up, it was fascinating and a lot of times frightening but always fun.

This movie scared the 💩 out of me as a kid. But I also couldnt stop watching.

This was one of my favorite movies when I was young. Definitely had this classic on video tape 👍🏾👍🏾

Wow I have never seen this movie but ur heartfelt nostalgic examination makes me wish I had. My favorite childhood nostalgia film will always be explorers.

I remember that movie being wrongly associated with the "My Pet Monster" animated series and plush dolls.

That ending, never occurred to me it had a deeper meaning. I was a kid when I watched this movie, I missed ALL of that context.

i cant begin to tell you how much ive loved this movie my entire life haha

I love this movie. Definitely formative for what would become my taste. Thanks for reminding me to revisit!

I never even watched this movie, not sure why though i was the right ago and the way you sold it makes me nostalgic for those times…time to check it out finally

Oh wow this made me feel all the feels, well done

Great Video ! much love from austria !

Interesting take. I myself a latchkey kid of the eighties. Thx The tone and cadence along with the sappy piano dude it's too much.

Love this movie!! Got the steelbook a few months ago.

Thank you for reminding me about this movie.

My brother and I totally did the peanut butter on the phone and the plastic wrap on the toilet seat. 30+ years later...I still don't feel bad. My God, my mother was pissed.

Great video that saying always stuck with me since I was a kid and eventually forgot the movie but the saying always echoed somewhere when there's a bed there is a way! Thank you for this video I'm going home to sit in my corner and cry now thanks again 😂

I have the Vestron release of this. I have the whole Vestron line actually lol. Great video Lance!

Always loved this movie as a kid, great job on this video

I loved this movie so much as a child, but watching it as an adult it is beyond creepy and disturbing. Especially boy and that kid who said his knees hurt as if they were doing something bad to him and the kid getting his head ripped off. That underworld reminds me of that donkey island in Pinocchio a bunch of degenerates that want to misbehave but at dire consequences

I wish i had the original VHS still!

Loved this film as a kid!

Beautiful stated.

Damn this hit hard in the feels...

loved this movie as a kid - definitely one of the movies in heavy rotation when i had a chance to use the TV/VCR lol

Many thanks as always JoBlo 🤘

I think you did a fantastic job of the interpretation of this film not to mention the lack of a children have to date the job

To a kid, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure was about 10 times scarier than this one, if only for the blink-and-you-miss-it reveal of Large Marge.

I loved this movie as kid when it came out, it was creepy and whimsical at the same time. You're right, they really don't make them like this anymore!

i had to pick up the steelbook of this great movie

This film made me familiar with "Talking Heads", lol. And that "Snick" scared me. And when Maurice makes a door open by farting on it 😂

The kidnapping scared the shit out of me as a child.

Little monsters was the shit. I loved it growing up they really don’t make em like this anymore

I loved this movie as a kid and I still watch it once a year as it's still in my top 20 movies. Mainly it was a perfect combo as Fred Savage was huge at the time as a kid actor and I loved everything Howie Mandel was involved in. I Just loved his humor and visuals/actions.

Great movie ❤ it and watched it so many times as a kid

This movie, Surf Ninjas and Guyver were my rotation movies in the 90's along with stuff like 3 Ninjas and a few other flicks as a kid. They were usually on TNT I think and I watched them at my gma's old apartment when she would babysit me and my brother. Would rent them sometimes too and get a happy meal or whatever.

this movie introduced me to the Talking Heads

Even tho i wasnt born in the 1980s i loved this movie as a kid in 2018

I'm kicking myself that I didn't see this movie until I was 34 years old. I wish I had seen it when I was younger (same with Angus, which I didn't watch until this year).

BOY ALWAYS GETS WHAT HE WANTS! ALWAYS!!!

I think the issue is that they don't really make family movies anymore. They make movies for kids and movies for adults, but there's not so much of a focus on films that the entire family can find enjoyment from. The closest thing we have today is probably Stranger Things and that's possibly a bit too scary or too adult for some kids. Ted almost works on this level although a lot of the humour is far too adult for some kids. Nobody really does those kinds of movies or shows anymore. I'd say that the classic series of Doctor Who also fits into that category although it went more adult with the 2005 reboot and now I've no idea what they're trying to do.

The deception scene scared the shit out of me as a kid lol.

This and "Vice Versa" got a lot of double feature viewings in our living room when i was a kid, when i wasnt watching "The Wonder Years" of course. Only wish i had heard of "The Wizard" back then (I didnt hesr of it until i was well into my teens, and i didnt see it until i was probably 20). It wouldve been a triple feature instead.

05:00 What's this song??? Bush?

This movie is great was one of the reasons i bought a region free dvd years ago

SONG ID? What’s that metal song??

Loved it as a kid. As an adult, Jesus, so many weird PDF file undertones

Hi to everyone that's familiar with this interesting and wonderful movie!!! 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻

Man I loved this movie as a kid

I was not allowed to watch this movie as a kid. I need to try and find it as an adult and finally watch it.

Love this movie so much. Need a Maurice tattoo.

In my childhood it was one of my favorit movies! I dont scared about the monsters, i love them much and i wanted to live in the world under the bed too! I love the movie still today but i cant find a good german HD Blue ray! Its a shame!

A great movie in my opinion. Lots of jokes for both kids and adults.

Howie being an OCD germaphobe, how did he sit through the make up process

This movie absolutely made me feel weird when I saw it as a kid.. it creeped me out to much haha. Now I dig it. But still that.. oof moment. I love the sound of breaking glass is an iconic song tho haha

This movie is the only reason Howie Mandel matters haha

Growing up a Jehovah's witness this movie blew my mind and horrified me at the end, so as a child id surround my bed with transformers to protect me as i slept, the 80s were crazy. CULT LIFE PROBLEMS HAHAHA

100 percent correct about not having our hand held 😂 the 90s and up are softer than baby shit and offended by grass being green

The pee in the apple juice scene.....brutal

Who would think that an entire generation would come to dress, look, and act like the monsters from Little Monsters. Crazy world.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Fred savage was only 23 in this role

G. K. Chesterton.... yeah, ~he's~ someone that we should idealize and quote.. I would like to see one of his (in)famous quotes on Jewish people... Also, we know a lot more about kids brains, and they can't handle what we thought they could in the 80s. It's just that same as lead paint - we, as humanity got smarter, and we changed our behavior, it's not a bad thing to let kids be kids as long as possible without telling them about all the crap in the world...

I watched this recently with my daughter, this film gets too dark at the end

Aside from all the good story telling and themes of growing up, I love all the sets and practical effects in this movie. Boy's face skin mask stapled onto his head is amazing Sadly, kids movies today will likely never be as good with all the ugly uncanny valley CGI and sterile afraid-to-offend storytelling infused with political/sexual propaganda.

I’ll take these old kinds of movies over today’s. At least they weren’t pushing gay agendas and knew how many genders there were

Yes, they don't make em like that anymore!

CHef Adam Libby likes this.

🥲 I’m ugly crying to Joe blow

I actually did talk with Fred Savage himself and I had to be sure if they were talking about doing another little monsters movie and it turns out that they are so he gets me the grumpy for once all the cats can return so far Derman organize them from blank check the burbs And I’m going on yeah there’s some dark comedy in this movie but there’s also dark comedy and any comedy movie as long as it is straightforward. I’ll be happy with that but get back to us same here what your name is that they are talking about doing another little movie so , I thought that would say that to you so you would know that they are talking about doing another movie monsters I think we should just do like a couple more Nicole good because we need for that. He was further not just with one movie they called good no that , they did say that there was going to be and I hope that you can talk about that in an upcoming video not just by talk about movies by scenes by scenes. Talk about these movies and I hope that you get a chance to talk about little monsters further and also talk about the new one that’s supposed to be out sometime soon because fresh did say about that to me because I told him about it , he gets to be Dad and he’s married to Kiersten and they get to be fight over marriage arguing over it and running around the world that would be a good movie. This would have to go to the world and save his kids because someone there who is related to snick , that is according to you but his name is Dick not Nick but other than that I hope that you get a chance to talk about this because no I’ll be around checking you out and no I don’t mean anything gay wise I mean I’m I mean you by your videos or into the videos that you do like you talk about movies and new news based on movies that is there that you can talk about them so other than that I hope you get the chance to talk about the new little monsters when it comes or something like that or get into the Facebook and talk to Chris and Howard Mandel. Yeah the guy his fingers and says deal.