Monsters

1988

Seasons & Episodes

  • 3
  • 2
  • 1

7.3| 0h30m| TV-14| en
Synopsis

Monsters is a syndicated horror anthology series which originally ran from 1988 to 1991 and reran on the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s. As of 2011, Monsters airs on NBC Universal's horror/suspense-themed cable channel Chiller in sporadic weekday marathons. In a similar vein to Tales from the Darkside, Monsters shared the same producer, and in some ways succeeded the show. It differed in some respects nonetheless. While Tales sometimes dabbled in stories of science fiction and fantasy, this series was more strictly horror. As the name implies, each episode of Monsters featured a different monster which the story concerned, from the animatronic puppet of a fictional children's television program to mutated, weapon-wielding lab rats. Similar to Tales, however, the stories in Monsters were rarely very straightforward action plots and often contained some ironic twist in which a character's conceit or greed would do him in, often with gruesome results. Adding to this was a sense of comedy often lost on horror productions which might in some instances lighten the audience's mood but in many cases added to the overall eeriness of the production.

Cast

Director

Producted By

Tribune Entertainment

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Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Lawbolisted Powerful
Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
ctomvelu-1 It's easy 20 years later to forget this very low-budget horror anthology series ever existed. It was not up to competing shows of the period like TALES FROM THE CRYPT or even DARK VISIONS. But the occasional episode hit a home run, as readily evidenced by a recent rerun of many of the episodes on the CHILLER channel. There was usually a twist ending and some low-rent guest star or rising young star to liven things up. My favorite of those I saw recently: a middle-aged woman (Karen Valentine), not without her charms, is married to a crippled inventor. Her missing first husband, a real Tarzan type, shows up very much alive after years away, and the nasty fun begins. Valentine, who often played a goody two-shoes on TV, spends a lot of time in a flimsy negligee and has a silly yet oddly arousing sex scene with a headless body! Another truly creepy episode had two boys (one of whom, Matt LeBlanc, would go on to fame on FRIENDS) messing with alleged vampires in a barber shop. Better they should have stayed away. Or just gotten their hair cut. Yet another episode, starring a very young Tori Speling and Ashley Laurence of "Hellraiser" fame, has a quartet of teens conjuring up the long-dead and very evil owner of an old mansion. He soon returns to take back his mansion. The grue quotient for many of these episodes ran pretty high. MONSTERS may have appeared to be strictly for the kiddies, but not always. I recommend the series to all horror fans.
IPJ78 This show has to be my favorite out of all the 80's horror TV shows. Like Tales from the Darkside, also from the same creators, this show is a rare gem. If you agree with me, PLEASE sign this petition I started, to get the word out for Monsters and get it out on DVD. Here is the petition address: www.petitiononline.com/19784444/petition.html Some of my favorite episodes would have to be Glim glim, and Rain Dance. I also loved the opening intro with the monster family. That used to creep me out! One of the things I would have to ask the DVD creators to include would be the organ sound heard right before where the commercial break would be. I don't know if any of you remember that part but that's one of the main things that brings back memories to me. I mean, come on! War of the Worlds the TV series already has been released on DVD, so I say Monsters, and also Tales from the Darkside, and Friday the 13th the series should be released too! We the fans need to speak our minds! We need this awesome show on DVD so PLEASE spread the word!!!
kwaidan_1964 I must first begin by expressing the fact that Monsters was a well done show and out did its' predecessor, Tales From the Darkside. Don't get me wrong. Tales had a great staff, a lot of world renowned writers, and a brilliant cast. But It stayed within the realms of family viewing. It was a show that even the most uptight and strict parents could let their kids watch. It was very tame. I believe policies and guidelines for TV shows may have been a factor, which is why we can really only compare Monsters to shows like Tales from the Crypt. Even though, Tales From the Crypt bares all, in terms of gore and murder and you won't find half naked women on the VHS tapes of Monsters. They are a better match because they delve deeper into horror, while being able to make you laugh and expect the unexpected. Monsters had great effects, a great score, and you can't deny the talent that went into that show. I think that we should admire the creators of Monsters, because if it wasn't for shows like that one, there would have probably not been a place on television for great shows like, Tales from the Crypt.
matlock-6 I picked up on this show towards the end of its original 3 year run and loved it. I continued watching well on until the reruns finally disappeared entirely.Made by essentially the same people who made "Tales From The Darkside", (minus one major player), it was just as good, I thought. While "Tales" was the darker, more sinister show, with the creepy organ music and negative film forest shot intro, "Monsters" was both more humorous and more disturbing than "Tales".The premise of the show was basically the same, borrowed idea from "The Twighlight Zone", featuring weird stories, some that made me feel creeped out when I'd turn out all the lights to watch, and some that were downright silly and made me laugh. They were all very entertaining.I wish reruns would air again.