Monster House

Equal parts Ray Bradbury and rickety carnival spook show, this animated tale of a carnivorous, haunted house and the band of neighborhood kids who decide to put it out of commission feels maddeningly unfinished, as though it were tinkered with in postproduction, rejiggered unnecessarily, and finally let loose during the entirely inappropriate summer months, when it ought to be arriving on All Hallows Eve. Bad timing aside, the story is a wispy thing that, surprisingly, given its Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis producerial pedigree, fails to adequately evoke the sheer kidhood magic of the Halloween season. Monster House's animation is its best aspect, working up a blood red and purpley color palette that fairly screams "Boo!," but even the genuinely creepy sight of this monstrous manse uprooting itself from its foundation and chasing the kids down the block can't make up for the confused tone of the script, which is seemingly pitched at neither youngsters nor adults.