Little Monsters (1989)

Don't look under your bed

Fred Savage stars as Brian, the new kid in the neighborhood who is befriended by the monster under his bed, Maurice (played by Howie Mandel).  At first it is all fun and games.  The underground world seems like a kid's dream come true.  There are no parents and no rules.  Brian uses this new world to get back at the class bully and play all night long.  The fun doesn't last very long though, Brian is starting to change into a monster himself. All monsters are children.  Maurice was tasked to convert Brian into a monster.  When Maurice fails to convert him, Brian's younger brother is kidnapped (played by Ben Savage, Fred's real life brother).  Brian then recruits his friends to help him rescue his brother from the head monster called Boy.  They use light to destroy any monsters that try to stop them and eventually defeat Boy (played by a young Frank Whaley).  They have one last hurdle to jump over, sunrise is coming and if they don't get out and into the real world they will all become monsters.  They start running from bed to bed trying to find one where it isn't morning yet.  They end up finding one in Malibu and escape there.  Maurice remains a monster and the kids call home.

Creepy factor

All of the monsters are creepy. Maurice and Boy are the creepiest.

Lessons learned

This movie basically teaches kids that there are monsters under your bed and they are out to get to you.  Monsters, Inc is the friendly version of this story.  Monsters are now your friends.  In Little Monsters the threat is still there, looming underneath your bed.  Most of the movie shows Brian and Maurice causing mischief.  They create a lot of messes in other children's homes and then frame the kids in the house so they will get into trouble.  It's only when there is a sense of danger that Brian changes his mind.  He's not really a bad kid but not really a good kid either.  He's kind of a punk.  I feel like the message is kind of muddled.  They want kids to behave but only if their misbehavior will lead to irrevocable harm (becoming a monster or being kidnapped by monsters).