THIS animated film begins with a little boy DJ (Mitchel Musso) killing his neighbour, Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi) - not a good start.

Old man Nebbercracker has a heart attack while shouting at DJ for stepping on his lawn. Unfortunately for DJ, Nebbercracker lives in the spookiest house in the neighbourhood, a haunted house in the middle of suburban bliss.

Nebbercracker has been terrorising the kids for generations and his old house is not pleased with its owner's death.

With his parents out of town, DJ and his friends can only watch in horror as the house starts devouring toys, pets, and even police officers.

A lot of the computer animation in Monster House is not as good as films such as Toy Story. The house itself is stunning but the people could look much better.

A big part of similar children's adventures such as the Goonies or E.T. was that you were watching real kids on a real adventure. By making Monster House computer animated, it loses some of that appeal.

With that in mind however, the film is smart, funny and voiced perfectly by a cast of great actors, the quick wit carries the story along but the amazing monster house is the only thing that makes it a must see.

BR