With monsters deep within its heart, it should come as no surprise that The Monster Club opens as an older vampire named Erasmus (Vincent Price) stalks his next victim - another older gentleman named R. Chetwynd-Hayes (John Carradine). Before Erasmus is able to put the final bite on his meal, he realizes that Hayes is actually one of his favorite horror authors and offers an invitation for Hayes to join him at one of his favorite haunts, The Monster Club. The Monster Club is exactly what you would expect from the name...and more! Rubber mask wearing freaks bopping to the sound of live tunes, and wait till you see the bands! The shennanigans at the club all serves as our wrap around story for 3 tales of terror, each about a specific type of 'monster' or 'ghoul.'

Story one centers around a couple of scheisters (literally); a husband and wife team, George (Simon Ward) and Angela (Barbara Kellerman) who plan to take a local shut in for every antique he's worth. What they don't know is that the shut in, named Raven is actually a ghoul called a Shadmock. When Angela agrees to marry Raven (in a bizarre ceremony) only to get the combination to his safe, she'll soon find out why the Shadmock's are famous for their deadly whistles. Story two revolves around a young boy who misses the point, when he doesn't realize that his father's 'job' is that of a vampire by night. When an underground group of vampire hunters (led by Donald Pleasance) track him down, they use the lad to take them right to his father's resting place, although In the end - the joke may just be on the vampire hunters themselves. The final story involves Sam (Stuart Whitman) a director looking for just the right location for a film shoot. His travels take him to a village inhabited by ravenous monsters, looking for their next bite to eat. With the help of a half human half-ghoul girl Sam tries to make it back to safety, in one piece.

So, let's get something straight right from the start. The Monster Club is some of the finest aged cheese I've ever had the pleasure to ingest. There's really nothing to be taken too serious here, and except for a few moments of mild PG style violence and a 'safe' striptease sequence (with a very clever animated finale), the kids will even find much to enjoy within this one. So, depending on your tolerance for all things cinematically silly, you can do the math for yourself and come to the solution.

The fact that The Monster Club is so cinematically uneven will probably be enough to turn some viewers right off though. The stories themselves are hit or miss, with the third turning out to be the most enjoyable. The first story probably takes itself too seriously, while the second, is too silly too fast. Still, with the Price/ Carradine wraparound (which is a lot of fun) and the Saturday matinee mood (including a stellar cast of genre vets), The Monster Club can, and certainly does turn out to be a satisfying experience for those who are ready to embrace it.

Now, I can't let this one go without talking about the muisc again. As with the film, 80's cheese pure and simple. Each time we return to The Monster Club another band takes the stage, and if you're a fan of the new wave style 80's one hit wonders, you'll probably love it as much as I did. The sight ot these kids dancing around wearing rubber masks as Price and Carradine nod in approval (while drinking their blood and bloody mary) is simply pure gold, to say the least.

While there is a disclaimer before the film, stating that the best possible 'video' elements were used for this release, really no apologies are necessary. This transfer certainly isn't going to win any beauty pageants, the non-anamorphic transfer is more than acceptable here. Colors are quite bold, and while at times dark, we know that at one point in time, this film looked even darker and muddier. There is some minor print damage, but overall - this is a very pleasing transfer for a film that hasn't been available on home video in quite some time. The stereo sound is equally as pleasing; clear dialogue, and no evidence of background noise or distortion.

Extras include a trailer, selected cast bios, a fairly extensive still gallery, production notes and an entertaining text essay on the film by George Reis of DVDDrive-in.com. Other extras include an audio commentary with film critics Luke Y Thompson and Gregory Weinkauf, which was best left on the cutting room floor, to say the least. Think MST3K light and you'll get the idea, just skip it. The final and most impressive extra? Are you sitting down? The film's entire original soundtrack...yeeee hawwww! Needless to say that with my love of all things kitschy and annoying, I simply love it!

Know what you're getting yourself into, and you may just wind up having the time of your life with The Monster Club. It made me feel like I was 9-years old again, watching Creature Double Feature on a Saturday afternoon. With so little in this world that brings me pleasure or takes me back to my youth, it's nice to have innocent fun like The Monster Club as a reminder of what that's like.