Like most films there is some material that is in the script that just never makes to reality, or there are scenes filmed that either don’t work as well as intended or just don’t fit in the final film for one reason or another. Sometimes this material is gold and it leaves one scratching their head as to why it was cut or went unfilmed, and sometimes it’s pretty damn obvious why the stuff hit the cutting room floor or was marked out of the shooting script with thick black Sharpie markings. Either way, I tend to find wading through this stuff fascinating, and with The Monster Squad there is a lot of deleted scene gold to be mined, both in the script and on the screen. Today I’m gonna take a look at some of my favorite lost pieces of the story…
First things first, have you guys ever noticed that something feels a little off about the opening of the film? It opens with Dracula transforming and then admiring a coffin, and then, poof, he’s gonzo. The opening text narration that fills us in on Van Helsing’s attempt to rid the world of monsters, and that he, well, blew it. But how exactly did he blow it? What went wrong? What was the plan and why was Dracula nowhere to be found? Well, in the script there’s a bit more to this sequence than in the final theatrical cut, a bit that answers these questions…
HOLY CRAP that’s cool. Seriously, Van Helsing is a badass! But wait, why was this never shot, and what happens to Dracula after he’s staked? One thing at a time folks. First, believe it or not this sequence was shot and I have a picture that proves it…
How rad is that? Pretty damn rad if you ask me. So, after Dracula is dispatched by Van Helsing, the body is loaded onto a wagon and towed to the castle. The plan, as I gather from the script and context clues, is to find the (mostly) unprotected amulet (Dracula has it in his castle in the opening remember), have a virgin recite the incantation and to open a hole in Limbo that they can then chuck Dracula’s prone staked corpse into, along with any other monster that gets in their way. Simple enough right? Well, not so much, because you see, things didn’t go according to plan…
That’s right, Karl, though brave and great at slaying the ladies (of the vampire variety at least), goofs up and pulls the stake from Dracula to save his own neck, if only momentarily. Bad move. This scene was also filmed, and guess what? It survived the last 27 years and is on youtube! The scene was re-cut into the 2004 TNT TV presentation of the film…
Poor Karl. Well, this explains Dracula’s disappearance. Now tipped off to Van Helsing’s attack he got the fuck out of town. Back in the castle things fall apart as they do in the film, except in the script there is an army of zombies rising from the floor of the castle, not just the two or three in the actual film, and they are too much to ward off and everyone gets sucked into the vortex of Limbo. Cool huh?
The next deleted bit is kinda short but poignant and it involves a scene where Sean takes the majority of the silver bullets that Rudy made and before all hell breaks loose he reloads his dad’s gun with them. Guess he was afraid the Wolfman would be the first to take his father on. It also explains why Rudy only has one silver bullet when he faces down the Wolfman at the end of the film. This was all part of the Rock Until You Drop montage sequence…
This scene was also filmed and is on the 20th anniversary DVD and Bluray courtesy of Fred Dekker’s own archive…
The next lost bit was also filmed, as it’s the movie within a movie Groundhog Day Part 12, but the idea to focus on the film through Sean’s binoculars was sort of reduced in the final cut of the film. This deletion makes perfect sense to me because dwelling on the “movie within the movie” would have greatly taken away from the emotional resonance of Sean and his dad hanging out on the roof watching the drive-in which is one of the more touching moments in the film. But, if it were left intact you’d get a better idea of how Fred Dekker felt about modern horror at that time in the mid 80s…
This next segment that was cut from the film is a sequence that feels like it was ripped straight out of an episode of Scooby Doo complete with cantankerous villains wearing masks and goofy supernatural hypnotism. Except in the Monster Squad the Scooby Doo reveal is turned on its head. To set the stage, this occurs after the boys have made their way into the old abandoned mansion on Shadowbrook road in search of the amulet, right after the monster is taken out in the explosion but before the Wolfman Nard Kicking…
What’s this?!? A descendant of Van Helsing is in the mix? Holy shit…
Oh DAMN you old man ALUCARD! Kinda glad this bit was cut, and I have no idea if it was ever filmed or not. Recently heard Andre Gower on the Awesome 80s Podcast and he confirmed that this above sequence was indeed filmed, and holy crap, Liam Neeson played the part of the disguised Dracula “Stranger/Van Helsing” descendant. Too cool, but I wonder if anything from this sequence survives…
The last bit from the script, a segment that was filmed as well is a sweet moment at the end of the film. When all the dust has settled and Limbo has closed back up, Rudy FINALLY get’s the girl. There’s a bit in the Monster Squad Forever documentary with Ryan Lambert talking about this scene and how it’s a shame that it was cut because no one believes him. Well, here it is in the script…
You can see the lead up to this bit in a surviving deleted segment that was re-cut into the TV presentation that aired on TNT back in 2004…
Other than that, and the scenes that are on the 20th anniversary DVD/Blu-Ray there’s not much else worth noting that were left out. Maybe this poop joke that Horace makes…
Now, for today’s trading card…
Since there was never any MS merchandise produced, specifically a Topps trading card set, I thought it would be fun to make a mini set of 80s-style digital trading cards for my favorite movie of all time. So come back each evening for Trick or Treats and collect them all!
Today’s card is #2, Rudy Halloran!
