Following on from The Polar Express, producer Robert Zemeckis takes motion capture technology to freakier heights in Monster House. Critics rolled out the welcome mat for this CG yarn boasting an eclectic cast from Kathleen Turner to Jon 'Napoleon Dynamite' Heder. Sadly it didn't scare up much business in cinemas, losing out to Cars and Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

Digging The Foundations

In the featurette Imaginary Heroes, recent film school graduate Gil Kenan talks about the vision that landed him the job of directing Monster House. He calls it a "slightly exaggerated" version of reality, exploiting the creepiness of motion capture technology rather than trying to mask it. Every actor on his wish list said 'yes' to the proposal, something that we're assured never happens in Beginner's Luck. Kathleen Turner, Steve Buscemi and Maggie Gylennhaal are among the actors who don the dotted jumpsuits, but Spencer Locke (who plays Jenny) is more thrilled to be sharing oxygen with Jon Heder. "It's Napoleon Dynamite!" she coos. "The Napoleon Dynamite. My friends are, like, so jealous!"

Brick By Virtual Brick...

Making It Real takes us into the post-production phase. Here, a team of computer whizzes take the floating dots and turn them into moving people in a fully realised world. This featurette is complemented by a multi-angle breakdown of the opening scene (Eliza Vs Nebbercracker) that strips away the layers of CGI.

Of course sound is also an integral part of creating the spooky ambience. Did You Hear That? finds Turner doing her best banshee impression while techies knock down an entire house just to capture 'the death rattle'.

The commentary accompanying the film is a slightly disorientating patchwork which hears from Gil Kenan among other anonymous contributors. However the director does offer some interesting notes on the story, referring to the titular house "as a sensual being…in the sense that she thinks emotionally, in a heart-centred way." Occasionally though, he does get a little bit too New Age, calling a leaf that blows in the wind "an extension of her [Eliza's] innocence..."

Surprisingly there are no set-top games for the kids. Wrapping up the bonus menu are a few DVD-Rom activities and three behind-the-scenes galleries. With most featurettes running at around three mins, the extras package is a bit rickety, but the film should hold up to repeated viewings on the small screen.

EXTRA FEATURES