Hotel Transylvania

Apart from testing the brain when it comes to the spelling of Transylvania, I was also having trouble remembering much about this film. However, this animation cleaned up at the box office and, despite it being only a middle of the road production, the reasons why are fairly simple. It’s colourful, loud and has a short running time that helps disguise a script that is as thin as they come. I expect you won’t remember much about it a few weeks after you’ve seen it. Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler), runs an exclusion houseboat in Patagonia (or something like that) where the monsters of the world can relax away from the human population. However, things get turned upside down when 21 year old humanoid traveller Jonathon (Andy Samberg) bursts through the front door. Fearing the impact on his business Dracula disguises Jonathan as one of his usual patrons, but further problems ensue when Drac’s daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) takes a shine to the imposter. This had already been through five directors before it ended up in the lap of experienced TV animation hand Genndy Tartakovsky. Originally the script was more low-key, but Tartakovsky took the wise decision to inject it with some energy and make it less based in “reality”. The result is almost like an old school animation with the madness coming thick and fast. The only problem is that this works for kids, but for the older members of the audience a bit more substance is required. The storyline is as basic as they come and the low value voice cast don’t add much. This does have its charms though and the animation is impressive. From The Blob to zombies you can also have fun spotting as many different monster cameos as you can. All in all this is an honest attempt to provide some entertainment for a target audience and it mainly works. A sequel has already been green lit as well, so you may find yourself being dragged by your kids to the cinema for second holiday in Romania sometime in the next few years…..

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
A few decent laughs, but the whole package is no more than average. You’ll check in for one night only. Rating: 6/10.