"Not as long as they think you're a monster."
"That's kinda racist."
To protect his daughter Mavis (Gomez), Dracula (Sandler) built a hotel for monsters away from the prying eyes of humans. Every year all their monster friends come to the hotel for Mavis' birthday party. For her 118th birthday, she is finally allowed to leave the hotel and see the world. But her dad has other plans.
His plans backfire when a human, Jonathan (Samberg), finds the hotel. Drac tries to get Jonathan out of hotel, but he and Mavis make a connection. Meanwhile, their friends arrive for the party. Wayne (Buscemi), Wanda (Wanda) and the pack of were-children spill out of their car. Murray (Green), the mummy, rides in on a wave of sand. Griffin (Spade), the invisible man, appears out of nowhere. And Frankenstein (James) and his wife Eunice (Drescher) arrive in the mail. They are immediately entranced by Jonathan, who Drac disguises as a distant relative of Frankenstein. Will Drac keep the party on track and get rid of Jonathan, or will the human ruin the party?
So, despite the fact that I don't like scary movies (I refuse to watch them, with a few exceptions), I love Frankenstein and classic Hollywood horror films. Frankenstein holds a special place in my heart (and was the subject of my collegiate thesis). This film captured my attention from the first time I heard about it. The voice talents were also a major draw.
The film capitalizes on monster movie tropes. For example, in the Frankenstein films, the monster character is afraid of fire, which is a running joke in the film. The monster men are the usual cast for an Adam Sandler film, and work well together. Andy Samberg recently costarred with Sandler and is a good fit here. Singer CeeLo Green is a strong addition as Murray. The women of the film don't get to do much. The end of the film features the cast performing a song, which doesn't really serve much of a purpose... especially since the two cast members who are well-known singers don't really do much singing.
A decent film, not really for little kids, but still an enjoyable film (and if you have ever seen an Adam Sandler film, you know what you're getting into).
EDIT: The sequel Hotel Transylvania 2 was released in 2015. Hotel Transylvania 3 is set to release in 2018.
Hotel Transylvania (2012) 91 minutes
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Starring: Adam Sandler as Dracula
Andy Samberg as Jonathan
Selena Gomez as Mavis
Kevin James as Frankenstein
Fran Drescher as Eunice
Steve Buscemi as Wayne
Molly Shannon as Wanda
David Spade as Griffin
CeeLo Green as Murray
Jon Lovitz as Quasimodo
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