Monster House Movie

TO understand the brash, blitzkrieg humor of "Monster House," the new comic horror film that opens Friday, it's helpful to know that Gil Kenan, the film's 29-year-old first-time director, came to America from Israel at age 7, already half aware that pop culture is the great equalizer. Having arrived in Reseda fresh from the suburbs of Tel Aviv, Kenan knew that as the immigrant kid with a thick accent, he needed to hit the ground running in his new world.

TO understand the brash, blitzkrieg humor of "Monster House," the new comic horror film that opens Friday, it's helpful to know that Gil Kenan, the film's 29-year-old first-time director, came to America from Israel at age 7, already half aware that pop culture is the great equalizer. Having arrived in Reseda fresh from the suburbs of Tel Aviv, Kenan knew that as the immigrant kid with a thick accent, he needed to hit the ground running in his new world.