Little Monsters is a 1989 American fantasy comedy film starring Fred Savage and Howie Mandel and directed by Richard Alan Greenberg.

[4][5] Although the film failed financially, receiving a limited theatrical release due to Vestron’s bankruptcy, it obtained a cult following[6] on home video and is considered a requisite title in the gateway horror genre.

The next night, a determined Brian sets booby traps, and leaves cheese Doritos as bait to attract the alleged "monster."

They manage to escape by turning Maurice into a pile of clothes via an improvised light and slide him through the door crack.

The kids run to a payphone and Brian calls home to say that he and Eric are in Malibu and begins to explain their story to their parents.

Brian's father Glen is played by Daniel Stern, who was working on The Wonder Years as the elder, retrospective (voice-over) version of Savage's character, Kevin Arnold.

[8] Pre-production designs of Maurice and the main little monsters were created by Alan Munro, previously known for his work on Beetlejuice.

The monster underworld, the toughest portion of photography, was filmed primarily at the abandoned (and some say notorious) Ideal Cement Plant in Castle Hayne, North Carolina.

A second unit, also working at the cement plant, created and filmed miniatures for forced-perspective shots with the life-sized sets.

Reminiscing about filming at the cement plant, gaffer Jock Brandis told the Wilmington Star-New’s Cape Fear: Unearthed podcast in 2021: "We used to call it Stage 13.

The reason we used it was because it was this amazingly flexible place; these huge, cavernous spaces made of concrete and steel with walkways and conveyor belts and tunnels and just this fanciful stuff.

Other key locations were the Wilmington National Cemetery, Wrightsville Beach, and Forest Hills Global Elementary - where the infamous “Who put piss in my apple juice!” scene was filmed.

The clown, puppeteered by Short, springs out of the floorboards and threatens Brian, Todd and Kiersten after they enter Boy's room.

In February, 2023, Enjoy The Ride Records released composer David Newman’s complete score on vinyl.

It subsequently saw a limited release, with only 179 movie theaters showing the film at its high point, although it grossed just under US$800,000.

Lionsgate released the film on Blu-ray for the first time as part of their "Vestron Video Collector's Series" line on September 15, 2020.

[18] Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times found Howie Mandel's monster Maurice to be uncannily close to Beetlejuice although this film is for children.

Willman says the film ultimately turns into a special-effects extravaganza, but seems to have been held back by its limited budget.