Release dates are all about timing. Hence why it's confusing that "Monster House" has been released in the middle of July, rather than around Halloween, the day on which the film takes place.

Its curious timing is only one aspect of the movie's acute identity crisis. The plot is just about as straightforward as it gets. The entire 97 minutes can basically be summed up in the title: Three kids are haunted by a house-turned-monster, and so they attempt to destroy it. Conceptually, the movie has universal appeal. After all, almost every neighborhood has one house that's too spooky to approach. But this is the only aspect of the film that every member of the audience is able to appreciate.

Rookie director Gil Kenan's failure to capitalize on this premise epitomizes the lack of creativity behind the project. As a result, the film is left with an ambiguous audience.

For a kids' movie, "Monster House" is too violent and too scary. Within the opening five minutes, Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi, "Fargo"), the owner of the house in question, seems to die of a sudden heart attack triggered by the film's young protagonist DJ, voiced by Mitchel Musso in his screen debut. (That Nebbercracker is later revived was of little consolation to the little girl who left the theater in tears.) The house itself turns out to be possessed by Nebbercracker's dead wife, Constance the Giantess, who was killed in a freak accident while Nebbercracker was building his house. One of the house's victims, Bones (Jason Lee, Vanilla Sky), stumbles onto the front lawn of the house in a drunken stupor. Who did Kenan have in mind when he let these sequences into the opening 10 minutes of the film? Was he trying to coax the adults in the audience into paying attention to the film?

Pixar has had a lot of success among viewers of all ages. Perhaps Kenan was aiming for something similar. But the films frequent use of bathroom humor doesn't make up for the frightening first 15 minutes among young viewers, and only drives away the other half of the audience who probably wasn't too interested in the first place.

The film's cast is another indication that Kenan was having a tough time deciding on an audience. Protagonists range from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Buscemi, Lee and indie-film hero Jon Heder of "Napoleon Dynamite" to Musso, who's made a small run with the Disney Channel.

It's not all bad, though. The film lashes out in so many directions there is truly something everyone can appreciate, whether it's Chowder's (Sam Lerner, "Envy") screwball personality, Heder's classic Dynamite voice, or Buscemi's over-the-top shrieking. As far as expectations go, forget it. This film deserves none.

Rating: Two out of five stars

Monster House
At the Showcase and Quality 16
Columbia