We don’t have nearly enough animated horror movies out there that could inspire a creep in modern young audiences. I mean sure we had “Monster House,” an entertaining candidate for spooking kids, but there should be more. “Igor” definitely won’t inspire a spook in audiences as its sole intent is to be adorable instead of scaring the kids a little bit. Hell even Igor, a character we’re told is repugnant, is kind of cute, given a husky voice, and a cute demeanor that the writers insist are hideous, but we all know the deal halfway in. Igor is not meant to be ugly because frankly, MGM don’t seem to want to market a children’s film around an ugly character. They want to give us cutesy with the pretense of ugly only if they have to; so their message that appreciating someone in spite of their looks is ultimately fallen on deaf ears because Igor is marketable, and potentially iconic if given enough time.

Not even the collective talents of Cusack, Shannon, Cleese, and the like can save this bland product obviously not suitable for children. Director Leondis has no idea what to do with “Igor,” often opting instead to be confused with Tim Burton, instead of taking the opportunity to combine the dread of James Whale, the entertainment of William Castle, and the humor of Mel Brooks. Every character on screen feel like rejected figures from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” while Leondis takes the goofy monster bit from Brooks coming off as a hack when the credits rolled. I really wanted to see “Igor” upon its first trailer and reveled in its horror status, but the parts of the whole are far too mediocre to really soak in and laugh with, in the end.

Alas, yet another animated film comes and goes in 2008 and fails to entertain on all levels. I am really disappointed that “Igor” was nothing but a stale rehash of old gags, unsuitably violent humor, and an atmosphere heavily derived from Tim Burton. This had every opportunity to milk its genre and its audience, and it failed.