THREE GREAT CHARACTERS, ONE SCARY `MONSTER HOUSE'.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

Just about every neighborhood has its ``Monster House.'' OK, maybe not a living, breathing haunted house per se, but the kind of forbidden zone that, like in this rollicking animated adventure movie, swallows toys the way a whale gulps down plankton.

Here, early on, DJ (voiced by Mitchel Musso) and best pal Chowder (Sam Lerner) are shooting hoops in front of DJ's house. The basketball takes a bad bounce -- neither boy is much of a shot -- and it bounds across the street, coming to a stop on the pristine front lawn of mean old man Nebbercracker's house. Both kids look forlornly at the ball. ``It doesn't exist any more,'' DJ says sadly.

That's because Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi, delivering a wonderful vocal performance) is one of those old-timers who is always lurking behind closed curtains, waiting to burst from the front door and yell at any kid stepping foot on his property. But what if Nebbercracker wasn't the scariest thing about the house? What if Nebbercracker really isn't so scary at all?

``Monster House,'' energetically directed by first-timer Gil Kenan, explores these questions, taking what could have been a pretty thin story and turning it into a grand tale of daring and friendship. DJ, Chowder and newly acquired gal pal Jenny (Spencer Locke) begin by taking a page from Jimmy Stewart in ``Rear Window,'' putting Nebbercracker's house under surveillance until they're forced to take action. When they do, assumptions are proven wrong and surprises lurk around every corner.

The movie's anthropomorphic house is frighteningly fantastic, both in its design and personality. The home's rolled Persian rug is its answer to the Kraken from ``Pirates of the Caribbean,'' snagging the unsuspecting with lightning speed and pulling them into the unknown.

But where ``Monster House'' really impresses is in the way it faithfully captures the way 12-year-olds talk and act. If it's not quite this generation's ``Stand by Me,'' it's close, with Musso standing in for Wil Wheaton and Lerner doing his best Jerry O'Connell. The addition of a girl to the equation gives the story some additional tension, given the boys' age and hormonal condition.

Look for these kids to become perennial favorites in the coming years.

Glenn Whipp, [phone].

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

MONSTER HOUSE - Three stars

(PG: scary images, thematic elements, some crude humor, brief language)

Starring: Voices of Steve Buscemi, Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke.

Director: Gil Kenan.

Running time: 1 hr. 31 min.

Playing: In wide release.

In a nutshell: Three kids find friendship and adventure battling a possessed house in a great scary movie for the preteen set.

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The delightfully scary ``Monster House'' taps into what chills -- and empowers -- kids.