In light of Tom Noonan’s tragic passing, we look at how the actor’s portrayal of Frankenstein’s Monster is the heart of ‘The Monster Squad’.
Tom Noonan wasn’t a household name amongst general audiences. But within genre circles, his legend stood tall. He played the terrifying Francis Dollarhyde in Manhunter. The psychotic Cain in RoboCop 2. He took up the ax as the Ripper in Last Action Hero. Invited us into an eerie old house as Mr. Ulman from The House of the Devil. He could play sweet and sympathetic as well, taking on small roles in movies like Wolfen and Eight Legged Freaks. Needless to say, the man was a tremendous performer. And it broke my heart to learn that he passed away on February 14, 2026, at the age of 74.
Noonan’s passing does not, however, mean that he’s truly gone. Not in the slightest. His appearances on the silver screen make him available whenever we wish to visit with him. If anything, the tragedy has solidified for me that my favorite performance of his rests in the shoes of the very creature that has stood as a representation of our misunderstanding toward death for well over a century…that of Frankenstein’s Monster in The Monster Squad.
Note: I’ll be referring to the character simply as Frankenstein from here on out. Sean (Andre Gower) wouldn’t want me calling him a “monster”.
One of only two cult classic horror films directed by Fred Dekker— the other being Night of the Creeps—The Monster Squad puts a creature-feature spin on The Goonies, released two years prior. Penned by Lethal Weapon’s Shane Black, the film follows a young group of boys led by Sean. Donning his “Stephen King rules” shirt, Sean hosts a monster club in his treehouse. There, he and his friends discuss all things that go bump in the night. But when Dracula (Duncan Regehr) arrives in town with a mission to resurrect his own squad of actual monsters, it’s up to Sean and co. to save the day.
Courtesy of Tri-Star Pictures
The film features a collection of classic Universal monsters in servitude to Dracula—the Mummy, the Wolf Man, the Gillman—but it’s Frankenstein who the old vamp considers his most loyal of ghouls. He tasks the hulking giant with retrieving Van Helsing’s diary from the kids…even if it means killing them.
But The Monster Squad is a film about how appearances can be deceiving. And Frankenstein is the undead beating heart of that theme.
Sean’s younger sister, Phoebe (Ashley Bank), first discovers the bolt-necked creature on her own. The scene calls back to the tragic moment from Frankenstein (1931), when the creature accidentally tosses a little girl into a lake. Luckily, this version of the big green guy is a whole lot more restrained. Gently holding his hand, the little girl introduces ole Frank to the boys. They’re hesitant, of course, but it takes only a few moments for them to realize he’s harmless. Well, unless you piss him off.
Black’s script sees no reason to have Frankenstein attack the kids and later have a change of heart. He’s a good guy from the beginning. And despite his frightening features, the kids recognize that, largely thanks to the kindness emanating from Noonan. The actor hardly has any dialogue outside of slang taught to him by the kids (mainly, “bogus”). He wears heaps of makeup designed by Stan Winston (make-up he was apparently fond of tearing off). Yet he projects a certain sadness from his eyes alone that speaks to the tortured soul residing beneath his appearance. A human—undead or not—who desires only friendship, and finds it in The Monster Squad.
Courtesy of Tri-Star Pictures
It takes a gifted actor to deliver such a heartwarming performance as Noonan…something that director Fred Dekker saw in him before casting. Dekker said as much in a Facebook post following Noonan’s death, writing, “Tom’s indelible performance as Frankenstein in The Monster Squad is a highlight of my modest filmography…Having been knocked out by his performance as Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann‘s Manhunter, I desperately wanted Tom to read the script and consider the part, but I knew that nabbing him was probably a long shot. Nonetheless, he agreed to meet me at his Hollywood apartment.”
Dekker added that in pitching the role to Noonan, he described the character as “like Lenny in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. A hulking simpleton who just wants to fit in despite his mental and physical drawbacks”. And Noonan was more than up to that task.
During a pivotal moment in Sean’s treehouse, the kids show Frankenstein a plastic mask inspired by the looming creature. They think he’ll enjoy the honor of a mask made in his likeness. Instead, he throws it away in disgust. Troubled. Heartbroken by the way the world perceives him. “Scary?” he asks, motioning at his face in a way that suggests he’s terrified of the kid’s response. They don’t need to say it. Everyone, even the green guy, knows the answer is “yes”. But it’s the person beneath the rotting flesh that matters.
Courtesy of Tri-Star Pictures
Growing up as a monster kid who was bullied relentlessly, I always found solace in creatures like Frankenstein. Living things forced to become outcasts by a society that took note only of their outward appearance and not the kind soul beneath. Noonan’s character isn’t the only one to face that cruel dismissal in The Monster Squad. One neighbor dubbed the “scary German guy” (Leonardo Cimino) turns out to be a holocaust survivor who saves the kids in the end. Horace (Brent Chalem), nicknamed “fat kid” and berated by his bullies over his weight, proves himself to be one of the bravest kids of them all. I stand up and cheer every time he blows away the Gillman, meets the eyes of his bullies, and proudly declares, “My name is Horace”.
Frankenstein embodies that spirit of acceptance for who we are rather than what we are. Of course, that’s always been his deal, but there’s something truly profound in seeing him taken in by a group of young children. Where adults would fear him and wish to surround him with torches, their innocence won’t allow that. They haven’t been corrupted by a society that tries to teach us to fear those who are different. Instead, they see the good in his actions. His willingness to help them. Their cool new best friend. All elevated by Noonan’s empathetic portrayal. And in possibly the single most beautiful moment of the film, Frankenstein walks off into the sunset with them, the image of their friendship burned into silhouettes by the fading orange rays.
Courtesy of Tri-Star Pictures
To those who didn’t have the same experience, perhaps it sounds silly to reference The Monster Squad as a film that helped other monster kids and me during childhood. But it did. Because we were those kids with our own monster club. We were those outcasts deemed a little too into creature features. And some of us were Frankenstein, judged and hated by appearance alone. Frankenstein’s friendship with the kids reminds us that it’s those differences that build the deepest bonds. For that reason, Tom Noonan’s character became a best friend to all of us who needed him.
Revisiting The Monster Squad for this piece tore me to pieces like the Wolf Man after meeting a stick of dynamite. Tears came heavy and fast during the ending when Frankenstein is sucked into the void. His wave goodbye in that moment took on new meaning. It was no longer just a sad ending. It was Noonan bidding farewell to all of us.
However, as any undead creature would tell you, death is not the end. Just as we know Frankenstein had only disappeared to some other universe, Tom Noonan lives on in the roles that endeared him to us. He will forever loom overThe Monster Squad. Not as anything scary, but a gentle presence wrapping the whole experience like a strong, warm hug. He filled the shoes of Frankenstein with a poise matching the likes of Boris Karloff, Robert De Niro, and Jacob Elordi. Gave the film a life it wouldn’t have had without him…a life it still has today in part because of him.
Courtesy of Tri-Star Pictures
Whenever I think of Tom Noonan, it’ll be that image of him walking with The Monster Squad at sunset. Happy. Loved. And finally, at peace.
