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In 1987, writers Shane Black and Fred Dekker teamed up to create a nonsensical, ugly little adventure about a team of outcast misfits determined to kill monsters. The outcastsโ€”and the filmโ€™s intended audienceโ€”were children. Unfortunately, Blackโ€™s unique talents (Lethal Weapon, The Nice Guys) donโ€™t lend well to family movies, and the resulting mess, The Monster Squad, was rightfully forgotten by everyone except the sort of snot-nosed dipshit kid whoโ€™d say, โ€œYeah, The Goonies was okay, but it really coulda used more casual homophobia.โ€

In 2018, Black and Dekker (ha!) have reunited to write a new adventure about a makeshift monster squadโ€”but this time, instead of foul-mouthed kids, itโ€™s foul-mouthed grownups, and instead of Dracula and the Wolfman (DID YOU KNOW: The Wolfmanโ€™s got nards!), itโ€™s Predators!

Bobby Roberts is one of the Portland Mercury's calendar editors, as well as one of its film and pop-culture critics. His past career choices included joining corporate broadcast radio just in time for...