Horror Court: The Monster
Court is now in session with The Monster. This 2016 horror was one that I watched recently on a whim. For those of you that haven't heard about it, The Monster is about a mother and daughter with a decidedly poor relationship that have some problems with a monster when they break down in the middle of the woods at night. It's a pretty simple survival story. Again, my long-form review will contain many spoilers. If you wish to avoid them, move along to the scoring.
The Evidence
The mother and daughter are both flawed characters and the actresses both had chemistry together that made them convincing. I was impressed with Ella Ballentine playing the daughter exceptionally well considering how young she is. I enjoyed seeing the different layers of their relationship throughout the film and thought that it was a sadly realistic picture of a strained and often abusive relationship. The worst part about that particular aspect was how believable it was for the pair to switch from hostile and antagonistic to domestic and caring for one another. It was a bit heartbreaking to be honest.
It was also really refreshing to see such a small-scale story. The setting is, with the exception of a few moments, all within the same stretch of road in and outside of a few vehicles. They could have made this story a sprawling chase through the dark, and I'm glad that they didn't. The make-up and most of the practical effects were quite good, and they leaned into the slow reveal of the creature in the forest in a sort of tropey, but enjoyable way.
I actually really enjoyed the monster and the way they chose to reveal it with first the tooth, and then the blurred movement into pieces and parts until you got the whole picture. There was a lot of attention to detail and things I was picking out about the creature even as it burned to death. Those bat wings were really striking with the flames. That said, it wasn't the most original creature, but it was very effective. I could identify different parts of it from the canine muzzle to the bat-like wing and the more ape posturing of the skeleton. It's clear that the crew put a lot of thought into the design of the creature and how it functioned in its environment. About the only qualms I have is that I would have liked to see more with the eyes, and that the creature’s corpse seemed a bit bouncy when struck, but that is pretty nit-picky.
The on again off again rain was a nice touch to the ambiance, and even though it was a pretty "by the book" horror movie it didn't cheapen the flow of the story or the tension of waiting to see exactly how the directors were going to set up the things that were expected. I loved the splatter when they dropped Jesse's arm onto the hood of the car, and all of the little moments between the pair of protagonists. The best part for me was that the mother's death and daughter's ultimate revenge on the monster did not feel contrived. We already know that the mother loves her daughter in her own way and that the daughter has enough of a dark streak to contemplate killing her mother. The characters felt human and it added to the story.
Overall, the story had more pros than cons and had smart camera work and design to slowly ramp up the tension as the story moved and the stakes got higher.
What's the Score?
Total Score - 4.3
Here’s the breakdown:
Behind the Scenes - 4
It's tough to say whether this should get a lower score for telling a story we've heard before or if it should get a higher one for making it stand out anyway. It's clear that a lot of thought and attention was put into the writing, directing, and acting, and the telling of the "trapped at night with a monster" story was executed very cleanly. I really did enjoy the choices of the cast and crew in the telling of this story.
Effects - 4.5
I'm always a fan of seeing good practical effects, and I was not disappointed in this one. There are things I can nit-pick about it, but the monster design was solid and it took the creature being really revealed before I could figure out what it was. The make-up was pretty freakin' good too and the attention to some of the more technically challenging scenes involving cars was just great.
Threat Execution - 5
Oh they did so well with building the tension both with the creature and the cuts of the backstory between the main characters. It was especially fun to learn how the creature worked and what things should and shouldn't be done to succeed against it. Knowing it was there with sounds and small movements without actually knowing where it was was a treat.
Technical Design - 4
Man, it was so nice to have a movie set in the dark that I could still see everything happening especially with more and more games and shows going so dark that you miss the action going on on the screen. I did have a hang-up that it seemed like there were a few times that the monster was blurred in post instead of having the camera reflect the focus they needed to continue teasing what they were going for. The sound design for the creature was spot on, and the film didn't get overly soft or loud at any point. The score was pretty meh for me though. Even though I watched the film like an hour ago I can't remember any of it.
Personal Preference - 4
It was nice to see such a sharp looking modern creature feature that didn't fall into over-acting or one-note jump scares. A lot of the work was done by the things that the audience never saw. You don't always see that. On top of that, the film portrayed any violence pretty unflinchingly without trying to just have gore for the sake of it. Overall, I wouldn't mind watching it again.
The Verdict
I've got to say that even though this is not a ground breaking concept it is some Innocent fun in the way of horror movies. It has a pretty nicely rounded package in spite of being predictable for damn near everything that is going to happen plot-wise. Nicely developed characters, a well thought out monster, and clean camera work with a clear setting. Definitely not bad for a random pick. I'd recommend The Monster next time you're in the mood for a creature feature.
Closing Statements
Thank you for joining me for this look at The Monster here at the Horror Court. As always, if you have any suggestions or want to give your take on the film I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Until next time!
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