disappointment media
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About

MONSTROUS -- THE BABADOOK Lite

5/12/2022

0 Comments

 
Review by Adam Donato
Picture
Monstrous is directed by Chris Sivertson, whose biggest project to date is the Lindsey Lohan horror flick I Know Who Killed Me. His latest entry stars Christina Ricci as Laura, a single mother fleeing from her abusive ex-husband to raise her son on her own. Despite her best efforts to make their new life work, her son Cody played by Santino Barnard is having social and emotional problems. On top of that, their new home seems to be under attack as Cody insists there is a monster preying upon him. Does this small-time horror picture have the right stuff to stand out this summer?

Ricci won the Jury Award for Best Actress at the Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival this year and it was well deserved. She won’t be nominated for an Oscar or anything, but she carries this movie on her shoulders. Her character is so likable and sympathetic. The situation she is in is less than desirable and she has very little support. Laura deals with so much grief and her journey to making things work is admirable. Horror works best when the audience cares about the subject in question. Her performance is not quite in the Toni Collette stratosphere, but Ricci proves she still has what it takes to lead her own movie.
Picture
Barnard plays a child struggling to fit in and accept his new living situation. The character is only a second grader so it goes without saying that he’s an annoying child. As far as annoying children in horror movies go, his performance is not obnoxious enough to stand out and there’s moments where his acting works. Nobody else in the movie has a substantial enough role to discuss besides Colleen Camp who plays the wife of the man renting the house out to Laura. Her character is successfully frustrating as she needlessly goes out of her way to continuously make Laura’s life harder.

The big complaint from people who saw this movie at FrightFest is that the story is a lesser version of The Babadook. This is a valid concern as they share characters, plot points, genre, and themes. Monstrous is certainly a worse version, but that’s not saying much as The Babadook is hands down one of the best horror movies of the 2010s. It runs at a crisp 89 minutes with pacing that makes the movie fly by. The scares aren’t impressive at all, but the practical effects used at times make them feel like they have weight to it. In reality, this is a drama masquerading as a horror movie and it’s all the better for it.

The horror movie genre is alive and well with this latest entry. It’s less than original concept is held up by a dynamite performance from Ricci. A horror movie with solid scares, a main character audiences actually care about, and themes that hit home? That already puts this film above the litany of passable horror flicks made these days. If one likes The Babadook, be sure to check out Monstrous.

Monstrous hits VOD on May 13.

Rating: 4/5
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019

    Authors

    All
    Adam Donato
    Alan French
    Camden Ferrell
    Cole Groth
    Dan Skip Allen
    Jonathan Berk
    Joseph Fayed
    Josh Batchelder
    Paris Jade
    Rafael Motamayor
    Sarah Williams
    Sean Boelman
    Tatiana Miranda

disappointment media

Dedicated to unique and diverse perspectives on cinema!
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About