How to Kill Monsters

On Halloween, at a cabin in the woods, there is a party going on, and the star attraction is an ancient relic, the Eldritch Blade. By aligning a series of coded symbols, it is activated, and let's say, one really doesn't want to activate it. It summons monsters, among other nasty stuff. It is low budget, and the monsters are done practical, more or less as they would have been done in B movies of the 1960's. Men in rubber suits with tentacles and gaping mouths. The CGI is less than what could be done in a middle school film class. Anyway, out from the cabin comes Jamie with a chainsaw. Everyone else in the cabin is dead, and she is the main suspect. She tries to tell them what happened but the police don't believe her. There are dumb people, some slapstick, but for the most part rampant silliness. Not great, but silly fun.

Watched at the film premier at FrightFest 2023 and the film was brilliant, plenty of comedy and horror with more than a splash of blood and guts. ;-)

The is mainly based in the Police station where they think Jamie has killed a load of people in a cabin in the woods.

She is then put into the cells with an assortment of characters, mainly a hen party who are always taking the micky of the officers.

From that point, it is where things get a little freaky and the monsters start appearing and the blood and guts starts flowing.

Some brilliant old school special FX throughout the film.

A brilliant cast too ;-)

I'm all for low budget horror/comedy and potential cult hits, but this movie is not that, it lacked creativity and substance. It was a little too simple, lacked originality, and the monsters were not even remotely convincing. The monsters looked like they were made in some random person's garage, which would've been fine had the humor and writing been on point, to make up for the fact, but they weren't. It is very much an average movie, all things considered, but I do need to give credit where credit is due. The acting was pretty solid, the practical effects, even though kind if weak, were a welcome sight in the long run and much respect for no cgi or green screen. So all things said, not the worst movie ever, but if you're gonna watch, keep your expectations low, keep the inebriation high, and you might actually have a good time.

This movie is kind of a hidden gem.

The movie opens on what seems to be the end of a horror movie, with the Final Girl surviving whatever they were up against. The action quickly switches to a British Police station, and involves two constables, a drunken bachelorette party, and other assorted characters dealing with Lovecraftian monsters running amok.

Then the movie pulls a major plot twist that frankly, I just didn't see coming.

It's a nice little mix of American-style horror and British style humor.

It's a comedy-horror in which some dumb criminals and some even dumber cops must band together to battle Lovecraftian monsters. The lead actress does an admirable job. The effects are very low-budget; they're either practical or "we know you know it's really bad CGI, fuggadaboudit," both of which fit this type of movie nicely.

The problem is simply that the humor isn't funny. The script tries. The performers try. They were clearly going for a mix of madcap wackiness and deadpan British snark. The jokes land a few times (the best lines are already given away in the trailer); the vast majority of the time they just don't, despite the best efforts of an affable cast.