H.P. Lovecraft's Monster Portal

Hey, I've got nothing against horror 'B-movies' - in fact, they make up a significant proportion of my DVD collection. You don't have to have major actors, great special effects, or even a particularly original story to make a movie enjoyable - as long as it entertains then it usually fits the bill. However...

If you make a film with the word 'monster' in the title, it does tend to set an audience's expectations. If you sat down to watch 'Snakes on a Plane' you'd probably not be expecting Shakespeare, but you'd be looking for something that's just a bit of harmless fun. If you got one sickly-looking adder ten minutes before then end, then you might feel just a little bit 'short-changed' from what the title promised.

'Monster Portal' is an adaptation of an HP Lovecraft story, which is fair enough, but it does relay on giant creatures as part of its central theme. Sadly, the movie doesn't have the budget to really pull it off. Yes, there are a couple of monsters sprinkled here and there, but not only is it not enough to justify the title, but they're rendered about as well as your average Playstation 2 cut scene.

Now, I'm happy enough to ignore the special effects if the story is overall engaging and fun (or in a horror movie's case 'scary' would suffice), but here the acting is bad. Yes, I've seen enough horror movies to know I'm never going to get 'Oscar-worthy' performances, but in this case it basically feels like the actors are reading their lines off a cue card which is just out of shot. I guess I shouldn't really put all the blame on the actors, this script is pretty basic and they're probably doing their best with the awfully generic lines they're given, plus you'd think the director might be able to coax something out of one or two of them.

It's not the main characters who are the (total) problem. They don't turn in very good performances, but I can just about excuse them. It's more the secondary cast-members who might as well be your average passers by who were roped in to read a line or two here and there.

As I say, B-movies can be fun, but this one just tries to bite off way more than it's capable of. With a higher budget, better actors and script it might have worked, but, ultimately, it couldn't make anything of its lofty goals.

Plot

A cult is about to waken H. P. Lovecraft's most feared creature.

Cast

Unfamiliar with those involved

Verdict

When you go into any ITN movie you should naturally assume the worst, whatever you think it's going to be it'll almost certainly be worse. Then the Lovecraft element, nobody seems to be able to do his work or anything even vaguely resembling it justice and therefore also going in you have to assume it'll be bad. Therefore a ITN Lovecraft title? Never really stood a chance did it?

To its credit it starts well enough, the production values feel higher and the cast aren't your usual suspects and that's for the most part a good thing. Sadly it doesn't last, ITN's ability to tell a coherent story rears its head at around the 1/3 mark and the film falls into illogical chaos.

It's easy enough to follow, but it's all over the place. It's unoriginal, not engaging and screams yet another movie cashing in on the good name of H. P Lovecraft.

Building to a messy predictable finale Monster Portal is as poor as the title suggests it would be. There are plenty of passable Lovecraftian tales, choose one of those after this travesty.

Rants

Without Danielle Scott, Chrissie Wunna, May Kelly etc is it really an ITN film? It feels weird at this stage. Same cast, every film, when none of them are present it feels.......wrong! And yet probably the best decisions considering movies they're in are consistently terrible.

The Good

Based on the works of a horror genius

The Bad

Most of the CGI is of a very poor standard Story is a mess This is far from Lovecraftian.

This poor attempt of adapting a Lovecraft story is a slap in the face of H. P. himself. The acting, camerawork, sound, lighting are so bad that you think you are watching a first graders school project. There is literally not ONE jumpscare moment at all and the plot is thinner than paper. The fx (if you can call it that) are so amateuristic that nobody beliefs this stuf. The actors involved should rethink their career paths because none of them are convincing. How is it possible that people get money to make this kind of rubbisch. Was this funded or some daddy project anyway it is, as I said, a discrace to the works of H. P. Lovecraft!

Good reviews on this one (for a change). Yes, it's a total snoozefest for 45 minutes. The only it has going for it in that time is a super creepy old lady. Then it switches from a grieving daughter returning to her family home yawn into a demonic cult story involving mindbending concepts. It does finally take on some atmospheric flavor at that point, as well as a horror story. And it's pretty good from that point forward. It's just brief, & hard to forgive the first 45 minutes. Script still wasn't great, but I liked the effects. I wish the whole movie had been that last 25 minutes & they had done more with that instead of rushing it.

I had intended to watch The Offering, but due to a mistake by some careless uploader, I ended up watching Monster Portal instead. From the very beginning, it was clear that this movie was not going to be a good experience. The production quality felt cheap, the acting was wooden, and the storyline lacked any real tension or intrigue. It seemed as if the film was trying to create an eerie, supernatural atmosphere, but the weak script and poor execution completely undermined any potential it had. The dialogue was uninspired, and the characters were unconvincing, making it difficult to stay engaged.

As the movie progressed, it only got worse. The special effects were laughably bad, failing to add any sense of horror or excitement. The pacing was all over the place, making the film feel both rushed and drawn out at the same time. Instead of delivering suspense or terror, it left me feeling frustrated at having wasted my time. I had hoped for a well-crafted horror experience, but Monster Portal turned out to be a dull, forgettable mess. If not for the mistake in downloading, I would never have bothered watching it, and honestly, I regret that I did.