That Little Monster

Apart from some interesting camerawork, there's little redeeming value to "That Little Monster"...a very amateurish film with very little to like about it.

This black & white film is about 50 minutes long and is just plain strange. It begins with an overture and then a weird introduction. What follows is very surreal...sort of like "Eraserhead" but supposedly a comedy. It consists of a babysitter trying to care for a child who clearly in some otherworldly monster. It's full of goo, blood and biting...and not much else.

As another reviewer pointed out, most of the reviews that give it 9s or 10s are by people who never reviewed any other movies...making them very suspicious. I cannot say this is the case, but many cheaper films have many such one off reviews and I can only assume they were done by people who made the film or their friends. After all, why register on IMDB to ONLY review this strange film...one that is really obscure!?

Overall, a movie with interesting cinematography and a story that is, at best, bad.

By the way, this is listed among Bob Hope's films but he only is shown in a couple archival clips from old movies...so it's clearly NOT one of his films.

It's pretty much a one-hour student art film version of 'Eraserhead' down to having the same opening scene and even a comparable production history given that the movie apparently took 3 1/2 years to shoot. It's equally trippy (for the lack of a better word) but unlike Lynch's film the plot actually is very straight forward. A father's anxiety (again, for the lack of a better word) over his newborn is replaced with a young babysitting woman's anxiety and incapability to deal with the baby of her new employers. "That little monster" refers to no other than to that baby. The movie ends with an amusing Twilight Zone-type twist which is only fitting because the title card basically used the Twilight Zone title card background. What should also be noted is the campy humor that reminded me of John Paizs' Canadian indie productions. Worth a look if you are a big 'Eraserhead' fan.

I can not believe some of the positive comments I've read here. They misled me into seeing this piece of trash. I'm sure many freshman college students taking a 'Film-101' course could do a better job. The acting was poor, the story was predictable, the "little Monster" looked like a plastic doll, and the film dragged to the point you didn't really care anymore what happened as long as it was finally over.

If someone held a gun to my head and said "Say something Positive or you'll soon be as brainless as the director", I'd have to say that at the very least there were some pretty bizarre set pieces. It looked like a world where the Joker from the animated Batman series would feel right at home. Oh and it was nice to see that special cameo appearance at the end by one of Hollywoods all time greats. He must have lost a golf bet or something to end up making an appearance in this turkey.

Skip this one, life is too short.

If you are a lover of shows like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Night Gallery or Monsters, this film is for you! The opening homage to the 1931 film Frankenstein is truly a bit of ingenious parody.

Mr.Bunnell certainly used the black and white medium not only to enhance the mood and flavor of the subject but to also remind the viewer of the tribute made to shows like the beloved Twilight Zone and Outer Limits series.

Unusual use of camera angles and movement of the camera itself catches one off guard. Remarkable to note is the babysitter's first entrance into the nursery. This is one of the creepiest uses of the camera I have ever seen. The camera seems to become The Blob - so to speak- and take on a life of it's own! An amazing piece of work! Although a short film, it delivers more than enough mystery, suspense and thrill to satisfy any fan of the genre. Well written and contrived with a well balanced blend of horror, science fiction and black humor.

Also as a bonus there is an amazing star cameo appearance by a now late but well remembered comedian.

The reason I didn't give the film a full 10 is due to the use of an unnecessary and perhaps too long "overture" at the beginning. Overlooking this personal point the film is well worth the viewer's time.

The bonus materials on the DVD are also very good. The Visitant is a brilliant short film shot in color. An un-nerving little piece about a father visiting his young son's grave. I jumped at least twice as the film ran it's course. Again a very well written and contrived piece of film story-telling at it's best.

The Interview with the film's creator is light-hearted and full of camp!

Hat's off to Mr Paul Bunnell, his cast and crew for a very worthwhile and entertaining DVD set.

Jim Seaburg

Wow what a weird coincidence! Every single 9-10 review here is from an account that has only reviewed this movie and no other. Sorry, no that's not quite true. There's one who has only reviewed every thing done by this same director. Hmm. And they all make the exact same comparisons to the Twilight Zone and Eraserhead. HOW ODD.

Spoiler alert: this "movie" is hot garbage. Any tiny shred of respect I might have had for what they were trying to do here (which already wasn't much for a project that's simply inept and unpleasant mimicry of the styles of various famous directors) evaporated when I saw their friends, family, and paid shills propping up the review scores (and wow that's actually especially weird when this movie came out in 1994)