Monstrous

I have to admit that I was initially lured in to watching the 2022 mystery thriller "Monstrous" given the movie's cover/poster, but also because it was a movie that I hadn't already seen.

Writer Carol Chrest didn't really manage to churn out a storyline that was particularly inspiring. In fact, the movie's storyline was rather mundane and predictable. The movie started out fair enough, but then quickly settled into a monotonous pace without much of any excitement.

It is a movie with a rather small cast ensemble, but I will say that Christina Ricci carried the movie quite nicely, as did child actor Santino Barnard. It was nice to see Lew Temple in the movie, despite of him having only a small role.

Visually then "Monstrous" was actually good. Great special effects, which definitely added a lot to the movie, since the storyline was rather bland.

Ultimately then "Monstrous" was a movie that came and went without leaving a lasting impression. And I guess that come the end of the week, the movie will be a distant speck of a memory only. This is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time, nor is it a movie that I would recommend horror fans to rush out to get to watch.

My rating of "Monstrous", from director Chris Sivertson, lands on a four out of ten stars.

Monstrous has a great 50s soundtrack and setting. It also has Christina Ricci on top form. What the movie doesn't have is anything new or interesting to say, the plot has been done ad nauseum and the 'twist' can be seen from a mile away. It's such a shame as Christina Ricci is a great actress and really should be given more interesting work, she isn't on the big screen as often as she deserves to be.

My wish is really simple - I would have preferred if the producers had decided to go for a simple horror movie. The "twist" of the story is no twist, because it is far to obvious right from the beginning. On the pro side there is solid acting (nice to watch Christina Ricci) and production. A missed opportunity.

Really bad movie but at least the soundtrack, costumes and decor were nice. Not a drop of scary in this movie, more slow and boring than anything. Different style of cast for once. I appreciated the vacation from the same nonsense, they keep making. Kid actors used to be so great, wonder what happened? Now it's like they pick a random kid from a school and throw them in a movie.

Somehow slow, somehow ok, but in the end a very disappointing movie. Miss Ricci is doing her best, but it doesn't help the movie to be more watchable. Not a stinker, but not average either.