Book of Monsters

Book of Monsters is the type of film we are seeing a lot more of on the indie horror scene these days. Take what people loved about those classic 80s horror movies and put them in a blender with a dash of British humor and you end up with this film. There are many faults to find with this movie - the ropey FX, cliche characters and budget which shows on screen more often than not. But I'm giving this film a 7 because despite these things, boy this movie is a hoot and even made me laugh out loud more than once. With killer garden gnomes made out of rubber and a cast of attractive "teens" who either die horribly or use chainsaws to fight the monsters, this movie is entertaining. The three main girls are like-able and I actually cared about what happened to them and its a plus that they are easy on the eyes too. An easy way to scratch your horror itch and not feel like you've wasted two hours.

It follows a horror formula of the 80's slasher movies. There is the shy heroine with the mysterious past, the BBF who is overprotective, and the school bully who is just there to be mean for the sake of meanness in a High School with the world's oldest teenagers. I caught myself giggling at the cheesy but reasonably good special effects and best of all there was no CGI that I could tell of. This is one of those movies that you can't take too seriously because it's obvious that it was using a low budget. Would I watch it again? Probably not, but it was a good watch and it killed a bit of nostalgia I felt of the 80's.

This British horror comedy had a budget of less than 100k and though I entirely support independent movies I always believe in not over-shooting. What I mean by that is don't make a movie above your means, if you have a micro-budget then maybe avoid monsters, aliens, giant spaceships and explosive action. Considering the subject matter here for that reason I had my concerns, I didn't need to apparently.

It tells the story of a girl celebrating her 18th birthday by having a house party. Before they know it they're under siege from an array of monsters, will they survive the night?

I liked this, we don't see "Monsters" as much as we used to so it was a nice refreshing change seeing people under assault from them instead of the usual generic slashers or zombies.

With a neat little competent unknown cast (Though too old to be playing teenagers), impressive effects for the budget and a fair bit of originality I was very impressed by what they accomplished here.

Sure it's hardly groundbreaking and the budget limitations do show in places but they made the best of what they have and that right there demonstrates the talent both in front of and behind the camera.

I'd actually like to see a sequel to this, it's an underground movie that deserves considerably more attention than its likely to get. More of these and less Hollywood trite please.

The Good:

Looks great for the budget

The Bad:

REALLY poor casting for teenagers!

Stock sound effects

"Book Of Monsters" is a fun, high energy, bloody good time. It is a micro-budget horror comedy that is reminiscent of classic 80's movies, such as "Evil Dead" and "Night Of The Demons". The story is a patchwork quilt of typical horror tropes, setups, and characters, but because Sparke knows the film he is trying to make, the familiarity is more a tribute to the genre than a copycat. It isn't perfect, there are times the humor falls flat, or the scene stumbles a bit, but the pace and the energy over-takes any real flaws.

Special effects are blood-soaked, gory practical elements that soak up the spotlight in "Book Of Monsters". It's like an 80-something minute long episode of 'Todd And The Book Of Pure Evil' on steroids. Sparke goes for broke creating visceral scenes of carnage, so much so that even the moments that fail are fun and enjoyable to watch. The creature designs, practical effects, and so many characters battling for "Scream Queen" gold are so captivating on screen.

Overall "Book Of Monsters" is a great indie horror comedy that gets so much right and does so much on such a small budget. There are some downers, the exposition material drags a bit- but how could they not after so much high energy scenes of monsters and guts and screams! For the most part "Book Of Monsters" is a must for indie horror fans, and is a prime example of why we love indie horror!

I say Good Bad as it's one of those films you know you shouldn't watch but somehow end up seeing through to the end.

Although I am on my second bottle of wine as I write this review.

The actors perform well above par for this kind of fare (if you can accept the Hollywood Style Teenagers - where the average age is 16 going on 30, although this could be a piss take).

The film definitely tries it's best to keep up the tension and action. Which is quite impressive given it looks like there was virtually was no SFX or make up budget. Or any budget at all really.

To summarise: a passable film to watch on your second bottle of wine.