Monster Man

This was on Showtime the other night, and I figured it was going to be another made-for-video crap fest, like "Earth vs. the Spider" or any of those other HBO horror shorts. Instead, I found a comedy/gore classic. It was legitimately funny, and surprisingly, the acting was quite good. Even my wife, an overall horror-hater, agreed and was laughing at parts. In addition, the FX were high-quality.

Overall, the film felt like a parody of Joy Ride/Jeepers Creepers, and the 2 main characters reminded me of the pair from Shaun of the Dead. Definitely worth watching, but don't take it seriously.

The End.

I rented Monster Man because I thought watching people being chased around by a freak in a monster truck was kind of appealing, but I knew in my heart that I would be sorry, for I have been burned by the cool box covers many, many times now. I can honestly say, I am pleasantly surprised and I actually enjoyed the movie MUCH more than I ever thought I would.

I have to admit that they borrowed from many other movies of this type, most notably to me was Jeepers Creepers with the creepy vehicle and the freaky monster type. However, that monster truck was so cool. It was freakier than the truck thing used in Jeepers Creepers. Whoever designed that thing can be very proud of himself. I loved how the truck's front end raised up on it's hydraulics when letting off of the gas and dropped down when flooring it. When letting off the gas and quickly flooring it, it gave the impression of a hungry animal trying to bite it's prey, which was especially creepy and cool.

The two main characters, Adam and Harley (Eric Jungmann and Justin Urich), are two guys on opposite ends of the extreme. Harley is an obnoxious, loud mouthed punk and Adam is a meek and timid guy who needs to stand up for himself. Along the way to a wedding they were going to, they meet up with a beautiful hitchhiker named Sara (Aimee Brooks), who joins up with them from that point on.

The special effects were great, with the exception of the obviously rubber corpse. The roadkill scene was hilarious, whether or not it was meant to be. The monster truck was awesome. The Monster Man was creepy enough to make it work, despite the so-so appearance. Brother Fred was probably the creepiest and most likable at the same time (hard to imagine I know). Overall, if you are into the low budget horror movies, then I can recommend this one highly to you. The two main characters get annoying but the violence more than makes up for it. 7/10

Adam (Eric Jungmann) and obnoxious best friend Harley (Justin Urich) are driving cross country to a wedding. Along the way they pick up sexy hitchhiker Sarah (Aimee Brooks). Then, for no reason, a monster truck keeps trying to run them off the road...and maybe kill them. Who is doing this and why?

Pretty good horror film. Its energetic and full of flashy direction which gets you right into the action. It's also a horror comedy. Most of the humor is infantile and REALLY gross but actually somewhat funny. Also this movie really piles on the gore at times--but that's a GOOD thing! The acting is OK--Jungmann overplays his nerd role a bit much; Urich is stuck with the hopeless role of the foul-mouthed, sex-obsessed best friend--but pulls it off; Brooks is good too in a limited role.

BUT I could see the "twist" ending coming long before it happened and logic totally disappears at the end (especially the rescue). Still, this is a gory, sometimes funny and sometimes scary horror movie. I give it a 7.

I enjoyed this film as much as I've enjoyed any film recently. I admit that it's pretty trashy, and not particularly frightening, but I loved it. It's a gore-comedy basically, and I thought that it was absolutely hilarious. Very much in the fine tradition of Brain Dead (Dead Alive) and clearly influenced by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it takes the form of a college-road-trip movie plus monster-truck fun. I thought the road-trip part of the film was far funnier than most examples of that genre thanks to 2 good central performances, a witty script, and sharp directing. Then there's the gore which is a delight, with a string of outstanding corpse-jokes each outdoing the last for bad-taste. The atmosphere in the cinema during this film was brilliant, if you like real gross-out comedy (and I don't mean someone f***ing an apple pie) you will enjoy this film.

Monster Man is a small and modest production, made by a bunch of people who're obvious genre-lovers and ambitious fantasts. I really can't be too harsh on it as the goodwill and enthusiasm of both cast and crew can count on my sympathy a lot more than the uninspired and plot and messy script. Unoriginal is one thing this film surely is since it borrows ideas from films like Spielberg's Duel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the Hills have Eyes and even Jeepers Creepers!! Seriously, why anyone would want to steal ideas from junk like Jeepers Creepers is a complete mystery to me, but still… The plot involves two lowlifes (a male virgin nerd and a boisterous, chubby joker) who're on their way to wedding of a girl they both worshiped in their youth. They pick up the inevitable hitch-hiking sexy babe, which leads to new cliché intricacies. Meanwhile, they're being terrorized by this huge Monster Truck, driven by a ghoulish and severely mutilated madman. The make-up effects in this film are playfully gore and the bloodshed is very explicit…Heads and limbs are cheerfully being crushed under the giant wheels of the truck and numberless `roadkill'-corpses appear out of nowhere. The comedy-horror approach of this film reminds you about other memorable titles such as Evil Dead II, Braindead and The Return of the Living Dead…however, I severely doubt that Monster Man will ever enjoy the same status in the field like the previously mentioned titles do. The extremely far-fetched and stupid climax is a bit too much and hard to swallow, even though I was in a generously mild and open-minded mood. Even for an absurd comedy, Monster Man has a dumb ending and that's a shame because the previous 80minutes are a well-intentioned attempt. Oh well…Monster Man will certainly be appreciated by young and over-enthusiast gorehounds and cinema thrillseekers… The more trained and experienced horror fans can keep themselves busy by tracking down the references and tributes to classic horror delights….IF they're in a good mood, of course.