Monster Brawl

3 1/2 Stars = Very Good

It's the Monstermania version of "Wrestlemania!" It's so cheesy, it had to be filmed in Wisconsin, but set in Michigan. I suppose they make cheese too, but I wouldn't want to eat it. It's so stupid, it's hilarious, at least at times. It's so bad, it's good!

Yes, it's "Monster Brawl!" The movie you've been waiting all your life to see! The movie that pits "Creature," against "Creature!" "The Undead," against "the Undead!" Even in two weight classes! Middle weight & heavy weight! But wait, there's more! The winners of their weight class & division are pitted against the winners of the other division, so we have get two world championship matches! "Creature" vs. "the Undead!" Heavy weight vs. heavy weight. Middle weight vs. middle weight. Oh the horror, the agony, the ecstasy! The gooey dripping cheese from my flat screen!

All jokes aside, this is a fairly clever monster bash. The makers of this film intended it to be so bad, it's good, & their good at doing it! No, this is no classic creature feature, but it's a great idea that I'm surprised has not been done before. It lampoons professional wrestling & movies like, "Godzilla vs. King Kong" & "Frankenstein meets the Wolfman, & current film series, like "Underworld" & "Twilight." Yes, the film makers have an agenda here, & it works a good part of the time, to induce a good belly laugh or two.

Their are basically four segments' of this film. You get a little biography on each monster before a match, but unfortunately, more than not, this is pretty weak, only inducing a smile or two. More because of it's total corniness, than any genuine laughs. You have the two wrestling commentators, a big wink at the WWF & WWE, this works better, but not by much, other than when the matches are happening, which works well. In a bigger wink, you get Jimmy Hart, "the Mouth of the South" with two hot vixens in bikinis. This is very corny too, but works in the context of things. Then you get the matches, which are frankly, hilarious! The monster's make up, suitably cheesy for this cheesiest of films. The cheese is running hot! I mean, you got to take this all in context as it was meant to be taken. The matches are down right funny in their lampooning silliness, along with the commentators yakking it up, makes for a lot of fun!

Of course, the makers could've went the straight route, but that in it's self could've been a real cheese fest (especially with their low budget), unintended & no fun. So take "Monster Brawl" in the context it is meant to be, pop a beer, eats some potato chips, & have some fun with it! I did!

Now I will first start off by saying if your not into wrestling then you will not like this movie. I'm a big wrestling Buff, I watch both WWE and TNA and use to watch ECW and WCW. So I'm the perfect person to appreciate this. It's not meant to be taken seriously, it's not a true horror movie or maybe it's not even a movie at all. But what it is is 90 minutes of hilarious clichés and Wrestling PPV style showmanship. It would almost be better as a real show than a movie. But for what it's worth it is really funny. It has it's ha ha moments and it's WTF moments. But if your into cheesy old school wrestling then you'd appreciate this movie. If your not into wrestling then don't even waste your time. You'll hate it. I hope they continue to make sequels. It has the potential to really create some good story lines.

No pun intended - do you like wrestling? Do you like horror (movies)? Well this may be just for you ... now there could be more here and I reckon this being a low budget movie and not being able to get rights on or rather for some characters ... it will or rather you will be able to tell who is who, even if you don't get the actual name the character/icon is known for ... that can be fun.

And also you have stars from both worlds - horror and wrestling that is. Of course there always could be more - but again I reckon if your budget isn't the best ... still the effects are ok, the fighting is ... well ok too. So if you can suspend your disbelief ... and do not mind the flaws ... well you could do worse.

This is a cult classic B movie that of course is a take on WWF but reviews to date have not pinned down the TEKKEN influence. If the announcer didn't say 'combo' and if that wasn't a big enough clue, the deep voice at the end for the winner ought to have given it away.

There's parodies and nods to Tarantino / Rodriguez movies in terms of video style and events.

This is a fan's movie. I would say that not only does the script have a lot of imagination, but the presenter's puns are actually very funny. As their lines span throughout the picture - one needs to give credit where its due, that's a fair amount of innuendo.

I will admit the acting isn't brilliant, but neither is the acting in great cult movies like 'Evil Dead'. The SFX are as good as your budget TV channel show - if not cheaper.

I think this movie is one to put on low, while you have a party, people will laugh at the pictures and wonder what channel you're viewing. I will agree that it doesn't really have a 'plot', but perhaps the banality and frivolousness of excessive violence is in itself a message. Like Romero used Zombies in the Return of the Living Dead to social comment our own repetitive zombie like behavior to fashion and consumerism as 'zombie-like'. One can then see how Romero's movie is parodied in Shaun of the Dead.

It's not the best horror movie on the market. In terms of referencing real life, cult movie and video game references plus well scripted comedy it does a VERY good job. Unless you know and can reference this movie I think a lot will be lost on the viewer. This explains the poor marks to date. Yes, the movie has bad acting, yes it can seem boring with no plot. But that is like critiquing WWF - Invasion for not having deeper characters. Look at the subject matter and tell me if the Rock or Hulk Hogan are complex characters. I think people will turn off WWF if the writers from BSG or Lost got writing for them.

Anyone who knows pop culture will see where I'm coming from.

This is really a tough one to review because there isn't really any actual acting in it, it's all about wrestling. So if you are a horror geek and you come across this flick and see all those horror creatures fighting against each other then you expect to have a gory flick. But it's all done ringside which basically turns it back into a real wrestling flick because the monsters are in fact wrestlers.

But don't think that you will see some cage fight between Randy Orton or John Cena. There aren't any WWE icons here to see, some old school WWF faces are here to see, Jimmy Hart is just playing himself with his annoying voice and Kevin Nash just plays the rough guy.

This isn't Smackdown or Raw. This is just some basic wrestling, guess otherwise they had problems with the make-up. I've heard people who loved this flick but they have seen it at a convention with cheering crowds so there it is at it's place but at home it fails completely. Even as I watch WWE on a weekly basis this here doesn't deliver. Luckily they have added some gore here and there but having no script it looks rather cheap.

If you can't watch wrestling then forget this flick. For horror geeks just watch it with your friends and be p*ssed an proud while watching it. A strange flick.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 1/5 Comedy 0/5