The Monster

This film wasn't terrible. It manages to take a very basic "stuck in a car with a monster outside" plot and inject some character into it. But it was by no means great.

The acting was solid. There are some emotional scenes that elevated the film.

The director manages to create some tension and suspense with the atmospheric lighting, camera movements, and shot composition.

The effects on the monster ranged from pretty okay to sometimes looking slightly silly. It's a practical monster instead of CGI, which is appreciated, but it still looks rubber and fake in certain scenes.

The final act of the movie was pretty strong.

The story is very basic. Two people get stranded on a deserted road and a monster from the woods terrorizes them. The film tries to engage the viewer more by making the primary focus of the story about the strained relationship between the mother and daughter and how this terrifying experience brings them together. In some respects this works, but it's not enough to make the story anything more than average at best.

The dialogue was also very shoddy at points and felt unnatural and forced.

Overall, this is a pretty average horror movie. Nothing special or memorable but not bad. Don't expect anything great. Expect a flawed film with an unoriginal plot with some good aspects scattered throughout.

5/10.

The relationship between the mother and her child is the number one priority here. So while this is a horror movie (mostly in the psychological area), it is also a Drama. And some of the best Horror movies (that are not Slashers or particularly explicitly violent) have been Dramas at heart too.

And while I get that the child may seem annoying to some and some decisions made feel rushed, the casting was good and the script was decent enough giving them all something to play with (no pun intended). The movie is very dark (both in tone and in visual flair) and while it does drift into expected (read cliché territory) and has somewhat of a downfall towards the end (and maybe for some a slow beginning), overall the positive things do win over ...

Brian Betinos 2008 flick 'The Strangers' was as simple as a film can get, and was well seasoned with some simple character backstory that added to the sense of tragedy and added to the tension of the film. In this film the heavy handed addiction sublot diffuses the tension of the film, and makes it difficult to empathise with the relationship at the core of the film. Its well shot, well acted but I felt myself getting detached from the action early on.

THE MONSTER starts off with Kathy (Zoe Kazan) and her young daughter, Lizzy (Ella Ballentine) getting ready for a trip. This is complicated by Kathy's alcoholic / drug addicted life, making Lizzy far more responsible than most kids her age. Actually, Lizzy is far more mature than her mother. Their relationship appears to be broken beyond repair.

Kathy is taking Lizzy to her father's house for a while. Perhaps, for good. Along the way, as night falls, an accident occurs, and they're stranded in a disabled car in the middle of nowhere. As the title implies, things are about to get a whole lot worse! This will certainly be the longest night of Kathy and Lizzy's lives. That is, if they survive it.

This is a horror / monster movie, set against a backdrop of severe family dysfunction, ultimate sacrifice, and redemption. Great non-CGI creature effects and a solid story make this a worthwhile, low-budget film. Both principal actors were adept at pulling off the mother / daughter dynamic in the midst of sheer terror. Believability in a movie of this sort is a big plus!

The monster itself is quite imposing, like a huge shadow in a nightmare. A shadow with claws and long teeth...

I respect where Bryan Bertino was trying to go with this film, but he falls short. While he does gets a decent start on character development that mostly works despite some overwrought writing and acting, the static set piece and drawn out end battle bleed away any real tension. Flashbacks are overused and ultimately come too late and the well shot and creepy final locations overstay their welcome. Few films are able to pull off this Babadook-esque having your cake and eating it too morality monster mash, and despite a good college try, the Monster fails along with all the others.