Monster

I must point out up front that horror isn't my favorite genre, so this could account for the high scores by some for MONSTER and my closer to average score. However, my disappointment also is because apart from evoking an excellent scary mood and one pretty funny scene where the mother takes on the monster, there isn't a lot of substance to this film. It seems to almost all be mood--music, cinematography and action--but not a whole lot of depth. In part, this must be because it's a short film but my one complaint about the genre in general is that so many films try to scare you but don't really have a lot more to them than just fright.

Now these complaints still bode pretty well for the film makers--they did achieve the right mood and the film was competently made--I just want to see a bit more plot next time.

This short horror film was pretty good. It had some moments that were a bit creepy and I enjoyed the performances of both the mom and the little boy in this one. The atmosphere was good as the black and white made an everyday house and everyday things seem more sinister than they would have been otherwise. The story has a rather hyper active kid really beating down one of his stuffed toys, a rather ugly doll that to me resembled a witch a bit. Most kids can remember that childhood toy that really did not delight them, but rather scared the crap out of them. Well the boy seems convinced that the thing is alive and really freaks out when he glimpses it in the closet. Well the mother thinks it is just an over active imagination at first, but something seems a bit off kilter. Like I said this one overall was okay, my favorite part was when the mother heard something while she and her son were in bed and she looked out her door. To me that was the freakiest part in the film. The conclusion is a bit strange though, I did not completely care for it, but then I still feel I must give it credit for being original. The final scene is even more strange, but once again it was different. So while not the most shocking or creepy short horror film I have seen, it was an interesting watch and it did things a bit differently than one would normally expect.

A hyperactive child causes stress for his mother, until one day, a toy monster he's been fixated on comes to life.

This is primarily of interest due to it being a sort of prototype for The Babadook, by the same writer and director, the immensely talented Jennifer Kent. It's especially interesting to compare the two, and look at what was already present here in this short, and what is only in the later movie. I won't detail any of it, since doing so would require spoiling both of these, and I'm not going to be doing that in this review. However, it is a stimulating exercise, that I fully encourage anyone interested to do.

This is filmed and edited well. The strain that it puts on this single parent that her son is always running, playing, making noise, screaming, is conveyed well, without us just being frustrated watching. This is 9 minutes long without end credits, and 10 with them.

It is legitimately tense and scary, although other than that, there isn't any objectionable material in this. I recommend this to any fan of the film it was later turned into. 8/10

It's a shame I came across this short 13 years after it was made. I loved the full featured film of 2014 when it came out. It's really nice to see the original inspiration for the 2014 film in this one.

I actually thought the monster in this one was scarier than the one from 2014. The little boy in this one is just as effective at annoying the adults as the 2014 film lol. But the boy was adorable just the same.

Monster follows a young boy and his mother who live together. The boy is frightened of a creepy doll that he eventually keeps in his closet. To help ease his terror, the mother lets him sleep with her in her room.

This is very atmospheric short and the jump scares work really well. I was genuinely on edge the whole time. I'd recommend watching this alone, late at night with the lights off. You are in for a treat!

This clearly inspired Kent's 2014 feature, the Babadook as both share many of the same horror tropes.

6/10