Sky Monster

I have to admit that I harbored zero expectations to this 2023 horror movie titled "Sky Monster". Why? Well, the low 2.5 IMDb rating was a warning sign. But I still opted to watch the movie, as I hadn't already seen it, plus it appeared to have a Lovecraftian feel to it.

Writer Tom Jolliffe didn't exactly pen down an overly impressive script. The narrative was pretty straightforward and simplistic, I will say that, but it just made very little sense. But the story was actually campy enough to prove entertaining for a single viewing.

The only familiar faces on the screen was Chrissie Wunna. I will say that the acting performances in the movie were, for the most parts, actually fair.

The special effects in the movie were exactly that; special. And not in a good way. The CGI animated speciel effects were a very mixed bag of nuts; some times they looked fair, while other times they were laughable to look at, especially during the scenes where the CGI tentacles were interacting with the cast.

Now that've watched "Sky Monster", I can check it off of my watched movie list. But I know that this is not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time.

The best thing about "Sky Monster" was the unforeseen ending. I liked that.

My rating of directors Aaron Winsal, Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Tyler-James's 2023 movie "Sky Monster" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

Plot

A magnetic force pulls a small plane into the bermuda triangle, now a group of friends find themselves stalked by a beast.. in the clouds.

Cast

Brought to you by people who make a lot of terrible ITN movies such as the Toothfairy and Scarecrow movies while starring a load of folks who're consistently in them such as Sarah T. Cohen and May Kelly.

Verdict

When you go into an ITN movie there are things you need to prepare for such as bad writing, bad acting, bad cgi, bad practical effects and an all round bad movie. They're like Scyfy, but without that odd charm Scyfy films seem to have in most instances.

Sky Monster see's a group of girls in a private jet, drinking, partying, flirting with the flight attendant and battling a giant flying octopus that alike Scyfy movies has an inconsistent size. One minute it's small enough to ride the back of the plane, the next it's big enough to eat it.

The CGI is appalling, especially when it comes to the internal shots. The acting ranges from average to embarassing.

The script is everything you'd imagine it to be.

You'll also struggle to take it seriously due to the whole monster being an octopus thing!

The premise was okay, it was claustophobic and the movie had a finale that you won't predict.

Bottom line, it's an ITN movie. If you know what that means, you know what to expect.

Rants

I love movies set on in flight planes, it adds another layer of fear to it. The location, the claustrophobic element and the adding a foe to such a unique environment makes it that much more interesting. But question, why are they generally always terrible. Whether it be the likes of this Flight 7500, Flight of the Living Dead or countless others. The stuff should write itself to an extent, give us a decent horror in the sky please! And no Snakes on a ruddy Plane doesn't count.

Breakdown

Premise is solid Love the setting I have a weak spot for May Kelly Unexpected ending Awful cgi Everything feels so incredibly poorly done.

This is a very low budget film that you certainly do not want to expend any energy thinking about. The monster is interesting, although what are likely practical effects in scenes are done very poorly. Cindy is celebrating her 21st birthday, and her father has gotten her and some friends, who are all 22, a trip to a resort where they can spend three days on the beaches before returning. As they get on the plane, they are told to relax, as what could go wrong? And it seems clear weather ahead, until they get into clouds and storms, that the pilot cannot get out from. It is in the Bermuda Triangle. Their plane gets rocked, but it can't be turbulence, as turbulence does not have tentacles. On the plane is a hunk of a flight attendant who gets lots of attention from the passengers, and he has pills that are a combination of Valium and mushrooms. On take off, the pilot talks to the tower and passengers, all without a headset or microphone. And being in a harness also seems optional at times. The movie is low quality, silly at times, but still interesting enough to want to see how it will end.

Celebrating her twenty-first birthday, a woman and her friends take a ride on a plane charter to a private island to begin the festivities, but when the plane gets stuck in a strange magnetic current become aware that a massive creature is stalking the plane forcing them to try to get away alive.

This was a massively fun and enjoyable effort with a lot to enjoy. One of the finest aspects to be had with this one is the rather enjoyable setup providing a far more chilling scenario than expected. With the main setup involving the plane trip taking place as a convenient way to get them to the island while allowing them an opportunity to celebrate a big birthday party along the way, this serves to nicely get everyone in the air to later be attacked while also giving off the kind of minuscule attempts at getting to know the group that they're far more likable than expected for this type of film. With this setup in play, there's a fun time featured here so that when it starts to turn into something far more overtly ominous there's a great starting point present. That serves the film immensely well when the plane enters the storm and is continually unsure of something out in the darkness. The paranoia that is established by constantly acting out as if it's just simply turbulence enacted out against the plane that brings brief bouts of darkness and constant shaking allows for a creepy enough starting point before it finally brings out the real source of the incidents. The presence of the creature is built up incredibly well, with the brief glimpses in the storm clouds or a blurry phonograph being the main idea that something's there until it finally appears towards the midway point to attack the plane. This is a fantastic idea that builds off a genuinely creepy and unnerving idea which is given a lot to like with how the series of encounters afterward are based on trying to worm its way into the plane to get at them which showcases several somewhat suspenseful confrontations. There's quite a lot to like here which all provide plenty of positive points. There are several slight drawbacks on display here. One of the main issues here is the seemingly unrealistic approach taken here where it continually brings about questionable tactics to keep itself moving. The whole time the creature can get inside the plane as no one thinks to shut the door that it's using to enter inside, while its strong enough to destroy a regular passenger plane in one go yet can't take out a small private passenger jet. This runs rampant throughout here with this type of unrealistic and unnatural type of behavior trying to make sense of what's going on. Even without that being a factor, this one generates such little information on the titular creature to explain where it came from, how it operates, or what it's doing that there's nothing to go on here which is a bit disappointing overall bringing this one down.

Rated Unrated/ Graphic Language and Violence.

This movie is supposed to take place in Miami, but as someone who lives here, nothing about it feels authentic-nothing looks like Miami. Plus, Florida is so close to the islands that a 6-hour trip makes no sense. The writing feels awkward and forced, and for a group of "wild" 21-year-old girls, they all look older and worn out. Thirty minutes in, and I'm already rooting for the monster to end it so the movie is over.

Why do these films always rely on the same clichés: sex and monsters? It seems like writers and directors aren't interested in originality anymore. Similar movies from the '80s had more creativity. This one is just boring. Sex doesn't sell if there's no substance.