The Monster Project

I first saw this film advertised on the IMDb homepage so decided to check it out after finding the trailer really interesting. Ever since the Blair Witch Project the hand held 'real life' camera method has always given the film an air of mystery as we don't always tend to see what the character sees. However, I can assure you this film is different and doesn't just build up anti-climatic suspense.

The film contains a group of adults wanting to make a documentary about different kinds of monsters to bump up views for their YouTube page when they're contacted by volunteers to give interviews, whilst the crew initially brush the claims off as ridiculousness, they soon start to change their beliefs.

The premise is interesting and the film starts that way too even if it is a little slow to get into. A film like this shouldn't really go over the 80 minute mark but what you gonna do?

There are a few jump scares and once the 'chaos' kicks in it does get really intense. The first 2/3 of the film are the most suspenseful and intriguing parts but come the final third act, we are left with that unfulfilling feeling of emptiness and predictability that these camcorder films tend to conjure up.

Overall, its a fun little film to watch with your friends on a weekend night for a few scares, but it's not a film that will leave a trace in your memory. 5/10

I saw the trailer for this film, and I thought the premise was unique, interesting and could potentially yield an entertaining and thoughtfully made film, and I was almost completely right in my assessment. From the onset, the film makes no qualms about what it is trying to achieve. A group of people set out to prove that monsters are real by interviewing 3 people who claim to be real life monsters. It is a premise that writes itself. The acting is competent, and most of the actors are quite talented. The standout of this film, by far, are the special effects. The Skinwalker and the vampire were really well done, and the action scenes were filmed with a competence usually exerted by bigger budget films. It seems like whoever budgeted this movie made it a point to not skimp out on the SFX, and this elevated the film to a much higher standard. I was constantly impressed by some of the make-up and transformations. If more independent movies allocated their funds to SFX, they would produce much more entertaining films. Overall, it is a decent film that does some incredibly clever things that have not been attempted before. If nothing else, people should watch this film just to see an original and unique production. It is a rarity in this age of sequels.

I will end my review with this; The character who played "Jamal" was horrible, offensive, needlessly loud, and entirely stereotypical. Whoever wrote his character should be ashamed of themselves for perpetuating such limited and thoughtless characteristics on any character. Never mind that he was the absolute worst of the entire cast, every time he spoke, it was like nails on a chalkboard. 2 points were removed from my score simply because I hated the character so much. He nearly ruined what was a very decent and entertaining film.

I had just high hopes for The Monster Project, I watched the trailer and sat in awe thinking of the potential the movie had and was overjoyed when I found myself with the opportunity to finally watch it.

The concept is fantastic, a documentary film crew going to a "Haunted location" to interview three volunteers who claim to be monsters. We have a supposed vampire, demonically possessed girl and skinwalker and as you can imagine it all goes wrong when they turn out to be real.

The movie starts off okay, introducing the characters and introducing our "Monsters" but as soon as anything actually happens it spirals out of control fast.

What I mean by that is it goes from a great idea to yet another found footage mess. Lots of screaming, lots of shaky cam, lots of predictable jump scares, lots of running away and the obligatory nightvision.

The concept goes out the window and the generic clichéd mess appears and that just broke my heart. What should have been a great film turned into one of the hundred found footage films you can find on Netflix alone.

Go in with low expectations and you might find something, I went in with them high and was sorely disappointed.

The Good:

Great ideas

The Bad:

Generic night vision boredom

Awful protagonist

A man hires an odd group of filmmakers to help him with The Monster Project, a documentary where he interviews three people who truly believe that they're monsters in today's society. The production, of course, takes place at a boarded-up house used for satanic rituals back in the 60s. On the night of a lunar eclipse, no less. While everyone who has ever seen a horror movie would see something seriously wrong with this scenario, this group thinks they're just making a film and press on to get their interviews. That is until all Hell breaks loose and they're fighting for survival. Oops.

Has it been done before? Yes, but we all come back again and again for more scares so I can't knock the story for being a bit cliché. The effects were really good and easily the best part of this movie. The acting was serviceable, with the exception of one cast member (not saying who) who overacted a bit. I will say that I was most impressed with Toby Hemingway and Yvonne Zima, and I found the interaction between their characters strangely compelling and effective. Even the 'found-footage' device was handled fairly well.

The horror genre in general is a tough one to rate. On one hand, some movies are so well done and scary that it's hard not to rate them high. On the other, some are just entertaining and fun. The Monster Project falls a bit more into the latter camp in that it's a well-made movie that gets a lot right, but unfortunately it just doesn't have that scare factor I was hoping for. It doesn't appear to sell itself as a comedy, so I suspect that they were going for a truly scary experience but I just wasn't feeling it for some reason. I can't hate on it though. I can tell a lot of heart and passion went into this, and I want to thank the crew for making a good movie.

6 out of 10.

While the idea for the film is a good premise with loads of potential, the film becomes another one of the many average found footage films. The plot is simple enough, a documentary group sets out to make a film about monsters while they know they don't exist. When they finally get 3 supposed monsters to be in the documentary, they set up an interview at a creepy old house, but when they finish the interviews, the supposed monsters show their true form. The story unfortunately is just that, a good idea but they fail flesh out this story and it ends up being too thin. They try to add other story elements but they go by so quick and don't effect the rest of the film.

First of all, the acting is very hit and miss, some of the actors do a serviceable job in their roles, but a couple of the actors are so ridiculous and over-done that it made wish they would just stop talking. The visuals also are hit and miss, while the make-up for the skinwalker is very cool, the special effects in other areas are very low quality, something you would see in a bargain bin at Walmart. The film also fails to set a tone like many other found footage films like Blair Witch Project, it just goes from scene to scene with no consistence, though the lighting is moody and effective at moments. The film also tries to be existential and though provoking regarding the ideas of good and evil, but the are cliched and has all been done before.

So in short, the film is hit and miss, some very strong scenes and film elements, but unfortunately some very unflattering acting and special effects.