Book of Monsters

Book of Monsters is the type of film we are seeing a lot more of on the indie horror scene these days. Take what people loved about those classic 80s horror movies and put them in a blender with a dash of British humor and you end up with this film. There are many faults to find with this movie - the ropey FX, cliche characters and budget which shows on screen more often than not. But I'm giving this film a 7 because despite these things, boy this movie is a hoot and even made me laugh out loud more than once. With killer garden gnomes made out of rubber and a cast of attractive "teens" who either die horribly or use chainsaws to fight the monsters, this movie is entertaining. The three main girls are like-able and I actually cared about what happened to them and its a plus that they are easy on the eyes too. An easy way to scratch your horror itch and not feel like you've wasted two hours.

When Sophie (Lyndsey Craine) has a few friends over for her 18th birthday, she has no idea that her past is about to rear its ugly head. As a child, Sophie went through a tragic event involving her mum and the BOOK OF MONSTERS. Now, her dad has given her this terrible tome, and left her and her friends to have their party.

Two things happen that make for a very interesting evening: THING #1- Someone has invited a small army of strangers, who get busy drinking and destroying the house. THING #2- One of the "guests", a mysterious redheaded woman, opens and reads from the beastly book, with wicked intent! Unthinkable, blood-spraying, dismembering madness soon follows! Will anyone survive the night?

BOOK OF MONSTERS is a low-budget, wonderfully cheeezey-on-purpose, gloriously non-CGI, horror / comedy from the UK. It's refreshing to see movies that don't resort to using computer-generated, cartoonish "blood" or "monsters"! Here, we're treated to old school, practical effects! No, they're not "Hollywood" perfect. They are decent though, and perfect for this particular movie. The story is also good, though it certainly pays homage to past films of the genre. The characters are not -at least not all of them- a bunch of idiots, and the monsters are game!

A gut bucket full of fun for the fear fanatic!...

2019s Book of Monsters

Book of Monsters stars Lyndsey Craine as Sophie, Who on her 18th birthday, has a party that goes awry. Is it spoilery if I say there are monsters? Or maybe even a Book of Monsters?

Monsters, fun kills, silly practical effects make this an enjoyable watch.

Ok, here is what I jotted down:

What kind of weirdo keeps an open pocket knife in their back pocket? Has a fun BBC/E4 vibe to it, and I love a lot of Brit tv and movies. Funny kills and monsters. Who doesn't love killer gnomes in a Evil Dead-ish scene? I liked the music. A mix of silly overly-dramatic music and synth. Fun practical effect mixed with the kind of bad CGI that is funny and not just bad. Bad sound design throughout. It has a montage, complete with 80s style Jean Claude Van Damme music. Loved the music in the end credits how it was self aware and funny. The post credit scene teases what could be a fun TV show similar to the cancelled Crazyhead.

All in all, if you're looking for a fun and entertaining watch that you can toss on and not take too seriously: this is a good choice.

Have fun.

6.5/10

Ok. So it's not gonna win many awards for acting .......saying that the main characters are great.....just a few supporting actors (namely the father!) make this feel more like a Media Collage level project.

The old school practical effects were great to see and you can just tell it was a real labour of love for all involved making the various creatures and gore effects. Low low budget but with lots of heart. Plenty of Evil Dead influence throughout but with a more British sense of humour that works in most places. Under a more experienced director the scenes could have had the tension that it was lacking, but that will come in time. A fun way to spend 80mins...... Switch off the brain and enjoy the blood. One good thing is that they didn't go into the realm of shoddy after effects cgi (except the explosion) like a lot of budget films do and kept it practical with inventive monster designs (except the Djinn which was Poundland Halloween level. Ha .

Well done to all involved. Teens will love it. Pretty girls, blood and........well more blood. p.s...... I was actually left wanting to see further adventures of the female trio of monster slayers......which is rare.

It follows a horror formula of the 80's slasher movies. There is the shy heroine with the mysterious past, the BBF who is overprotective, and the school bully who is just there to be mean for the sake of meanness in a High School with the world's oldest teenagers. I caught myself giggling at the cheesy but reasonably good special effects and best of all there was no CGI that I could tell of. This is one of those movies that you can't take too seriously because it's obvious that it was using a low budget. Would I watch it again? Probably not, but it was a good watch and it killed a bit of nostalgia I felt of the 80's.