The Morningside Monster

"The Attack of the Morningside Monster" is the pleasing product of an independent film crew with a healthy mixture of professionals and working people who love this genre and movies in general, so any fair and astute reviewer needs to keep this in mind. The producers make the most of a small budget, and a lot of preparation and intelligence went into planning and production.

The story has several layers and is a mystery/horror combination which forces you to pay attention if you want to solve it, otherwise the 'fake outs' will 'getcha,' Several of the leads are appealing and charismatic and fit in nicely here. It seems a must that this genre contain some flesh and gore, but neither is too much especially in comparison to what is seen today. The homages, intentional or merely suggested, to various films like I believe "Pulp Fiction" and "Silence of the Lambs," among others, are funny.

This movie is refreshing in several ways, starting with the fact that it's not a $200 million production and is therefore not too slick. Overall this is an engaging movie made by people who enjoy the goose-bumps, titillation, and fun of campy horror movies and have made their own nice contribution to this type of movie. See it with some mature friends and have some laughs and get a little scared at the same time.

No real surprises here. Very much a substandard, threadbare and generic DTV masked serial killer slasher with a couple of familiar names attached. But don't fear you do get a bit of nudity here and more blood here and there. You just gotta stick it out. In a small rural working class town Morningside, a group of drug runners seemed to be targeted by a ritualistic serial killer.

The progressive drama features heavily, as it's more or less story based, developing a few level-headed plot threads (the sheriff's relationship with a long-time friend / and the friend's struggles to care for his ailing wife), giving certain actions a bit of weight and character motivations (conflict between drug runners) for the first hour. In doing so, it can meander and feel flat, where I found the killer and the mystery around their exploits to be pushed aside early on (so it seems), downsizing the red herrings, even though from the get-go there's only one or two real choices, where it's not too hard to figure it out. Our sheriff seems to trip and fall into a lot of the clues, than any real work, as the viewer is a couple steps ahead and I don't think we are meant to be either. In spite of that I was kept engaged mainly thanks to better-than-expected performances. Robert Pralgo goes about things in a rather relaxed manner as the town sheriff, maybe too so, but it's a likeable performance. Gotta love his; "drugs are bad" speech to a class of school kids. Reliable genre favorite Tiffany Shepis gives proceedings a bit more punch as his deputy and a dreary Nicholas Brendan pines a lot, which is understandable from what his character is facing. Other than the strong core, the rest of the cast are hit or miss.

It does take its time to get where it's going, but in the second act it gathers momentum throwing in some deranged jolts, no real tension, by lingering on cheap gore FX, yet resourceful for its budget, as our killer (wearing a glittering black cloak and ceremony mask), when they're not using a sacrificial mace, messily goes to work on their victims with a grinder removing vital organs in a sort of "DEXTER" style set-up. It looks it, and it's executed quite plainly, outside of some oddly titled camera shots, but it's more than acceptable in its low-rent delivery.

Buffy fans will love seeing Xander (AKA Nicholas Brendon) on the big screen in a mystery that could have easily been a season finale episode of Buffy! This is a monster mystery cop drama that pulls at the heart strings (thank you Amber Chaney)and provides some scary moments.

I don't expect the movie will be Oscar worthy, but it is a great time and a very entertaining film! Robert Pralgo gave a spirited performance. The pace of the movie was wonderful and there was never a dull moment. I enjoyed the movie very much.

All the film is missing is a supernatural Slayer to come and save the day!

Wow, this was just a really bad script. The acting was okay for the most part but the camera work was definitely high school level. The close ups with the blurred background foretelling something ominous then, quick zoom to the "ominous area " laughable. I have no idea how this could be compared to anything John Carpenter has put out. Even his worst films are Oscar worthy compared to this. This is what I'd expect on the Syfi channel.

When I saw it in the theater, I about jumped out of my seat. There were some flaws, but every movie has them, the jump scares and the suspense were what really made the film great. The fact that this was a totally independent and local film really solidified my love for it, as well as the actors that were in it. They really kept me involved in the story and made me want to purchase it on Blu-Ray so I can watch it again at home with my family and friends. My only problem with the film, and this isn't a big issue, is that there weren't more killings in it, I like a good gore fest. But truly, the writer wrote a great story that was easy to follow and kept you interested. The director really had an eye for good shots and shot placement. The set locations were spot on and really brought the creepy vibe to the times it needed to be there. I really have nothing bad to say about this film. Good job fellas! Can't wait to see what's next.