The Horror Show
Monstrous
by Bruce Wemple
I love a good “Bigfoot Gone Wild” flick. There’s been some great ones in the last decade or so. Exists, Willow Creek, Big Legend, and the recent Primal Rage come to mind immediately. One of the things that make them great Bigfoot horror films is that each of them is about many things, but they all center on the big hairy man himself.
Monstrous does not do that.
At all.
As I mentioned in a previous review for Animal Among Us, this sub-sub-genre of horror cinema seems to be the new generation of filmmakers’ zombie film — cheap, easy to make, and most likely in these times to get at least a streaming release. Which means for every Primal Rage that hits the screen, there’s something like Monstrous that can bore even the most stalwart Squatcher to fucking tears.
Oddly, the same woes which plagued Animal Among Us are also the biggest problems with this movie. It’s filled with characters you don’t like, it ultimately has no direction or theme, and the camerawork seems to be handled by someone with hand tremors — because everyone goes cheap now and won’t foot the fucking bill for a tripod, or something similar, to steady and lock off the fucking camera! No, instead, everything winds up looking like a half assed mockumentary! And, finally, there’s barely a fucking Bigfoot monster on the screen! The best we get is a crappy, shadowy silhouette with hair. In a Bigfoot horror film, don’t you think it’s super-duper important to, oh, I don’t know... have an actual goddamn Bigfoot monster in your goddamn Bigfoot horror movie?!
The premise of the film follows the return of Sylvia (Anna Shields), a young woman haunted by past violence that may or may not have been some kind of creature in the old woods. She has a best friend and weird gal pal that acts suspicious to the point that the movie stops being about Bigfoot at all and turns into a cheesy crime drama.
Okay, I could get super detailed on all the silly ass shit these characters do and say (for instance, early on a character makes it a point to explain there’s no cell service in the woods, then proclaims later that he can’t get through to the other person’s cell — which shouldn’t be working either if they’re in the same woods), but I’m not going to do that for two reasons: This movie doesn’t warrant that kind of attention to detail because it sucks, and second, if after this review you’re still intent on seeing it, that’s on you. However, I should warn any true Bigfoot horror film fan that this is not just disappointing, you might also find yourself screaming at the screen.
HMS received an advanced screener of this film in exchange for honest review. Monstrous is available on demand August 11th.
Nickolas Cook, HMS
The Horror Show Menu.