The Monster (2016)
A young mother, struggling to raise her daughter, is battling alcoholism, habitual smoking, and inner demons. She is aware of her situation, her tough lot in life. Her daughter does, too, but tries to be the responsible one. When the daughter is the adult of the household, forced into being the parent, it does speak on a tragic dysfunction that is unfortunate for both parties. Mama sleeps, drinks, wasting away day after day, a miserable throwaway. I don't judge her. I think it is clear life took a giant shit on her. Did she have the proper mentor, an adult or someone to give her love and friendship? It'd be easy to apply moral outrage when Mama curses her daughter outright for implying she wasn't wanted at her daughter's play, a mother responding in this parental outcry of pissed-off fury. "Fuck you!" "I hate you!" And so on.
Zoe Kazan is unfamiliar to me, as Kathy, but I found she favors Juno Temple a bit. A bit small in stature, thin, but not brittle or without a mouth on her. Her rage and disappointment, a host of bad men and bad decisions, it is played out in flashbacks to tell us that a bond between mother and daughter has been under duress and their relationship often broken by outbursts including slaps to the face and vocal volatility. Ella Ballentine is a revelation as Lizzy, the kid with plenty of nasty experiences under her belt considering her young age. Home life is about to be challenged by an unfortunate rainy night trip when their car hits a large wolf in the middle of nowhere. The wolf isn't what they should fear, though, as it was running from something far more ferocious...and bigger!
Slick black, with girth, claws, and a mouth with the kind of teeth that easily tears flesh, this creature is fierce and destructive. Very old school monster. The 80s had plenty of these. I was glad to see a return to that kind of late night, night beast that came out of the dark to obliterate and raise mayhem. Syfy channel might lay claim to this with their plentiful oeuvre of monster movie nonsense, but it is always nice to get serious horror movies truly devoted to establishing terror and build up monster carnage effectively.
A tow truck driver, paramedics, and the wolf do not fare well against the monster. Neither does Kathy, enduring a monster attack that leaves internal bleeding, injuries to her torso rather severe, and left with a brave but detrimental decision to protect her daughter. The monster causing multiple wrecks doesn't help matters. Sacrifice and the courage to brave the outside against the beast to save Lizzy says that with all her flaws, frailty, and mistakes Kathy is more than a failure. So much more. A torch lit, walking into the darkened woods, and a growl closing in; Kathy is a goner. She doesn't have a chance. Lizzy will hope to save the day, but the monster, with its size, color, and teeth, is a formidable adversary. The film does have stupid human behavior where people don't just drive the fuck outta there, and there is too much investigating noises in the dark, but in order to get your monster such actions are necessary, I reckon.
Much like the final girl of the slasher film, there is appearances of that regularly in monster movies. Whittled down victims until few remains. Smart thinking on the girl, resources involving a lighter and spray can, could be the ticket. Nice use of a tune from a Teddy produce the monster. And under the 'less is more' approach there's a truly horrifying scene involving the monster eating the tow truck driver. It is all in the sound effects. Really gets under the skin. Good little movie, fit for a dark night. But it wants to be more than that. It is about real love that does exist between mother and daughter, despite what life casts upon them. I think it succeeds.
***
Zoe Kazan is unfamiliar to me, as Kathy, but I found she favors Juno Temple a bit. A bit small in stature, thin, but not brittle or without a mouth on her. Her rage and disappointment, a host of bad men and bad decisions, it is played out in flashbacks to tell us that a bond between mother and daughter has been under duress and their relationship often broken by outbursts including slaps to the face and vocal volatility. Ella Ballentine is a revelation as Lizzy, the kid with plenty of nasty experiences under her belt considering her young age. Home life is about to be challenged by an unfortunate rainy night trip when their car hits a large wolf in the middle of nowhere. The wolf isn't what they should fear, though, as it was running from something far more ferocious...and bigger!
Slick black, with girth, claws, and a mouth with the kind of teeth that easily tears flesh, this creature is fierce and destructive. Very old school monster. The 80s had plenty of these. I was glad to see a return to that kind of late night, night beast that came out of the dark to obliterate and raise mayhem. Syfy channel might lay claim to this with their plentiful oeuvre of monster movie nonsense, but it is always nice to get serious horror movies truly devoted to establishing terror and build up monster carnage effectively.
A tow truck driver, paramedics, and the wolf do not fare well against the monster. Neither does Kathy, enduring a monster attack that leaves internal bleeding, injuries to her torso rather severe, and left with a brave but detrimental decision to protect her daughter. The monster causing multiple wrecks doesn't help matters. Sacrifice and the courage to brave the outside against the beast to save Lizzy says that with all her flaws, frailty, and mistakes Kathy is more than a failure. So much more. A torch lit, walking into the darkened woods, and a growl closing in; Kathy is a goner. She doesn't have a chance. Lizzy will hope to save the day, but the monster, with its size, color, and teeth, is a formidable adversary. The film does have stupid human behavior where people don't just drive the fuck outta there, and there is too much investigating noises in the dark, but in order to get your monster such actions are necessary, I reckon.
Much like the final girl of the slasher film, there is appearances of that regularly in monster movies. Whittled down victims until few remains. Smart thinking on the girl, resources involving a lighter and spray can, could be the ticket. Nice use of a tune from a Teddy produce the monster. And under the 'less is more' approach there's a truly horrifying scene involving the monster eating the tow truck driver. It is all in the sound effects. Really gets under the skin. Good little movie, fit for a dark night. But it wants to be more than that. It is about real love that does exist between mother and daughter, despite what life casts upon them. I think it succeeds.
***
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