A BRILLIANT MONSTER ** USA 2018 Dir: F.C. Rabbath 86 mins
Mitch Stockridge is an author specializing in self help books and will do anything to boost his profile. Having had a traumatic childhood from his abusive father and being bullied at school he has a lot of issues but is continuing to put out books that people can’t put down. His most often asked question is “where do you get your ideas from?” If he tells the truth most people are unlikely to believe him.
The answer comes from his ex girlfriend who goes to the police to convince them that Mitch is a dangerous individual responsible for numerous disappearances. Their resulting discovery is more then they were expecting. His ex tells them that, at first, she was not allowed upstairs when at Mitch’s house but eventually he decided to show her what he was hiding up there and let her in on the secret of his success. He says that this creature found him and it helps by providing him with stories for his books. In return Mitch must provide it with a supply of human flesh. However, at the moment it’s diet of prostitutes is proving insufficient so Mitch has to get more inventive. My main reason for not enjoying this movie much is despite it’s high body count there is an awful lot of talking and very little action. All the kills happen off screen and you are lucky if you see a bit of blood splatter. The monster is as low budget as it gets and again you rarely get to see it, when you do it looks like something out of Little Shop of Horrors. When the kills happen it is from the monsters point of view, from inside its wibbly wobbly cardboard mouth and it cuts away just before the kills every time which I found incredibly frustrating. Without wanting to ruin it further by pointing this out, (as I know you are now curious to watch this) I am aware that this monster is a manifestation of Stockridges anger issues and ambition but it could have been done so much better. Dennis Friebe is cast as lead Mitch Stockridge who also played a character of the same name in Rabbaths short Dead Meat (2015), not sure if there is any further relevance between these movies but just thought I’d point that out. Friebe does an ok job in creating a character that you really shouldn’t like but end up feeling sorry for him for the sacrifices he makes. The rest of the cast are a mixed bag of awkward to rather vigorous over acting. As I said there is a lot of dialogue and very little else but the script is easy enough to follow, the soundtrack and set are perfectly fine and due to the lack of action or gore the special effects are minimal. It’s definitely not one I will be watching again anytime soon or, indeed, ever again but others seem to enjoy it going by the reviews I have read.
Review by Sarah Budd