WRITTEN REVIEW: Monsters: TV For Couch Potatoes & Cyclopes

By CORY CARR

Since the success of Twilight Zone and spooky radio dramas before it, television networks have been trying to cash in with their own branded version of horror anthology. Horror on television has become a big business with shows like The Walking Dead and American Horror Story. Seasons of these shows now get big Hollywood budgets and have top notch make-up effects. But this hasn't always been true. Made for t.v. horror has ridden a long hard road to mainstream success. There was From Beyond, The Outer Limits, Night Gallery and after those and several others, came Monsters.

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Cloverfield (2008)

Genre

Horror | Sci-Fi

Director

Matt Reeves

Country

USA

Cast

Michael Stahl-David, Odette Annable, T. J. Miller, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan, Mike Vogel, Ben Feldman, Billy Brown, Chris Mulkey, Brian Klugman, Theo Rossi

Storyline

During a surprise leaving party, the lights go out and the ground begins to shake. With explosions happening everywhere, the party-goers decide to leave the apartment. Accompanied by a hand-held video camera, Hud (T. J. Miller) manages to capture on film the terrifying incidents that occur.

Opinion

Waiting for "10 Cloverfield Lane" to be released, I caught the opportunity to rewatch "Cloverfield", and to my surprise I still enjoyed it, 8 years later and with my taste in movies completely changed.

Overall the film is entertaining, occasionally terrifying and delivers some thrills, even though it doesn't spare us some tedious moments.

The story isn't great, and it takes almost 25 minutes before the film gets interesting, 25 minutes of a useless party and wedding-style say "hi" to the guy who's leaving for Japan, but after that it's quite enjoyable, despite the lack of an actual storyline, and despite you already know how it's gonna end since the very beginning.

There is some nonsense going on like the idea of everyone still being on board to save one girl after one of the friends dies, but the film presents us in a realistic-ish way how we would react if we were in those people's place. The cliché of the superhero who saves the whole world in a rather far-fetched way is spared to us. Instead, the protagonists try in vain but in a rather likely way to save the people they love and to escape from the monster. For once, the protagonists have no clue what to do, and they are overwhelmed by panic and confusion ruling the city.

The CGI isn't as bad as many say, but isn't neither great. The monster is kind of cool even though I would have loved to know where did it come from. However, the analogy with terrorism is quite interesting.

I really don't know nor remember why I considered the whole hand-held camera thing like a huge deal back in 2008, but I was quite annoying by it now since the shaky camera doesn't really add anything to the plot, to the story, and only took away from the cool effects.

New in May: Getting Adventurous (2014)

Minya, can you hear me?

If you like action and adventure, then this is your month. Perhaps in an effort to compete with Hollywood's big spring releases, Netflix is bulking up on its escapist fare. From the high cheese of Fantastic Voyage and all things Godzilla (including Rodan!) to the thrills of the Romancing the Stone flicks and the artful splatter of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, there are any number of ways to get your streaming action groove on. Oh, and did I mention the latest return of Bond, James Bond? Yep, 007 is back again (some of him, anyway), although if recent history is any guide, he won't be around for long�so take advantage of that license to kill before it inevitably gets revoked. (Click here for an earlier rundown of select Bond titles.)

Raquel, I'm over here!

There's a little something for every taste, from every decade since the 1950s. Want to gawk at a miniaturized Raquel Welch, shrunk down and wetsuited to enter a dying man's bloodstream? Apparently, a lot of people did in 1966, which is where the aforementioned Fantastic Voyage comes in. Feeling the urge to bone up on the many moods and manifestations of Godzilla before the latest remake hits the big screen? Then plan to spend a lot of time sitting in front of the little screen, because over half a dozen Godzilla films have reemerged from the earth's core after being buried in January. Most of these are pretty crappy (including what's arguably the worst of all, Godzilla's Revenge), but if you take your monsters seriously�and prefer to avoid a talking baby Godzilla�then stick with the first installment, Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956) or 1964's Godzilla vs. Mothra. Or, go ahead, queue up Godzilla's Revenge. As long as you're prepared to uncork a bottle of Awwws (and guff-awws) to randomly hurl at your screen. Talking baby monsters, indeed...

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Alien Invasion Meets Indie Road Movie: MONSTERS

Are you in the mood for superheroic characters fighting scores of scary 3D creatures amid exploding landmarks while computer-rendered populations are crushed beneath tossed cars and collapsing buildings? Then check out The Avengers. Or Pacific Rim. Or just about anything directed by Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich.

But if you need a break from cliche scares and lookalike blockbusters and prefer more character-driven sci-fi--with relatable human beings who aren't wielding weapons or one-liners--then Monsters, an impressive micro-budget alien invasion flick from 2010, should hit your sweet spot. It certainly hit mine.

Set six years after an extraterrestrial species has populated a swath of northern Mexico now walled off from the United States, Monsters utilizes a War of the Worlds-like premise to concentrate on the human toll of an alien occupation--an occupation fought with increasing (and unscrupulous) force by a desperate U.S. military.

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PODCAST 53: Monsters & The Burning

This week Forest shares his thoughts on a hidden Netflix gem, Monsters, while Cory reviews the early '80s slasher film The Burning.

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