Ocean City Monster Building

"Ocean City Monster Building" is what happens when a poorly made mumblecore movie took half a semester of philosophy 101 class at a third tier state college.

The plot of this supposed mystery film is oversimple, nothing important ever happens in the story, no real development, no reveal, no plot twist, not even a resolution. And yet somehow it is told in such a confusing way that I don't think anyone can walk out of this movie with a clear understanding of exactly what transpired. Which is the bare minimum for any detective drama in my book.

The character's actions does not seem to follow any reasonable logic, they just say or do whatever the writer happened to come up with in any given moment. And most of the time it's regurgitating some half-baked Nietzsche idea in the most convoluted and unsophisticated way possible.

Ineptly directed and badly shot. It looks like it was filmed on a iPhone3GS in front of a street lamp the whole time. I also strongly dislike the not so hidden partisan political message behind it. It's so on the nose just like the film itself.

Boring and pretentious. Watch it at your own risk.

This film has a style and personality to which it remains faithful throughout; an achievement in itself already. It experiments both in its style and in its storytelling, resulting in a quite interesting movie, although sometimes questionable. The plot of the film is a murder investigation, although, really, it is more about the detective Aida. I like this transgression from the typical genre narrative and taking the liberty to be more free in the narrative development. However, I feel that this doesn't work to perfection in this case. At the beginning, for instance, I wanted the mystery narrative to develop, but I felt that time was unnecessarily spent in other conflicts, like with Megan's mother. Later into the film I realised that the film wouldn't focus too much on the mystery. However, although I appreciate this concept, I think the mystery could have been explored and developed more while still having the character developments. One thing I felt decreased the quality of the film immensely was the performances. For example, Megan's mother's scandalous screams at the police; this attitude is completely unnatural and the acting feels very fake. I felt that some reactions were just unrealistic: like when Sally learns her father died with a minor in the car and she starts sobbing. I think the film would have been highly improved if it was more subtle in its delivery. Moreover, on top of the sometimes unsubtle performances, I think that the dialogue at times was completely out of tune. I mean when the characters have mini philosophical speeches and say things like "we are all orphans" or "there is no magic in the adult trenches of existence." No one speaks like that! And I think this is the other weak point of the film: a lack of creativity in delivering these philosophical arguments, because the characters just say them, and I think that takes off their potential value. When Megan's mother speaks of cicadas, for instance, that parallelism could be done in a more creative and effective way, maybe by using the diegetic sound of a documentary about cicadas on TV and connecting it children through cuts to family pictures / baby pictures of Megan; I don't know, something like that. Using the mise-en-scene to create connections between ideas and express these philosophical thoughts in more subtle ways. I liked the part in the end, when we listen to the utopian TV show in the midst of the fight between Sally and her mother: I wanted more stuff like that. Overall, I liked the film, I think it has some valuable characteristics. I really liked the exploration of Aida and I think the wig was a powerful prop. The film's exploration of the two female immigrant characters in the USA was interesting; I think it could have focused more on that aspect while still exploring more the crime, giving more actual answers to it (but still remaining an unresolved mystery) and being more creative in delivering its philosophical parallelisms.

Ocean City Monster Building is a low-budget sci-fi horror film that tells the story of a massive sea monster attacking an apartment building in the fictional coastal town of Ocean City, USA. We follow our protagonist one of the building's occupants and his struggle to survive the attack, rescue his estranged daughter and possibly find a way to defeat the monster before it destroys the entire city. Inspired by the classic Japanese Kaiju films of the 50s and 60s, Ocean City Monster Building rely on practical effects including special makeup, creature suits, animatronic puppets and miniature models instead of CGI creating a nostalgic yet engaging film.

The good: stellar performances by a diverse cast. No matter how bad the dialogues are, they just won't give up and I kind of enjoy watching it. In some moments I would even say the acting successfully saved the film from disaster.

The bad: a script filled with tropes and no originality, camera shots failed to provide even a complete frame of the characters, cheap production value, little effort was made to make it looks like a period piece, sound is a big issue with muffled unintelligible dialogue and noticeable background noises. The editing is choppy and not very smooth.

The ugly: I know the coloring is a choice but it's a horrendous choice, one of the ugliest film I have ever seen. The dialogues are so pretentious and downright nonsensical I had to mute it at times in order to stomach through the entire film.

Ocean City Monster Building requires significant rework and improvements in all aspects of its filmmaking. The story is underdeveloped, lacking depth and complexity that could make it more engaging for the audience. The technical aspects of the film, such as camera movement, framing, blocking and dialogue, are badly executed, hindering the audience's ability to fully immerse themselves in the story. The shoddy camera work and off-frame shots can be disorienting, detracting from the film's overall quality. Similarly, the writing is often predictable, lacking nuance and subtlety further diminishing the film's already poor quality. The sound in the film is inconsistent, with noticeable background noises at times and muffled dialogue that is difficult to understand, this takes away from the viewing experience and makes it challenging to fully engage. The locations used in the film are underutilized and the sparse use of props added to the lackluster production value. The performances by the actors are the only saving grace, some of the monologue performances alone is worth the ticket of admission. Go see it for the brilliant performances by a diverse ensemble cast.

Ocean City Monster Building is an unsolved mystery period piece, blending the tough no-nonsense city officer with the small-town secretiveness that creates its own case to be solved.

The film uses a lot of unique cuts and angles to help tell its story. From the upside-down bedroom flip, the café scene, to the kitchen shot during the break-in, we are treated to unexpected visuals that take us out of the usual movie watching comforts. While not all are successful (the camera retreat in the house and the chase scene aren't as smooth as others), they add to the depth of the story that is unraveling as Aida gets deeper into the case.

As the film progresses, I do struggle with the lack of highs and lows from many of the characters. This becomes even more apparent when we get to Amy Miller, whose performance by itself feels like a genuine guttural response; but against the mild demeanor of the previous characters seems over the top. Similarly, Meghan's voice-over brings a spark of energy that has been missing from Aida, the Sheriff, Sally, or her mom. As we get to the turbulent third act, it is a big jump in characterization as these individuals begin to release these emotions.

While I do enjoy many of the monologues, they seem to slow down the progress of the scene versus punctuating them. I believe it's because it comes so unexpectedly; especially Jake Miller's in the police station. Sally and Amy also seem to break the fourth wall and deliver theirs almost detached from the scene partner. I'm not sure how to integrate these more smoothly, but doing so would definitely increase the delivery impact.

Finally, I'd like to see some of the "surprise" elements kept until later in the film. We're convinced very early on that the Mayor was guilty, so the revelations of the pictures, or the mysterious acting class, or Sally's history or the call from the census bureau don't have the same reveal weight as if we were still wondering what could have happened.