Monster

I don't like watching short films. I watched the short film version of that movie before watching The Babadook. It was an average thing. This short film did not surprise me.

Monster follows a young boy and his mother who live together. The boy is frightened of a creepy doll that he eventually keeps in his closet. To help ease his terror, the mother lets him sleep with her in her room.

This is very atmospheric short and the jump scares work really well. I was genuinely on edge the whole time. I'd recommend watching this alone, late at night with the lights off. You are in for a treat!

This clearly inspired Kent's 2014 feature, the Babadook as both share many of the same horror tropes.

6/10

Jennifer Kent's Monster is a haunting precursor to her acclaimed feature The Babadook. This short film delivers a striking tale of maternal anxiety and psychological terror in just ten minutes, showcasing Kent's talent for blending emotional depth with suspense.

The story centres on a single mother and her young son, whose quiet life is disrupted by the appearance of a shadowy creature lurking in their home. On the surface, Monster is a straightforward horror story, but Kent uses this simplicity as a vehicle for exploring profound themes, particularly the fear of parental inadequacy and the looming presence of unresolved trauma.

Kent's direction is meticulous, using sparse lighting, practical effects, and tight framing to evoke unease. The monster itself, while only glimpsed, is an unsettling figure-a testament to how less is often more in horror. The film's atmosphere relies heavily on suggestion, allowing viewers to project their fears onto the creature, much like the mother and son project their struggles onto this ominous presence.

The emotional undercurrent of Monster elevates it beyond standard genre fare. The mother's strained relationship with her son is palpable, and the monster seems to embody her internal struggles, blurring the line between external and internal threats. This allegorical depth is a hallmark of Kent's work, later perfected in The Babadook.

While brief, Monster lingers long after the screen fades to black. It's an unsettling exploration of fear, both imagined and real, that resonates on a deeply personal level. A must-watch for fans of psychological horror and a brilliant showcase of Jennifer Kent's early promise.

This short horror film was pretty good. It had some moments that were a bit creepy and I enjoyed the performances of both the mom and the little boy in this one. The atmosphere was good as the black and white made an everyday house and everyday things seem more sinister than they would have been otherwise. The story has a rather hyper active kid really beating down one of his stuffed toys, a rather ugly doll that to me resembled a witch a bit. Most kids can remember that childhood toy that really did not delight them, but rather scared the crap out of them. Well the boy seems convinced that the thing is alive and really freaks out when he glimpses it in the closet. Well the mother thinks it is just an over active imagination at first, but something seems a bit off kilter. Like I said this one overall was okay, my favorite part was when the mother heard something while she and her son were in bed and she looked out her door. To me that was the freakiest part in the film. The conclusion is a bit strange though, I did not completely care for it, but then I still feel I must give it credit for being original. The final scene is even more strange, but once again it was different. So while not the most shocking or creepy short horror film I have seen, it was an interesting watch and it did things a bit differently than one would normally expect.

I must point out up front that horror isn't my favorite genre, so this could account for the high scores by some for MONSTER and my closer to average score. However, my disappointment also is because apart from evoking an excellent scary mood and one pretty funny scene where the mother takes on the monster, there isn't a lot of substance to this film. It seems to almost all be mood--music, cinematography and action--but not a whole lot of depth. In part, this must be because it's a short film but my one complaint about the genre in general is that so many films try to scare you but don't really have a lot more to them than just fright.

Now these complaints still bode pretty well for the film makers--they did achieve the right mood and the film was competently made--I just want to see a bit more plot next time.