Monstrous

My wish is really simple - I would have preferred if the producers had decided to go for a simple horror movie. The "twist" of the story is no twist, because it is far to obvious right from the beginning. On the pro side there is solid acting (nice to watch Christina Ricci) and production. A missed opportunity.

Somehow slow, somehow ok, but in the end a very disappointing movie. Miss Ricci is doing her best, but it doesn't help the movie to be more watchable. Not a stinker, but not average either.

They did this film a huge disservice by marketing it as horror. There is nothing in the fim that is remotely horror. There is a supernatural element but supernatural does not equal horror. If it had been marketed as fantasy or psychological drama an entirely different audience would view it. I believe that it would have much better reviews.

Cristina Ricci, as Laura, does a superb job portraying the many different emotions that one experiences when enduring the circumstance that is the theme of the film. The scenery is well done using upbeat 1950's music and bright colors to depict how Laura views the world.

Bring tissues.

I have to admit that I was initially lured in to watching the 2022 mystery thriller "Monstrous" given the movie's cover/poster, but also because it was a movie that I hadn't already seen.

Writer Carol Chrest didn't really manage to churn out a storyline that was particularly inspiring. In fact, the movie's storyline was rather mundane and predictable. The movie started out fair enough, but then quickly settled into a monotonous pace without much of any excitement.

It is a movie with a rather small cast ensemble, but I will say that Christina Ricci carried the movie quite nicely, as did child actor Santino Barnard. It was nice to see Lew Temple in the movie, despite of him having only a small role.

Visually then "Monstrous" was actually good. Great special effects, which definitely added a lot to the movie, since the storyline was rather bland.

Ultimately then "Monstrous" was a movie that came and went without leaving a lasting impression. And I guess that come the end of the week, the movie will be a distant speck of a memory only. This is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time, nor is it a movie that I would recommend horror fans to rush out to get to watch.

My rating of "Monstrous", from director Chris Sivertson, lands on a four out of ten stars.

A 1950s mom gets away with her son to a remote rented house, but something sinister keeps emerging from the pond out back.

Psychic trip, not a real horror, but done with great style in the cinematography and set dressing, and a gorgeous soundtrack of period tunes.

The lead performance is spot on, with a willingness to please barely concealing a wire-taut inner conflict. From the start it's clear we're in a subconscious world elaborately maintained in technicolor dresses and bob hairstyles, shadowed by subtle undertones in the score to generate a sense of the uncanny. The pace does drag a little, I think because the viewer has no relief in the constant look-out for clues to the mystery. Although the scenes are nice and crisp, the editing smooth, at no point did I lose myself in the events.

At the heart of the story is the return of repressed emotion, but perhaps the writer mistook her starting point: it's not the event in the pool, but the reaction to that event - in other words, why is the process so difficult for this particular woman? Perhaps the line about fault needed a rethink, with something more troubled lurking behind.

Overall: Domesticated uncanny.