Cheapo DVD Review: Monster (2008)

Starring:

Sarah Lieving

Erin Sullivan

Produced by: The Asylum

 Two young women arrive in Tokyo to make a documentary but when the city is rocked by tremors and explosions, the amateur film-makers find themselves capturing something earthshattering.

Because this isn't an earthquake...

 If you watched "Cloverfield" and thought "What this film really needs is less monster and more nausea-inducing camera work" then I have the film for you. 

 If you're not mental then go watch something else. Pigeons trying to eat cigarette butts, for instance.

 This is a monster film where you never actually get to see the monster. There's a tentacle pops up over the rooftops a few times, then at the climax you get...some more tentacles. At no point do you ever see what they are attached to.  
 If you're feeling charitable, you might put this down to a desire to heighten the tension. (What is this thing? Why is attacking Tokyo? What the hell does it look like?")
 Personally I reckon the animation team all called in sick on the day they were supposed to do the big reveal.

 There's some smaller "Worm-things" that pop up at various points. Allegedly.  You never get to see those either. The screen either disappears in a blizzard of chaotic pixels or just goes black and when it comes back the characters are talking about the horrible thing that just happened.

  The end result is that you just end up following two worried young women wandering aimlessly around Tokyo and that gets boring real quick.
 Sarah Lieving and Erin Sullivan do their best and I thought they conveyed the confusion and increasing terror of their predicament more than capably. However, it's just  not enough to carry the movie.

 My big gripe is the video quality.

  Christ on a bike, if "Cloverfield" made you travelsick then get the bucket ready for this one.
 Between the ShakyCam and the way it turns into  Potato Quality whenever things are in danger of getting exciting this film is a real struggle to sit through.
Assuming you do manage to sit through the whole thing then your reward is an inconclusive ending that feels like everybody lost interest.
  Did I mention that you never got a good look at the monster? A bit of a failing in a frigging monster movie. 

How much did I pay for this: 75p
Was it worth it: By the time I finished watching, I was annoyed and had a headache. So that would be a "No"

 If you want a found-footage film that's worth watching try this instead:

 And here's the "Monster" trailer. 

 That's all folks.