Leofwine_draca Let's be frank from the outset: MONSTER is a Z-grade rip-off of CLOVERFIELD, made with about a millionth of the budget that film had and without an ounce of originality. It's made by a studio who knock out lots of this type of junk (check out TRANSMORPHERS) in an effort to make a buck or two, and by and large they're successful. But are there films any good? I don't think anybody could go into MONSTER expecting a classic, BUT...and this is a very surprising but, considering my low threshold for rubbish, I actually found myself enjoying this film.Okay, so the odds are stacked against it. The whole film rests on the shoulders of a pair of girls, Sarah Lynch and Erin Sullivan, who, it's fair to say, aren't the most accomplished of actresses. But they do okay, and for the most part they hold the film together, only getting a bit screechy in the over-emoting scenes. Their irritating characters come about as a result of the script so you can't really blame them for that. They're pretty too, which helps.The hand held camera-work quickly becomes tiresome and anyone who complained of motion sickness from the likes of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT will find their stomachs tested with the ultra-jerky shaky-cam stuff going on here. Most irritating for me was the way the camera often cuts to a black screen; if you added all the black bits together they'd probably take up a full ten minutes of the film. The lack of narrative structure is also a problem, as although there's a strong start, the film just tails away rather than finishing properly.So why did this film entertain me so much? I'm almost ashamed to admit it, I found it pretty frightening. I watched it with the volume turned up and the sounds of the giant squid-like monster were eerie in the extreme, even if the same sound effect is repeated over and over. The constant rumbling and sounds of distant conflict were also highly effective in the same way that a film like CLOVERFIELD is effective. Basically, the only part of this film that works is the sound effects, and they're quite excellent.The squid itself is a rarely-seen beastie and that's good, because the CGI effects are quite poor: fun poor, though, in the same way that '50s crude stop motion is fun poor. The low budget is really apparent, because on some of the street 'attack' sequences, you just see the camera shake while pointing at one of the actresses, and you know nothing's really happening off camera, just two girls and a camera man standing in the street trying to simulate the effect. I liked the Japanese supporting cast though, who bring integrity to their various parts, and the effects of the half-demolished city are surprisingly decent. Yeah, this is a Z-grade rip-off but as Z-grade rip-offs go, it's a good one.

rickyhurtz69 I am angry that a portion of my life that is now gone was spent watching this abortion. I have to ask the actress/writer/whatever what she was thinking? I could understand this as an 8th grade project, MAYBE, but this is terrible and an affront to thinking humans everywhere. I know I lost IQ points watching this. First of all, why do these college-age people have to push their global-warming BS? Second, IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A MONSTER ATTACK A CITY - MAKE IT "NOT-TOKYO!!!!" Come on, this city has had enough monsters.But the main problem is that these young ladies actually tried to make a serious movie that only a 12-year old could have dreamed up. Nothing makes sense. Beyond that, women everywhere should be bitch-slapping these women for putting women back into the pre-1980's "we are scared of everything" mindset.Redeeming qualities. The chest and butt of the lead character was the only thing good about the movie. Definitely nice to see an "actress" (stretching the title here) who does not sport silicon body parts. Maybe, just maybe, had they descended into a lesbian-incestuous scene, I might have forgotten that I pay Netflix every month to keep crap like this online.

gordon lucas I've not seen much in the way of positives posted about this movie. I'm going to stand alone in total disagreement and say that, for an asylum flick, it is honest, well thought out and comes across as a labour of love from all concerned. I very much enjoyed it.The two leads, Erin Evans and Sarah Lieving, did a most creditable job of portraying a pair of sisters who were amateur film makers, in their deportment, voice tone, and physical reactions to the storyline. Miss Evans especially did a fine job of portraying believable despair, and her simple attractiveness made her a protagonist worth pulling for. The dialogue throughout was consistently appropriate. In my opinion, the girls were solid actors portraying amateurs, and did it well. I've seen lots worse, especially in this genre. Director Erik Estenberg paced the action well, and was skilled enough to pull of a pretty fair Tokyo, filming in LA. Not bad.Action sequences were believable, and sometimes excellent within the budget constraints. The bombing scenes were especially effective, and the limiting of the monster to a few tentacles here and there and just one major showing, veiled by darkness, was appreciated. Thumbs up here.Flaws? Oh, sure. Mr. Estenberg could have chopped about 8 to 10 minutes off the film to tighten up the drama, and some of the survival decisions made by the characters were, shall we say suicidal and stretched credibility a tad. Not really a Cloverfield ripoff, I would say it is more like another movie in the same vein, not as well done but certainly watchable. But I'd like to counter the negative with some positives and hope a few of you reading this will give "Monster" a fair shot.And I would also hope to see the two leading ladies and director in other endeavours - the talent in this trio was evident, and makes the film click. I'll watch it again with no hesitation.

rimple Some films are abhorrently bad, but you can still find a redeeming quality in it. But this thing was a monstrous waste. Time better spent watching a turd floating in gas station toilet.Typically, you should feel sympathy for a character. In this film I couldn't wait for the 2 stupid girls to die - despite Sarah Lieving's cleavage shots. Forsberg, Estenberg and Latt should be tarred and feathered for creating such plotlessness, inane dialog and most of all, that retarded damaged tape effect that compelled me to chuck my beer bottle at the TV and hit my wife for buying the damn DVD when there is economic crisis going on.You might be a masochist and want to watch this for the pain factor. Fair enough, but remember there is a long list of other films which should never have been made. Watch one of those instead or better yet, clean your bathroom tiles with a toothbrush.As director Lech Kowalski says: "Film is ecologically unsound and messes up a lot of water in the process of development. Why mess up so much water by making a bad film?"