12/30
Monster: Too bad you got out
Story
After her life falls apart, quiet actress Laura Franco finds her voice when she meets the terrifying yet strangely charming monster that lives in her closet. A romantic comedy-horror about falling in love with your inner rage. Filmed at the Ritz and mostly in New Jersey. Now I have that monster routine pretty neat. I think you’ll find this actually, well, terrifying… Quoted in Amanda the Jedi Show: The BEST and Weirdest Movies You (Mostly) Haven’t Seen Yet | Love Lies Bleeding (2024). I Saw It as a Regal Mystery Movie, October 21, 2024 Laura Franco- Melissa Barrera- This is my first time seeing this and I have to say it was a mixed bag. At first I thought she did a great job of bringing her characters’ pain and depression to life. But as the movie went on, it started to feel melodramatic. The amount of whining became almost unbearable. I have to say I really enjoyed the singing parts, especially the ending.
It really cheapened the performance
Monster-Tommy Dewey – Now the monster doesn’t have a real name, just Monster. Tommy Dewey plays the monster as an obnoxious frat boy who occasionally has tender moments. Sure, he might read Shakespeare and play the piano, but he’ll quickly go back to burping and making a mess. The Monsters’ speaking style most of the time sounded like a bad Ryan Reynolds/Deadpool impression. It felt like he was being sarcastic just to be sarcastic. The supporting cast is full of generic stereotypical characters you’d find in any romantic comedy. None of their performances were particularly memorable. And frankly, almost everyone we meet is quite different. The comparisons to Lisa Frankenstein are unfair. The only similarity I found between the two was the sad girl and the monster. While Lisa Frankenstein had a fully developed plot with a very clear style, Your Monster was more uneven and couldn’t find its footing.
Her performance here felt right
It didn’t rely on its “demand” horror romantic comedy. Every instance of horror was downplayed, often with a corny commentary afterwards. I feel like this movie was marketed as horror bait. But it’s also labeled as a Romcom, or romantic comedy. The comedy was also pretty light. There was some physical humor that was funny. Like Laura only eating cookies and cake. Or the Monster sneaking under her bed at night. The plot started out pretty strong. Melissa Barrera plays the role of a depressed patient very well. But as the movie went on, her character seemed to actively refuse to grow up.
Walking was very slow
Why should I, the viewer, care about this character who doesn’t seem to want to move on? The rest of the plot moves along at a familiar tone. The movie dragged between key scenes in the movie. There was also a lot of melodrama. She had a great lighting in the park and then wriggled! Love it, get it together girl! When he FINALLY sets his revenge plan in motion, the movie ends shortly thereafter. (Spoiler) The love scene was out of place, poorly shot, poorly acted and nonsensical. The characters were friendly, not romantic and had ZERO chemistry. The visuals were plain. The monster’s face was stiff as a board, causing Tommy Dewey to overreact to compensate.
Halfway good movie, 5/10
The monster’s body hair was extremely inconsistent. Also, he resembled the Geico Caveman. The best part of the movie was the ending of the Broadway show. It’s a shame it took so long to get there and then it all ended abruptly. An open-ended conclusion keeps the audience guessing. This movie probably sounded a lot better on paper. A horror rom-com with no horror, romance or comedy. Not very flashy.–GremlinLord615 – Video release on YT.