Jack Brooks Monster Slayer [DVD]

I was really looking forward to this. The title conjures up the great films from my childhood such as Jack The Giant Killer and Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter, and when I read it was going to be a throwback to the great horrors from the 1980's with a complete abscence of CGI effects, I was rubbing my hands with glee. So maybe I went into this film with my expectations a little too high, as I found it all rather dull and for a film that only lasts an hour and twenty, it did seriously drag in places.
Don't get me wrong. Its not a terrible film by any means. There are moments to delight such as the Cyclops, the Forest Demon and the great performance from Robert Englund as the Professor struggling with his very real inner demons. However, its in no way as enjoyable as the films its trying to ape, and its not half as clever as it thinks it is.
The most annoying thing is of course is the lack for most of the film of monsters. If it says Monsters on the tin, thats want I want. Hopefully if a sequel is made, the big beasties will be far more prevalent. 3 out of 5

A plumber with serious anger management issues fighting monsters -with Robert Englund thrown in for good measure. That sounds like a pretty good formula for success. Unfortunately, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer pretty much lays an egg. It's a movie without any soul and very little identity. I hate to call it a horror comedy because it fails on both counts. Sure, there's gore aplenty, but it's all so over the top as to be more pitiful than anything else. On top of that, it sort of annoyed this devoted horror fan to hear the filmmakers say they chose this genre for their first feature film basically because there would be a ready market in place no matter how badly they might screw the whole thing up. In other words, they thought a horror film was much easier to make than, say, a drama. Oh, they also thought it would be a lot of fun to play around with all the special effects and makeup. Obviously, I have to question their commitment and level of respect for the genre I love most in the world. In fact, I would argue that the film actually ends up making a mockery of the entire horror genre. And comedy? Please. I don't remember even one remotely funny scene in the entire film. The whole thing's laughable, but it's not funny.

So just who is Jack Brooks? Well, he's a plumber, and he's taking a night school science class because his incredibly annoying girlfriend somehow talked him into it. Jack (Trevor Matthews) has some issues - having watched his family slaughtered by a troll (yeah, you read that right: a troll) back when he was still a kid, he is prone to intense outbursts of anger (borne of his guilt over running for his life while his parents and sister were brutally killed). He's seeing a therapist, but let's just say that no personal breakthrough seems likely any time soon. As luck would have it, Jack's professor (Robert Englund) is having some serious plumbing problems at his new home (a dilapidated old house he bought for a song because it's supposedly cursed). Jack accidentally awakens something evil there, and the next thing you know Professor Crowley begins turning into an evil, viciously aggressive Jabba the Hut. It looks like Jack is finally going to get a second chance to test the old flight or fight response.

I applaud the filmmakers for eschewing CGI for more traditional methods of monster creation, but I think they went way overboard with all the special effects. In the end, the monsters just look increasingly foolish. Heck, the whole movie looks increasingly foolish. Without the safety net of a decent, original script and/or a genuinely comedic presence, thing whole thing falls hard and fast right into the ground.

The DVD does at least come with some decent bonus material. There's a commentary featuring the filmmakers, a fairly lengthy Behind the Scenes feature, some sixteen minutes of deleted scenes, and several other goodies. To tell you the truth, I didn't care enough about the film to watch all of the special features, but those who actually enjoy this movie may well be interested in them.

I saw this in the shops, and was intrigued by the title, noting that it was a horror comedy. I always like those. I read the back of the DVD case, and the plot sounded interesting. Then I saw that Robert Englund was in it. Sold!

There's a good basic official Amazon synopsis of the plot further up the page, and I don't want to go into much more detail than that, otherwise I'll spoil some surprises and revelations in the film.

"Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" is a very good horror comedy. The laughs and gross-out moments are fairly steady, growing to a pretty nifty crescendo at the end of the film. The monsters (of which there are several), all range in quality from decently disgusting to masterpieces of foam-rubber costuming. The Cyclops, while he doesn't get much screen time, is by far one of the best movie monsters I've seen in a long time. The main monster, purported to be a Japanese demon, does actually look a lot like the kinds of disturbing otherworldly creatures seen in animé: swollen, ravenous, with row upon row of jagged teeth in a gaping maw set into a face which is a grotesque parody of a human's. And lots and lots of far-reaching tentacles. It moves a bit like an oversized puppet (which it is, actually), but most horror comedy fans are forgiving of a bit of cheeziness if the story is good and there's lots of gory violence. Which, happily, is the case with this film.

As stated in the other reviews of my Amazon critic colleagues here, there are gags and homages galore, though one seems to have slipped through the cracks. As a Canadian film, I find it a letdown that Jack Brooks didn't make a Red Green tribute to The Handyman's Secret Weapon when he breaks out a roll of duct tape. Perhaps if they make a sequel . . . ? (Hint, hint.)

The acting and casting are all of high quality. Robert Englund, of course, can -- and often does -- go from masterfully subtle to hilariously over-the-top to creepy as Hell in an eyeblink, once again showing how he managed to accrue his world-wide legions of fans. Trevor Matthews does very well as the title character at not one, nor two, but THREE different ages (late teens, mid-twenties, and mid-thirties) AND as the Forest Troll. Daniel Kash (who can also be seen as Pvt. Spunkmeyer the drop-ship pilot from "Aliens" and Detective Louis Gardino from "Due South") does a good turn as Jack Brooks' put-upon counsellor. All the other actors are very good in this piece. In particular, Rachel Skarsten really caught my attention as Eve. This is more of a personal thing, as I once dated an ambitious, bleached-blonde nag of similar disposition; it was so much like seeing my first ex up on the screen that I felt my gorge and blood pressure rising at everything she said or did. Kudos to her for an unerring character study of my first girlfriend! May her (Rachel Skarsten's, that is) career continue, so long as if they make a sequel, the character of Eve gets killed off, slowly and horribly.

The DVD extras are all pretty darn good, with some nifty behind-the-scenes secrets and tips, although the image blurs and pixellates on these "making of" parts if the camera pans around. The feature commentary is fun to listen to, sounding more like a bunch of drinking buddies shooting the breeze and joking around over some beers than serious technical discussions.

If you like horror comedies, I'm fairly certain you'll also get a kick out of this film. I recommend renting it first to see if it's your thing, then buying it if it fits the bill.