Monsters (Movie Review)

It has been reported that Monsters was made for $15,000. That would put it in company with Paranormal Activity. It’s also a lot of baloney.

Helmer Gareth Edwards feature debut is not a big budget effort. The most credible press report pegs shooting at $100,000 and post-production at $450,000. That should astonish no one who has looked at Edwards’ resume.

He made his name as a visual special effects man. Edwards and backers got a lot of bang for their buck. Edwards even worked three more jobs as writer, cinematographer, and special effects guru.

The Backstory

Backstory is handled quickly. Six years prior to the action, a NASA probe carrying life forms from outer space crashed over Central America. The northern half of Mexico is now quarantined as an Infected Zone.

It turns out that the Infected Zone is where the alien creatures lay their eggs. These creatures look like giant squid and sound like elephants with sinus trouble. US and Mexican military fight their advance with air strikes and a giant border wall.

Enter Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy), a news photographer with a touch of sleaze. He is ordered to rescue the daughter of his publisher, Samantha Wynden, played by Whitney Able. This is the last thing a guy who gets $50k for shots of blood and gore wants to do.

His job is on the line. Meanwhile, the creatures show signs of branching out from the Infected Zone. They also seem to be attracted to light at night, a tidbit audience members should bear in mind.

The Infected Zone

A dangling participle requires almost total suspension of disbelief. Why can’t Samantha simply fly back to the US? What was she doing in Mexico in the first place given the nation’s chaotic state?

Going south to an airport or ship terminal far from danger would be too easy. There wouldn’t be a movie. Kaulder and Sam have to take a train to the gulf coast and from there board a ferry to the US.

Neither cares much for the other. Due to trouble ahead, the train stops and reverses course. The pair set off on foot, hitchhiking to the coast, which they finally reach late at night.

They pay an exorbitant amount for ferry tickets and crash at a local hotel in separate rooms. Herein lies the turning point where action finally achieves liftoff. Perhaps it is a lesson of sorts.

Kaulder suggests they bunk together, but Sam vetoes the idea. He also suggests tequila shots, but she’d rather sleep. The ferry leaves at 7 am.

Sam closes the door on Kaulder. He hits the bar, does shots, and picks up a prostitute. She steals the pair’s passports and money while a hungover Kaulder chases a ticked off Sam.

If your life depends on a guy, keep him in sight. Also, do not get drunk and pick up a stranger on the eve of your escape. The pair miss the ferry with no refunds.

Sci-Fi or Romance?

A price gouging ticket broker now wants an additional $5k per person to get them a river boat passage through the Infected Zone. Sam pays with her diamond engagement ring. Despite a few close encounters, the film never really develops the suspense common to the genre.

The film takes some liberties with geography. Northern Mexico is not jungle terrain, and monster movie scenes were shot further south in Guatemala. The genre issue is a tad complicated.

Edwards is a special effects man who set out to shoot a love story. When you send a special effects man to make a love story, you get a romance pasted over a sci-fi thriller. It’s not quite one or the other.

The ending, which comes almost unexpectedly, is a tad loopy. It involves a pair of creatures mating. At least that’s what Edwards says they are doing, and it is not entirely clear from the material.

There is a parallel to be drawn, and Edwards draws it. But it also begs the question as to whether the creatures are pernicious, which is the premise. Monsters carries an R rating, though it feels more like a PG film.

There is little objectionable language, no drug use, and no sex between humans. It is an interesting entry alongside Tron: Legacy in terms of visual ambition. Edwards certainly makes the most of his limited resources.