The Monster Project (2017)

Wonderful character development!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This was a movie initially a bit difficult to get into, as it came across boring and the characters rather unlikeable in the opening several minutes. As such, I had started the film weeks ago, then given up and only re-watched it now.once it gets past its establishing period, it becomes shockingly fun. While the vast majority of the film is essentially filmed in night vision on a camera, there is very little that is hard to see and it's not at all difficult to keep track of the action going along.the plot is serviceable enough, in the form of an amateur documentary on people who claim to be real life "monsters"; a vampire, a Navajo skinwalker, and someone possessed by a demon. each one gets a brief interview segment, then Stuff Goes Wrong and the adventure ride begins.while filmed in a by now familiar style of found footage running from a demon monster thing, the use and constant interchange between three completely different types of monsters actually works in maintaining a vibrant pace without getting overly bogged down, while giving us some unique "fight" sequences with the different monsters.It all plays out rather like an adventure game, with each monster as a "boss fight" to be defeated in different ways, with the demon in particular being the most unusual of the group with a hallucinatory pseudo-flashback sequence involving one of the protagonists.rather than go through each "boss" one at a time, they end up recurring several times, often playing to their original mythos (as in, the Demon leaves its initial victim and possesses someone else, the Vampire gets killed but bites someone and that person eventually becomes a vampire later on).The movie began to slog a bit near the end, involving a twist ending reveal that in my opinion killed the fun of the movie, no longer indulging itself in various monster mythos but instead going with a familiar, bland Christian-centric Satanic rituals and talk of an antichrist. It all came apart around there, losing focus from its initial monster mash premise and going for something entirely different for its last 15 minutes

While the idea for the film is a good premise with loads of potential, the film becomes another one of the many average found footage films. The plot is simple enough, a documentary group sets out to make a film about monsters while they know they don't exist. When they finally get 3 supposed monsters to be in the documentary, they set up an interview at a creepy old house, but when they finish the interviews, the supposed monsters show their true form. The story unfortunately is just that, a good idea but they fail flesh out this story and it ends up being too thin. They try to add other story elements but they go by so quick and don't effect the rest of the film.First of all, the acting is very hit and miss, some of the actors do a serviceable job in their roles, but a couple of the actors are so ridiculous and over-done that it made wish they would just stop talking. The visuals also are hit and miss, while the make-up for the skinwalker is very cool, the special effects in other areas are very low quality, something you would see in a bargain bin at Walmart. The film also fails to set a tone like many other found footage films like Blair Witch Project, it just goes from scene to scene with no consistence, though the lighting is moody and effective at moments. The film also tries to be existential and though provoking regarding the ideas of good and evil, but the are cliched and has all been done before.So in short, the film is hit and miss, some very strong scenes and film elements, but unfortunately some very unflattering acting and special effects.

Another day, another found footage indie horror flick consisting of three stories explored by a documentary film crew. Their remit is to meet and interview three real-life monsters, who take the form of a demon, a vampire, and a skinwalker. What this all boils down to is the usual shaky-camera material and a mix of slow and boring interview snippets with some night camera incidents borrowed from the likes of BLAIR WITCH and REC (or QUARANTINE). It's all very low rent, predictable, and not at all scary.

I first saw this film advertised on the IMDb homepage so decided to check it out after finding the trailer really interesting. Ever since the Blair Witch Project the hand held 'real life' camera method has always given the film an air of mystery as we don't always tend to see what the character sees. However, I can assure you this film is different and doesn't just build up anti-climatic suspense. The film contains a group of adults wanting to make a documentary about different kinds of monsters to bump up views for their YouTube page when they're contacted by volunteers to give interviews, whilst the crew initially brush the claims off as ridiculousness, they soon start to change their beliefs.The premise is interesting and the film starts that way too even if it is a little slow to get into. A film like this shouldn't really go over the 80 minute mark but what you gonna do?There are a few jump scares and once the 'chaos' kicks in it does get really intense. The first 2/3 of the film are the most suspenseful and intriguing parts but come the final third act, we are left with that unfulfilling feeling of emptiness and predictability that these camcorder films tend to conjure up. Overall, its a fun little film to watch with your friends on a weekend night for a few scares, but it's not a film that will leave a trace in your memory. 5/10