Highly entertaining throwback to the 80s
Added 11/7/2009
JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER
**** Out of 5
Release Date- August 15th, 2008
Running Time- 85-Minutes
Rating- R
Screenplay- John Ainslie & Jon Knautz
Director- Jon Knautz
Starring- Trevor Matthews, Rachel Skarsten, Daniel Kash, Ashley Bryant, David Fox and Robert Englund as Professor Gordon Crowley
Going into Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer I had rather low expectations, while the movie looked fairly decent these low budget movies these days are very much hit or miss unlike days of past when these movies were often the strongest the horror genre had. But I have to say Jack Brooks was actually a really entertaining movie that was a fun throw back to low budget horror flicks of the 80s and the influence of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead is quite obvious, which is a good thing.
I'm not really a fan of CGI, but I can tolerate it when used a little bit, but I hate when low budget horror flicks use CGI since it almost always looks horrid. I've seen a few movies I enjoyed, but the poor CGI would lower my rating. Jack Brooks goes back to the way these movies should be made without any CGI and fans of that era should at least be pleased with that even if you don't like the movie.
The biggest complaint about the movie was the slow pace, but I disagree with that. While Jack Brooks isn't the fastest paced movie I have ever seen I thought the main character was interesting enough to keep my interest until the action kicked in. Jack Brooks may not be a perfect movie, but it is a lot of fun and an excellent throw back to the 80s. A lot of the times the filmmakers tend to try too hard and it often comes out as a mess with a good idea, but where other movies might fail I personally felt Jack Brooks pretty much got it all right.
The screenplay by John Ainslie & Jon Knautz was highly entertaining; this isn't meant to be an Oscar winning material, but it's meant to be fun and the script gets it right. The character of Jack Brooks played by Trevor Matthews is an interesting character and is fairly well developed as well. The rest of the characters aren't as interesting, but they all serve their purpose. While the script is a homage to 80s horror it never comes across as a fanboy script, which often is what ruins these movies.
Co-writer Jon Knautz makes his feature film debut and it's a movie he can be proud of. Jack Brooks is meant to simply be a fun movie and it always is just that. Like I stated earlier some have complained about the pacing being too slow, but I disagree. Even with the lack of action Knautz always keeps the movie interesting and the pacing never lags. I suppose Jack Brooks could have benefited from more action, but in the end I felt it all worked out well. The final act is a bit over the top, but works well. Even in movies not meant to be realistic sometimes it can still be too over the top, but Knautz makes it work. There isn't much suspense, but I don't think that was the goal by the director, but the action scenes is well done and the comedy aspect adds to the fun level.
The performances were fairly good with Trevor Matthews and Robert Englund being the strongest of the cast. Englund is a cult Icon due to the success of A Nightmare on Elm Street, but at times he's been limited by some poor movies, but this stands among one of his best movies in quite some time and it shows in his performance. Trevor Matthews shows some great potential and I really look forward to seeing him in other roles.
When all is said and done Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer is highly entertaining, but like any movie not everyone will like it. Fans of 80s horror flicks are the main audience for this movie.
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Jack is a Dull Boy
Added 9/26/2009
This film had a lot of great elements (supporting actors, music, strong directing), but it's weakest element is ironically the film's title character, Jack Brooks.
Neither convincing nor interesting, Jack comes off as a [...], his rage issues seeming to come from a different film (or script draft) altogether - that play no part in his defeating the 'Monster'.
Or maybe I just think the actor playing Jack did a lousy job selling that arc.
Yeah, THAT.
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Super Fun! PLUMBER STYLE!
Added 9/11/2009
I must admit, I was skeptical about Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer but I'm a closet fan of films like Bloody Mallory and Matthew Blackheart: Monster Smasher so I was willing to give this a fair shake. Good thing I did because it's a daRn fine little movie and without a doubt better than the films above. It's no classic but it is indeed B-movie gold, A hardcore creature feature with monster mayhem and gore!
The acting was quite good, the production values high and the story was sound, the only things that could have ruined this film would have been lead Trevor Matthews and, of course, the monsters; both far exceeded my expectations though. Matthews could easily be the next Ash, on a less-than-legendary level, of course. As for the monsters, all latex and puppetry here baby. They were fantastic.
If the monsters and gore put a smile on your face, check out this release's numerous special features! It's packed out with just about anything you'd wanna know about this production and the people behind it. Super classy release from Anchor Bay and a sweet flick from Brookstreet. Let's keep those fingers crossed for a sequel. If you're a movie monster fan and you're not phased by low budget B-movies, check Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer out. If nothing else, you'll want to see Robert Englund's hilarious performance as a demon possessed college professor!
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Wasted Potential...
Added 7/6/2009
I recently picked up the DVD, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer as a blind purchase. At a glance, this low budget indie flick had quite a bit going for it. I loved the premise (loser plumber is treated like dirt by all, until he finally flips out and kills a horde of monsters), the inclusion of Robert Englund never hurts, and I loved the title. It seemed like the perfect low budget horror flick. Visions of Evil Dead 2008 danced in my head as I went home to watch it. Too bad that the most fun I had with this movie was imagining how awesome it would be.
How could anybody screw up this movie so badly? JB: MS is all about the cathartic payoff of watching Jack flip out and kill monsters. Sadly, the director spent way too much time building up to that point. I get it, Jack is a traumatized mess, with a whiny girlfriend and worthless life. The guy is also a total snooze with zero on-screen charisma. Anytime he is on screen talking I felt compelled to shut the DVD off. Jack's only redeeming quality is the rage pent up inside him and we only see it briefly throughout the entire film.
This movie needed less talking and a whole lot more monster slaying (some memorable one-liners couldn't hurt either). Robert Englund tries his best to salvage this film from going down the crapper, but even his hammed up scenes eventually wore thin. Englund's slap stick spiral towards becoming a demonic creature was easily the most amusing aspect during an otherwise stale middle act. The filmmakers must have known this because almost too much time is devoted to it. Eventually, I found myself begging for him to turn into a monster just so that the brutality would finally start!
I will give credit to the folks who made this film for not succumbing to tacky CG effects. The mutants and monsters are all done with prosthetics, puppets and makeup which is the way it should be in my book. Things take the slightest turn for the better once the monster brutality starts up. Sadly, the movie ends shortly after. Just when this turd finally gets good it ends.
Had the filmmakers focused more on the gory action rather than the forgettable plot this would have been an instant classic. Jack Brooks has TONS of potential, but with the complete lack of suspense, only a few sparse laughs (thank you Mr. Englund), and zero memorable gore scenes you might want to look elsewhere for your horror comedy fix.
Final Grade: D+
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The Rare Naysayer on this Movie...
Added 7/1/2009
Ok, so it seems I'm the rare viewer who isn't salivating over this movie, which seems to have developed a bit of a cult following. I am a huge fan of B horror flicks and other non-main stream ones, in which category this movie certainly falls. In short, "Jack" is an anger-challenged, trucker hat-wearing plumber who is attending college for no particular reason. He is requested to fix some plumbing-related issues of his professor, who happens to be living in a home sufficiently infested with something nasty that leads to his conversion to a monster. Jack is then provided a convenient outlet to his anger. The movie has some good attributes. There is a general atmospheric quality of light heartedness that borders on effective comic horror. Also, Robert Englund is always a crowd favorite. However, the movie is slow, and that's what causes me to score it as I have. Its almost 40 minutes into the movie before it starts to pick up real momentum, despite an opening action scene. However, I do recommend a rental, but not necessarily a purchase w/o first viewing.
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