Customer Reviews

Monster Man [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

If I had to make a list of extraordinarily influential horror films of the last forty years, titles like "Friday the 13th," "Night of the Living Dead," "Halloween," and Tobe Hooper's seminal screamfest "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" would stand at the top. These three films have, and continue to have, a massive influence on filmmakers. In fact, I'm willing to bet that most beginners hoping to break into the world of horror movie making lens a variation of one of these four films as their first feature. Oftentimes, such efforts lead to disaster. The market can only withstand so many cheap 'n cheesy flicks before collapsing under the sheer weight of banality. But once in a while a diamond in the rough appears, a magical effort that manages to take a tired formula and infuse it with something approaching brilliance or, if not brilliance, at least a modicum of originality. Enter the low budget gorefest "Monster Man," a ripoff of Hooper's masterpiece if there ever was one. Sure, it's derivative, but it's also a fabulously fun film for horror fans everywhere. I compliment Michael Davis for crafting this extremely sick piece of celluloid.

"Monster Man" introduces us to two losers by the name of Adam (Eric Jungmann) and his abrasive buddy Harley (Justin Urich) tooling down the highway in a car. The purpose of this road trip revolves around Adam's hope that he can intercede in the coming nuptials of a long sought after love. Harley apparently came along for the ride in order to torture his pal with a running string of bad jokes, childish insults, and general pronouncements berating his pal for pursuing a woman who has never had an interest in Adam. This back and forth banter runs on and on for what feels like forever, which left this viewer with a decidedly negative impression of the film. I need not have worried, however, as "Monster Man" soon kicks into high gear with the introduction of two interesting elements. One, some cretin in a monster truck that makes the semi from "Duel" look like a moped arrives on the scene to torment our unfortunate travelers. Predictably, Harley manages to anger this road rager in the waiting--witness what he does to the truck at the gas station--which leads to several frightening encounters on the highway. Two, Harley and Adam pick up a gorgeous hitchhiker named Sarah (Aimee Brooks), whose voluptuous presence and seeming interest in the lovelorn Adam lead to several humorous situations.

From this point, when Sarah and the frightening truck enter the picture, "Monster Man" turns into a nail biting turn towards gruesome horror. Our boys start running into a number of local citizens, most of whom are missing either arms or legs or both. Hmmm. The truck reemerges from time to time, becoming more threatening with each appearance. Well, one thing leads to another, and it isn't too long before Harley and Adam are in the fight of their lives with a close-knit clan that looks like a cross between the wackos from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and the loopy denizens from the television show "The Munsters." When we finally get to meet Mister Monster Man (Michael Bailey Smith), the driver of the aforementioned truck, it's no wonder that Adam and Harley express more than a wee bit of fear. Then there's the atrocity that goes by the name Brother Fred (Joe Goodrich), a mouthy lad sporting an injury that no insurance provider in the world would touch with a ten-foot pole. The third member of this lunatic family, a person with the habit of impersonating Yoda at the most inappropriate times, will remain anonymous here to avoid spoiling the movie. It's quite a trio Adam and his pal must overcome if they are to survive. You'll need to watch the movie if you want to see whether or not they make it through this nightmare.

"Monster Man" is a representative of that ultra-rare specimen in the horror film zoo: the gore/comedy picture. Few films attempt to bridge the gap between giggles and grue, and even fewer make the leap. Director Davis goes for both types of yucks here, and he largely succeeds in pulling it off. Witness Adam's experience with "Yoda," or Harley's penchant for the most outrageous lines, or--heaven help us--the most unfortunate union between a tongue and road kill ever captured on film as proof of this assertion. Repeatedly, Davis coaxes guffaws out of his audience even as he soaks the screen down with sauce. Trucks pound limbs into taffy, eyeballs dangle out of sockets, vehicles mulch bodies, sharp objects slice and dice, and a throat or two cracks a wickedly red grin in this truly disgusting movie. Oh yeah! If you love the red stuff, "Monster Man" is your cup of tea. Heck, if you love movies that look like a million bucks, you'll want to give this one a spin. "Monster Man" looks stylish in a way that belies its miniscule budget, and the pacing really picks up after the first twenty minutes or so. Nearly every element of the movie clicks in just the right way, to the point that the viewer really won't mind that they are watching a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ripoff.

Extras abound on the DVD. Trailers for "Ju-On," "Death Watch," "Open Water," "Stage Beauty" are here to convince you to spend more money on horror DVDs. Supplements specific to the film include a gory animated trailer; a full film commentary with Davis, Jungmann, and Urich; a gag reel; and a nifty behind the scenes feature that shows us Michael Davis is a way over the top personality. Fun. I'm hearing a lot of noise about two "Monster Man" sequels, both directed by Davis, which might find space in our DVD players in the future. I'm looking forward to seeing more from this director. I'm also expecting more gore and more laughs.

I'm not sure why I choose to watch so many of these direct to video slasher films. Most of the time these films will make me question my existence (90 mns spent doing what?) other times my financial wisdom. Well, the reason I waft through piles of cinematic junk is that out of every 5 or 10 or so of these movies I will unearth a gem. Yes folks, "Monster Man" qualifies as such. I wouldn't be surprised if 5 years from now this film becomes a cult classic of sorts and if not well, it deserves to be.

2 college buddies named Harley and Adam go on a road trip through the desert in order to attend a wedding. Everything goes well until they get run off the road by a Monster Truck (or big-wheeler, whatever they call these things). While getting their car tended to in the small redneck town where every hick has either a stump arm or stump leg, they end up picking up a hot hitchhiker babe. As they head back on the road, they will discover to their horror that the Monster Truck is still hot on their chase and wants them to be the next ones to join the land of stumpies...

While I loved this film, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's very original. It abides by many of the routine staples of Road-Trip suspense; a sultry hitchhiker, car troubles, roach motels, road diners&gas stations populated by mindless (or so it seems) hicks. What elevates this picture is the chemistry of the two lead characters and the synergy that manages to protrude from them regardless of the fact they are two completely different individuals. You have shy wimpy Adam, a 25-year old virgin who would be scared of his own shadow, contrasted with Harley, a testosterone-fuelled practical joker. Harley annoyed me at first but I warmed up to him real fast. His endless fratboy jokes about the ins and outs of the female anatomy were very amusing. And best of all would be sexy and mysterious hitchhiker Sarah, a quasi-goth who will not divulge anything from her past. The acting was excellent in this film.

What "Monster Man" does so well is combining two genres, those of horror and comedy. It manages to excite and entertain even in between scenes of carnage due to solid acting and humour from the 3 leads. What is also neat is that unlike most horror/comedy hybrids the horror is not watered down instead this film is very gory and very gruesome with scenes that will appease the hardcore blood n' guts fan. The fact that this film is distributed by Lions Gate probably explains why it's such high-quality for a slasher film. So yes, although this film is trashy and does rip off TCM in several respects I wholeheartedly recommend you watch this now! Bloody good fun.

It's funny. The only reason I even picked this movie up was that a few of us were at Blockbuster and we decided to try and look for the worst movies possible. The cover and info on the back had it looking so bad all I could think of was " Yeah, no way can this be good. " Not only did I watch it 3 times when I rented it, I knew I NEEDED to own it.

It's not so much scary but the gore,comedy, at quite possibly the best monster truck ever made make this a movie to watch. There are also a good amount of high quote-able one liners which are a staple of any good horror type movie.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to movies that are worth buying. It may be low budget but that doesn't mean a movie can't be good. I've watched it about a dozen times and it honestly has just gotten funnier and is still very enjoyable to watch.

As another reviewer said, I randomly picked it up at blockbuster looking for something different and ended up watching this several times. Now I own it. Sure there's a few moments where the gross-out humor is toooooooo much but if you can bare with it the rest is GREAT. Good enough production value (Lions Gate) and two great characters (one of which you might recognize from SEVERAL movies including Not Another Teen Movie). I'd compare it to Idle Hands or something of the sort in the fact that the humor scenes are hilarious and and the scary scenes are really creepy. Oh yeah, GREAT ugly monster on this one, he's a scary lookin' thing. Not for the older audiences probably, but younger viewers might be able to get into this hopefully new cult classic.

If you are on the fence about a low budget horror and happen to read a tagline that says "On this highway the roadkill is HUMAN," you know you have found yourself a winner. Monster Man is one of those films we've seen bits and pieces of the years but never sat down to watch from tap to buzzer until now. A four star rating for the film may seem a little generous to some horror fans, but for us it's just right. State of mind is what this one is all about. If you go into it knowing what to expect you should have a decent time with some good laughs to follow.

We start off with two guys named Adam & Harley taking a road trip to the wedding of a girl they're obsessed with. While traveling they happen to pick up a very cute hitch-hiker by the name of Sarah and stop off at a local bar filled with amputee rednecks. After they thoroughly piss off the locals they hit the road again only to be terrorized by the Monster Man in his monster truck. The truck is like something out of Mad Max, hey dutch, and the driver is like something from another planet. He continues to appear and attempt to take them out while they barely escape. Finally they take matters into their own hands and try to kill the Monster Man before he kills then, and that's when things get really strange.

Overall a gorey, corny, comedy/horror that somehow seems to work just fine. Usually these comedy horror films are way overdone and lose any value about 20 minutes in but this one balanced it right. By no means is Monster Man a great film but it doesn't claim to be. If you go into it knowing what to expect it should be a fun watch for the right viewer.

I really enjoyed watching Monster Man. As a horror movie fan, I was not disappointed at all with this movie. In a nutshell, 2 friends take a road trip and before long, they find themselves trying to be run off the road by the coolest monster truck I've ever seen! Of course, driving this monster truck is a monster also!..... a hideous looking deformed man. When the 2 drop in at a local bar, they find a whole town of freakish people who are all missing limbs. Some are missing arms, some hands, some legs, etc. We learn that monster man is responsible for deformities of these people. So many cool scenes in this movie with alot of gore. Great film for the horror movie/psycho fans. The gore alone and the creepiness of these local people and monster man make this movie well worth seeing. Good job for a low budget film!!

I didnt expect much out of this, I figured it was just another low budget horror flick, but I thought i'd give it a go.

PLOT:
2 guys set out to a wedding in search of one of them trying to stop an x-girlfriend from getting married 'cause he still loves her. But along the way they stop off in a red neck bar and one of them gets drunk and puts down the patrons of the bar. The next thing they know there being chased by some sort of demon in a monster truck. They end up metting a chick, she gets involved and there running for there lives.

Summery:
It's ok for what it is. The whole thing is kind of like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, except there in a car being chased by some kind of Jason Voorhees looking demon in a monster truck, then the end sort of was along the lines of House of 1000 Corpses.

It's ok if you dont expect much, it's more or less taken un-original elements and just changed the situation into something like JoyRide (Road Kill). Might be worth your while to rent it, but i'd recomend you rent it before buying, some might like it, some might not. I didnt find it scary, and I found the opening 15 minutes setting up the fact that the 2 guys have this joking relationship a bit annoying, they could have cut down on that. The middle got interesting and the end of it was more a bloody comedy.

As you can read from the various other reviews, Monster Man is a low budget horror dirge that you're either going to enjoy for what it is or hate it for what it is. The plot synopsis is basically two bickering friends (whose bickering does get quite annoying) are going cross country to stop a wedding, and in the middle of it they get stalked and hunted down by a Road Warrior rip-off monster truck driven by a disfigured monster of a man whom they deem a name that you'll laugh out loud when you hear it. Other than that, there's not much to the plot or story, but that's not the point here. Monster Man works for what it is for the most part, and that's a low budget, blood soaked romp that with it's toungue firmly in cheek and purposely campy all the way. It's not a masterpiece of the genre, but it's not trying to be either. All in all, Monster Man is outrageously offensive and obscenely gorey, which is just what real horror fans are looking for as a reminder of what a real horror film is: not PG-13 or a remake of a Japanese film.

Just when you thought it was safe to make a wrong turn, another mutant redneck is lurking in the winding roads of nowhere. Suprisingly dark humored and layered in blood and gore, this shocker is a tribute to various horror/cult movies. Yes, there is that familiar hot girl hitchhiker which we all know is never good, and yes at times the humor is lame, but the thrills are there. Relentless pursuits, and a clever ending make this rise above fare like last years "Detour." This is going to be a cult classic all its own, and I am certain more sequels will follow. Look for the glorious tribute to "Dead-Alive," "Re-Animatoe,"and even "The Road Warrior." This is Jerry Springer meeting Hershell Gordon Lewis with a dash of John Waters.

Among the hundreds, if not thousands, of crappy straight to dvd horror films out there, you can usually find a diamond among all the crap. This film happens to be one such case.

Adam is going to confess his love for Betty. His pal, Harely, some how sneaks in the backseat to stop him. He eventually is brought along and the movie is going fine. A black hearse passes them by, then Harley makes fun of rednecks and monster trucks, and a monster truck starts chasing them soon after. They pick up a beautiful hitchhiker along the way. Soon after, the monster in the monster truck is chasing them down.

The three main characters are very well done and enjoyable to watch for a cast of unknowns. The man in the monster make up may be the finest villan to ever grace a straight to dvd horror film, I appauld whoever designed it. Sure this film has a few plot holes but it's a very enjoyable film. You wont regret picking this one up.