Topping the list of monster movies that ought to be better known is this low-budget Canadian effort that features Robert Englund as a Professor who transforms into a creature after being possessed by an ancient evil. Fortunately, one of his students is Jack Brooks (Trevor Matthews), an erstwhile plumber who has been in Anger Management since a one-eyed beast murdered his family years earlier. When Englund starts eating his own pupils, Jacks just the right person to swing into action and save the day. Eccentric, inventive and (at times) very funny, Jon Knautzs film feels like a set-up for a franchise (Jack doesnt become the Monster Slayer until the final third), and its too bad that those films never materialized because the movie provides a more solid foundation for a series than either Insidious or Paranormal Activity. Theres imagination at work here, and at no point does anyone watch a video of a door opening by itself.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
