JACK BROOKS MONSTER SLAYER
Fighting monsters. What more do you need?
Available on DVD from September 29th priced at £9.98 The title of this foray into 80s-style splatter pretty much says it all. Pride & Prejudice it aint (though frankly Id pay to see a film called Mr Darcy Monster Slayer). But while Jack Brooks dizzily twists into a world of Neanderthal trolls, Cyclopes and possessed professors, the film is, weirdly enough, too serious for its own good. Jack Brooks (Trevor Matthews) is a 30-something plumber with anger management issues. I broke a bottle over my head once because I couldnt open it he confesses to his therapist. His life is going nowhere. Things change however when Jacks night school teacher (Robert Englund) morphs into a puke-stained demon who transforms his students into zombie slaves. Realising he has a job to do, Jack grabs a wrench and heads into the High School for some monster slaying action. The film owes much to the unhinged mayhem of early Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi. Director Jon Knautzs camera tracks, pans and tilts with demented, Evil Dead-style frenzy (theres even a Raimiesque tooling up sequence that replaces a chainsaw for a plunger) and the film contains countless scenes of grotesque body horror. Brains splatter, intestines are chewed and students are gobbled up by a giant tentacled monster that is part Jabba the Hutt, part Lionels mum from Braindead (only without the sticky oedipal subtext). Knuatzs insistence on avoiding CGI is perhaps the movies trump card and the visceral power of Effects Man David Scoffs monsters (the slimy professor, the boil infested zombies) takes the film to another level. Yet while both Jackson and Raimi revelled in the comic book absurdity of their gloop, Knautz, for the most part, plays it straight. For the first hour the mayhem is restrained and instead focuses on a sober character study of the titular hero. We see him struggle with his inner rage, attend therapy sessions and bicker with his self-obsessed girlfriend. Knautz tries hard to ground his film in the real world (theres some psychobabble about repressed trauma) but this sits awkwardly next to the baroque monsters seen elsewhere. As the lead Trevor Matthews adds to this reality, but perhaps an absurd, loony tune zaniness (a la Bruce Campbell) would have been more fitting. Jack instead, is a bit too much like an angsty, testosterone-fuelled Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And who needs that? Veteran actor Robert Englund (hes Freddie Kruger, for anyone who avoids bad dreams) is closer to the mark with a vaudevillian portrayal of a man possessed by a demon. As he throws himself into doors and prat-falls in a blood-stained lab coat, we see not only a skilled comedian at work, but an actor who perfectly understands the craziness of the film's premise. Though Jack Brooks Monster Slayer never reaches the manic peaks it aspires to, there is still a lot to enjoy here. Indeed, the slow build-up, and the fact that this is Jacks first battle with ghouls, gives it the feel of a superhero origin story. Ratchet up the absurdity next time and Jack Brooks Monster Slayer 2 could finally live up to its kick-ass title. Bonus Features An exhaustive array of special features include a 50 minute behind-the-scenes documentary, feaurettes focusing on David Scoffs special effects, Ryan Shores score (which was conducted in Slovakia), footage from the October 2007 World Premiere at the Stiges Film Festival, deleted scenes, a trailer and an audio commentary with Knautz, Matthews, producer Patrick White and composer Shore. Best of all is the inclusion of low budget short by the Brookstreet team (as theyre collectively known) entitled Teen Massacre. The film is another gonzo splurge into Raimiland and indulges in the kind of seat-of-your-pants idiocy perhaps missing from the feature. As this werent enough, Teen Massacre gets its own making of and audio commentary. Overall Although a little straight-faced and derivative of 80s horror classics (watch out for nods to Creepshow and The Fly) Jack Brooks is none-the-less an enjoyable film debut from director Knautz. After all, its about fighting monsters. What more do you need?
rating: 3