Dedfest '11: Doing the Monster Bash ... or is it the Mash?: A Movie Review

Director/writer: Jesse T. Cook

Director Jesse T. Cook’s Monster Brawl does not try to be innovative. Instead, he blends a bit of the grindhouse tradition with comedy and horror. Repeated viewings of this film may not be as great, but this movie may work as one of those cult products to screen once every Halloween with new buddies from work, or with new converts to the horror scene. That way, at least this film can stay fresh for new crowds.

Although very formulaic, this movie at least offers a very simple structure before each slugfest begins. This pay-per-view style product combines three parts World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) style direction and storytelling with one part "MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch" style commentary (Dave Foley and Art Hindle are the commentators, but they don’t quite hold the same kind of candle as the humourous antics from Nick Diamond and Johnny Gomez). Toss in one-quarter video-game ala Mortal Kombat (Lance Henriksen provides for some brilliant finishing move announcements) and that is this movie in a nutshell.

The laughs are genuinely good and the fights are ridiculously tame. If there was more claymation Deathmatch level gore, this film would stand out as spectacular. Instead, the only bloodshed is when hearts are being ripped out, or some poor creature’s head gets torn asunder. Close, but no cigar. There’s some carnage going on, but the ring is cleaned up between matches. To leave the corpses where they lay would be far more interesting than cutting to the next intro for the next match.

Other fights include a human sized Cyclops fighting the Witch Bitch, The Mummy combating the Lady Vampire, and Frankenstein going up against the Zombie. But wait, two zombies? Is there favoritism by the director already? Technically, the zombie and mummy are the same, and with the walking dead also rising from the grave to take sides, yes, who wins has been decided. But for the final match of the night, it is the battle of two giants. Kevin Nash, of WWE fame, is involved, but to tell all would ruin the best part.

Nash does a good job at playing a tough as guts Colonel Crookshank. He’s basically a bit player on a small stage, but when he gets offed, he certainly will come back in true WWE fashion and wreck vengeance upon all who crosses his path.

Too bad WWE’s The Undertaker was not contracted for this film. His appearance can make for a much more interesting and fun movie, but that is intellectual property that WWE may not be so easy to release across other mediums. Just look at the ratings dive that "Poltergeist, the Legacy" season four took when he was put in to save the show.

Production-wise, there are some good moments. They come from the other production units who were tasked in filming each monster’s introduction, and their lead-up to the fight of the century. The better segments come from the Richard Attenborough like introduction of Swamp Gut, their nod to the Swamp Thing, and even Doctor Frankenstein’s introduction to the Monster. Cook at least gets some facts right about this origin tale, but as for not including certain classic monsters from the roster—namely the Ghost of Christmas Future, the Alien from outer space and the Demon from the nether realms—well, this monster mash is not complete. Crookshank is more or less the psycho killer.The final shot in this film does have that “Qu'est-ce que c'est?” moment, but if that means a sequel, no word has been announced as for when or if that will ever happen.

In where this film goes, it easily fits in the cult film genre. As for how much of a smash it will make in the film festival and video market, this product is too new to tell. Give it ten years, and it might stick around. Someone has to add to the carnage.

Overall: 7 out of 10.

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Posted in: 2011,2011 release,action,action adventure movie preview,action thriller movie preview,comedy,creature,creature feature,horror,mummy movie still,undead,zombie