Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Jon Knautz

Writers:

John Ainslie (screenplay)
John Ainslie (story)

Release Date:

19 November 2008 (Philippines)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

...I used to be a plumber

Plot:

As a child Jack Brooks witnessed the brutal murder of his family. Now a young man he struggles with a pestering girlfriend...

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Flashback Sequence | Bitten Hand | Panic Attack | Smashed Skull

Awards:

7 wins

Cast

Robert Englund	...	Professor Gordon Crowley
Trevor Matthews	...	Jack Brooks / Forest Troll
Daniel Kash	...	Counselor Silverstein
David Fox	...	Howard
Dean Hawes	...	Emmet
Rachel Skarsten	...	Eve
James A. Woods	...	John
Ashley Bryant	...	Kristy
Stefanie Drummond	...	Janice
Chad Harber	...	Pat
Patrick Henry	...	Trevor
Meghanne Kessels	...	Suzy
Meg Charette	...	Erica
Kristyn Butcher	...	Celia
Andrew Butcher	...	Raymond

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and gore, and for language.

Runtime:

85 min | Argentina:90 min (Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre Film Festival)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Australia:MA | Australia:MA (2008) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB)

Filming Locations:

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Brookstreet Pictures

Trivia:

This is Jon Knautz's first feature film.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The sign on the desk of Dr. Silverstein, Jack Brooks' shrink, misspells "counselor" as "councilor". (Despite various international spellings, a "councilor" is still someone who works for the council, and a "counselor" is someone who counsels.)

Movie Connections:

Followed by Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer II (2010)

Mad, Mad Monster Party!

The ambitions of director Jon Knautz and his entire cast & crew were obviously limited, but nevertheless admirable. All they ever intended to do was bring homage to the glorious horror decade of the 80's and make a nonsensical movie with clichéd themes, stereotypical characters and over-the-top gooey make-up effects reminiscent to the movies the young filmmakers grew up with, like "The Evil Dead" and "Demons". I saw this film at the Belgian Fantasy Film Festival, were it fulfilled the role of ideal midnight movie crowd-pleaser. "Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" offers plenty of splatter, absurdly crude humor, identifiable anti-hero characters, silly story lines and – last not least – Robert Englund himself in another terrific supportive B-role. Jack Brooks is an ordinary twenty-something man, working as a plumber during the day and attending chemistry classes in the evening in order to reach a more valuable certificate. He suffers from one major problem, though. Ever since he helplessly witnessed his family getting butchered by a forest monster as a child, Jack can't control his anger and regularly suffers from aggressive outbursts. When his teacher, Professor Crowley, gradually transforms into a monstrous entity after a plumbing job gone awry, Jack comes to realize the monster slaying business is exactly the type of anger management he needed. "Monster Slayer" is pretty weak in the plotting department, as you can see, but this widely gets compensated by the enthusiast spirit and determination of everybody involved in the production. The film starts off a little slow and hesitant, but once Prof Crowley starts undergoing his transformation, there's no more stopping the camp and cheese! You can clearly notice how genre veteran Robert Englund enjoyed helping out the young crew and the make-up department seemingly just received a carte-blanche. The monster designs and demonic grimaces are delightfully cheesy and gross, just like they were in the 1980's, and the film constantly remains comical and light-headed in spite of the gory bloodshed. Trevor Matthews is terrific as the reluctant Bruce "Ash" Campbell typed horror Savior and he receives good support from various other young and (still) unknown players. "Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" is a totally unpretentious and entertaining throwback to B-cinema, and even though it'll never be regarded as a classic, it's warmly recommended viewing for all fans of the genre.