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)

A fantastic throwback to 50's horror and Army of Darkness.

Sometimes you see a movie at the video store and you decided to take a chance on it, usually you're stuck with a bad movie and out a couple bucks, not the case with Monster Slayer.

Jack seems to be a fairly regular guy, working a thankless job and dating a whiny college girl. But Jack is not a regular guy, when he was a kid he witnessed a terrible tragedy, a tragedy he blames himself for and that fuels his episodes of rage. While doing a job for his science teacher, Professor Crowley (Robert Englund), Jack unintentionally awakens an ancient evil. Soon his entire science class is in mortal danger.

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer is a slow building monster movie, that really allows the character of Jack to be explored before the crap hits the fan. After the opening scene we don't see a monster for about 2/3 of the movie. But that's fine because the last third makes up for it.

Jack Brooks also does something rarely seen today, effective use of prosthetics. Instead of relying on cheesy cgi like this weeks Sci-Fi original, this movie uses well made monster make up to create realistic hell spawn.

The acting is fantastic for a movie of this level, Trevor Matthews does a fantastic job as the hero. Rachel Skarsten is terrifically annoying and James A. Woods plays the stereotypical wanna be philosopher college kid who smokes too much weed, perfectly.

While this movie is made in the spirit of Army of Darkness, you will not confuse the two movies. Jack Brooks is much more serious, but not too serious. Jack Brooks doesn't throw out classic one liners, or is too cocky for his own good. Jack is just a guy with a lot of anger issues who steps up when he's needed the most.