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:

2 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:

Trevor Matthews and Jon Knautz thought of the idea for 'Jack' while making up horror stories at Trevor's cottage in the 1000 Islands near Kingston, Ontario.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The sign on the desk of Dr. Silverstein, Jack Brooks' shrink, misspells "counselor" as "councilor."

Movie Connections:

Followed by Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer II (2010)

Way too much plumbing; not nearly enough monster slaying.

If there's one thing I've learnt from watching George Romero's Creepshow, it's that if you stumble upon an mysterious old crate that someone has obviously gone to a lot of effort to hide, just leave well alone: there's probably something nasty inside.

Obviously, Professor Gordon Crowley, Robert Englund's character in 'Jack Brooks, Monster Slayer' isn't a Romero fan, 'cos he busts open the old wooden box he finds buried in his yard, only to discover—surprise, surprise—an ancient demon that possesses his body (initially causing him to eat and vomit rather a lot).

When the demon eventually erupts from Crowley's body during chemistry class and begins to transform the students into hellish, flesh-tearing beasts, it's up to plumber Jack Brooks (Trevor Matthews) to try and stop the foul creatures, armed only with a length of pipe and fuelled by a lifelong hatred of all things monstrous!.

The DVD packaging for Jon Knautz's low-budget monster flick promises one hell of a fun ride, offering cheesy thrills and spills of the kind one might expect from your average 80s creature feature (toothy critters, rubber monster suits, gruesome gore, and absolutely no CGI!)—and for the last 15 minutes, that's exactly what viewers get: non-stop splattery effects; a silly, tentacled Jabba-style demon thingy; and mucho macho monster mashing!

It's a shame, then, that the rest of the film's running time—a massive 70 minutes or so—is mostly spent following Jack as he goes about his boring, everyday business: plumbing, visiting his shrink, going to chemistry class, and upsetting his girlfriend. If you think you might enjoy a film that focuses primarily on coping with childhood trauma and anger management, buying spare boiler valves from a hardware shop, and the chemical properties of Sodium, then this is the film for you; but if it's a massive dose of monster mayhem you're after, then I'd advise looking elsewhere!