15/49
Monster: It’s too bad you conked out
Story
After her life falls apart, soft-spoken actress Laura Franco finds her voice again when she meets a terrifying, yet weirdly charming Monster living in her closet. A romantic-comedy-horror film about falling in love with your inner rage.. Filmed at The Ritz and mostly in New Jersey. I have this pretty neat monster routine I do now. I think you’d find it to be very, well, scary.. Referenced in Amanda the Jedi Show: The BEST and Weirdest Movies you (mostly) Haven't Seen Yet | Love Lies Bleeding (2024). I saw this as the Regal Mystery Movie on October, 21, 2024.Laura Franco- Melissa Barrera-This is my first time seeing her and I got to say, it was a mixed bag. At first, I thought she did a great job of bringing her characters pain and depression to life. But as the movie went on, it began to feel melodramatic. The amount of whining became almost unbearable. I will say that I greatly enjoyed the parts when she sang, especially in the finale.Monster-Tommy Dewey – Now the monster doesn’t have a real name, just Monster.
It really detracted from the performance
Tommy Dewey plays the monster like an obnoxious frat boy who occasionally has moments of tenderness. Sure, he might read Shakespeare and play the piano, but he’ll be back to burping and making a mess in no time. The Monsters speech mannerisms felt like a poor Ryan Reynolds/Deadpool impersonation most of the time. It felt like he was being sarcastic just to be sarcastic. The supporting cast is full of generic stereotypical characters you would find in any romcom. None of their performances were very memorable. And frankly, almost everyone we meet is pretty unlikable. Comparisons to Lisa Frankenstein are unfair. The only similarity I found between the two was a sad girl and a monster. While Lisa Frankenstein had a fully fleshed out plot with a very distinct style, Your Monster was more uneven and couldn’t find its footing. It didn't lean into its "claimed" genre of horror romcom.
Her performance felt real here
Any instances of horror were downplayed, often with a corny one liner afterwards. I feel like this movie being advertised as horror is a bait and switch. But its also labeled as a Romcom, or romantic comedy. And it was pretty light on the comedy too. There was some physical humor that was enjoyable. Like Laura just gorging herself on cookies and cake. Or having Monster scurry under the bed at nighttime. The plot started out pretty strong. Melissa Barrera plays the role of depressed patient very well. But as the movie dragged on, it felt like her character was actively refusing to grow. Why should I, the viewer, care about this character that seems unwilling to move forward?
Visuals were basic
The rest of the plot moves forward with a familiar tone. The pacing felt really slow. The film dragged between the movie’s pivotal scenes. There was also quite a bit of melodrama. She had this huge epiphany in the park, then she flounders! Like Get it together girl! When she FINALLY sets a plan in motion for revenge, the movie ends shortly after. (Spoiler) The love making scene was out of place, poorly shot, poorly acted, and nonsense. The characters were friendly not romantic and had ZERO chemistry. Monsters face was stiff as a board, leading Tommy Dewey to over act to compensate. Monsters body hair was wildly inconsistent.
Open-ended conclusion makes the audience guess
Plus he looked like a Geico Caveman. The best part of the movie was the finale at the Broadway play. It’s too bad it took so long to get there and ended abruptly afterwards. This movie probably sounded a lot better on paper. A horror romantic comedy without the horror, romance, or comedy. A very middle of the road film, 5/10. Unremarkable.–GremlinLord615 – Video version on YT.