I must admit that I had somewhat expected or hoped for more than that "Book of Monsters" turned out to be. I was initially enticed by the movie's cover/poster, and thought this might actually be a movie worth watching. I had that particular vibe to it, that it would be an indie movie of sorts that would sneak under the radar and turn out to be rather enjoyable.

Truth of the matter was that the movie was mediocre at best. It should be said that writer Paul Butler definitely tried and put together a fair enough storyline. But director Stewart Sparke just didn't really manage to bring the movie to life in a particular fulfilling manner for me. And the entire movie just felt half-hearted; like a low budget movie with big ambitions.

The story was fairly simple, to the point of being too simple actually, because the audience are never really fully brought into the concept and what is really going on, and why the monsters come to life - except because it being for Sophie's 18th birthday. And as such, then it felt like a crucial and vital part of the movie had been left out.

The characters in the movie were fairly flaccid and most of them lacked personality all together, which meant that you didn't really care if people were mauled, killed or whatever. It was just another cardboard cutout person in the gallery.

The creatures were fairly okay, at least in concept idea. But they definitely bore witness to this not being a massive million dollar budget movie. And again that added to the whole low budget feel that permeated the movie.

All in all fairness, then this felt like a well-accomplished low budget movie. And it definitely felt like the people were having fun making the movie. But when you sit down to watch a proper movie and be properly entertained, you might just find yourself having drawn the short end of the stick here. My rating of "Book of Monsters" is a very mediocre five out of ten stars. The movie came in under my radar and I happened to come across it by sheer random luck. The movie failed to impress me and didn't leave any lasting impression, so it will vanish into oblivion as quietly as it evaded me initially.

BOOK OF MONSTERS is another British indie horror flick heavily indebted to the likes of NIGHT OF THE DEMONS et al. About the only thing it has going for it is the female-focused cast which makes a refreshing change from the norm. Unfortunately, the execution and scripting are both bog standard and offer up nothing in the way of surprises, while the cheapo special effects are laughable in the wrong way. The whole thing plays out with a kind of tired predictability and is neither funny nor outrageous enough to make an impression; instead, I found it largely bland.

Book of Monsters is a throwback to those low budget horror movies of the 1980s. This one has gore and some humour.

Sophie is celebrating her 18th birthday with a party thrown by her friends while her dad is out.

Sophie has had a tough time since the death of her mother when she was a child. She thinks it was a monster that killed her mother Her friends hope this party can be used by Sophie to make out with the girl she has a crush on.

However someone opens the Book of Monsters that Sophie's mother used to read from. It unleashes a host of monsters that commit slaughter on the party guests.

This is an unpretentious ultra low budget British splatter flick. It really brings in mind the early works of the likes of John Carpenter, Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson.

It helps that despite the blood and body parts, it often mixes the horror with some broad British humour. It also has some girl power. Some of the acting is a bit ropey though.