THE MONSTER is a follow-up movie from the guy who directed and wrote THE STRANGERS and like that film it suffers from very poor and undistinguished writing. The direction is better, but still nothing special, and the budget is very low here. Small scale films such as this need lots of suspense and incident to keep them interesting; the similarly-plotted SPLINTER is an all time favourite of mine, which shows it can be done.

THE MONSTER, on the other hand, is entirely weak. Both mother and daughter characters are unsympathetic and their dialogue is pathetic; the early scene with the repeated swearing is an absolute joke. What this film does boast is an excellent and very creeply-looking monster, one of the best I've seen in a low budget movie. It's just a shame there's not a proper film to feature it in.

"The Monster" is an American 90-minute movie from 2016 and there is some talk about this film because it is a relatively recent release. The writer and director is Bryan Bertino and it his his third effort as a filmmaker in these two positions (and producing as well). The most known cast member is Zoe Kazan, who plays one of the two protagonists. Scott Speedman may also be known to some. This movie here is a mix of family drama and horror. The mother (who lives separated from the father) is an alcohol addict and she realizes she needs to change something in order to lead a normal life with her daughter again. But first of all she takes her kid to her father for the weekend. It is pretty late and dark already and you probably guess what that means. Yep, that's where the horror starts. When in the car the two hit an animal and it turns out it is a wolf. As the car gets damaged they call for help and wait for this help to arrive. But things take a turn for the dark when the previously strongly bleeding creature is no longer lying on the road, but has disappeared. These moments of mystery where also the best parts of the film in my opinion. And they are the reason why I give this film more than a 4/10. Later on, when the monster is visible all the time (looks pretty generic, but it's fine I guess),especially when the ambulance arrives, the film gets worse fairly quickly. The scenes with the missing repairman are still fairly solid. And sadly, at the very end, it becomes absurd when the helpless small daughter kills the monster that killed so many much stronger people before that. It's already fairly unrealistic that the mother is able to fight it for so long to be honest. So all in all these 1.5 hours had some ups (mostly first half) and some downs (mostly second half). Also about the mother-daughter relationship, I was not too impressed with this part of the plot. It seems the film tries to be more relevant and important and deep than it actually is and I could have done without these, even if the film had a runtime of under 80 minutes that way. I hope for his next project, Bertino goes mostly for mystery as these segments with the two stuck in the car were when the film was at its best and I was on the edge of my seat. It's probably a decent watch for horror film enthusiasts, but I am not too eager to suggest it to everybody else that don't fit this description. Cautious thumbs-up.

Kathy (Zoe Kazan) is the alcoholic and smoking addicted mother of the young, but mature teenager Lizzy (Ella Ballentine). They live together since Kathy's husband Roy (Scott Speedman) left her, and she neglects her daughter. Kathy is supposed to drive Lizzy to her father's home in the morning, but she sleeps until late afternoon and they have to travel during a rainy night. While driving through a lonely road through the woods, Kathy hits a wolf that breaks her car, leaving them stranded on the empty road. They call 911 and while waiting for the tow truck and an ambulance, the wolf disappears from the road. When the tow truck arrives, the mechanic Jesse (Aaron Douglas) tells that he needs to fix the axle and an oil leakage to tow her car. While repairing the vehicle, a monster attacks him but neither Kathy nor Lizzy note. When they seek Jesse out, they realize that they are not alone in the spot. Further, Kathy learns that monsters do exist. Will they be rescued on time?

"The Monster" is an atmospheric, tense and melancholic low-budget horror movie. The dramatic story is supported by top-notch performances of Ella Ballentine and Zoe Kazan and a beautiful and sad cinematography. Scott Speedman participation is limited to a short cameo only to give his name to the credits. The slow-paced plot helps to create the creepy atmosphere and to show the relationship of Kathy and Lizzy. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available