This year has been stuffed solid with alien movies and movies made for very little moolah. Most recently we had Skyline which was made for a few bags of grain and now we have Monsters, which looks like it was made for $30 mill (at least) but in reality, Gareth Edwards made this for a few bags of grain as well, and boy, is it leaps and bounds ahead of Skyline.
A few years ago, NASA discovered the possibility of alien life in our solar system. So as opposed to sending a Facebook friend request, they sent a probe to collect some samples. That particular probe lost the will to live and crashed upon re-entry over Central America. Shortly afterwards, new life forms began appearing and parts of Central America were quarantined and classed as “Infected Zones”. The military attempt to control the creatures that thunder about the place, but with little success. In the midst of all this, a journalist must escort his bosses daughter back to the US border. And, due to a nature of events via trains and ferries they have no option but to wade through the Infected Zone and risk their lives as some of the more bizarre looking Aliens you’ll see (on occasion, there’s not really a full reveal until the final chapter) go plodding around the place maiming and killing as they go. 
Like alot of the great “monster” movies that have gone before it, Monsters doesn’t show you very much, of the actual Monsters. On occasion you’ll see a tentacle or a leg, but it’s not until the very end that you get to really see what the cast have been trying to avoid. And it’s certainly quite a symbolic reveal, which I won’t mention for fear of spoilers. Speaking of the cast, Scoot McNairy (Herbie Fully Loaded!!!) and Whitney Able (Love and Mary!!!) do a pretty damn fine job of keeping the audience engrossed and engaged. There does really seem to be genuine chemistry and quality performances from the two leads as they gradually (albeit predictably) realise this might not be just an escort mission home. Whats more impressive, is once you realise the actors were given a general outline and just interacted with one another and other cast members (which are not all actors)and more or less fly by the seat of their pants. What’s also equally impressive ,is the fact that the movie was shot using Sony EX3 “off the shelf” cameras and the entire crew was made up of two people. As a matter of fact, down the editors and visual effects, it was all off the shelf. And Monsters is far removed from “off the shelf”.
So much has been made about the way this movie was shot and how little it cost that it has almost overshadowed the actual movie itself. I do believe, the cost of a movie should have no bearing on the audience. A good movie is a good movie, regardless. A good story is a good story, regardless. And Monsters is all of the above. With the hype surrounding it, for the above reasons, it has got a lot to live up to, and whilst it’s a tiny bit predictable on occasion it is another refreshing change of the current crop of stuff that’s out there!
For any would be film-makers out there, this is how it’s done! For any movie fans out there, you owe it to yourself to see this raw, emotional and powerful piece of film! Incredibly enjoyable!
