Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer review

There is something to be said about filmmakers who decides to pay homage to their favorite films by making movies in the exact same way. The people behind JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER were obviously raised on a diet of Sam Raimi, Sean S. Cunningham, Wes Craven and all of the other “Masters of Horror”. And like Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro, they believe in keeping it real with prosthetic effects instead of the overdone and rarely good CGI that most new horror films have embraced.

Jack Brooks is a man who has had a hard time containing his anger ever since he was a little boy and witnessed his parents and little sister get ripped to shreds by some weird Wood Troll. Now his day to day life is full of outbursts of rage over pretty much anything he encounters. While attempting to repair his professor’s water pump and getting a little upset over a stubborn valve, he indirectly causes the uncovering of an ancient evil buried in the front yard. The evil possesses the prof and Jack has to contend with him transforming into a hideous monster during a chemistry class. Most of the students end up becoming monsters as well and Jack, sick and tired of running from his problems, finally finds a way to express himself and release his anger. Luckily his violent rage is only directed at the monsters.

Trevor Matthews stars as Jack Brooks, in a performance reminiscent of Bruce Campbell in EVIL DEAD, if Campbell’s Ash had uncontrollable rage issues. Matthews brings a touch of humor and sympathy to a character that spends most of the film screaming at animate and inanimate objects which the same amount of distaste. His performance pulls you into the film and keeps you wanting to tag along for the ride even though some moments are completely ridiculous and over the top. First time feature filmmaker Jon Knautz does a great job at making things equally gross, entertaining and funny. The film has a few slow moments that hurt the pacing but the final twenty minutes are not to be missed. Robert Englund gives his greatest performance since Freddy Kruger in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and his transformation is an ooze-filled/tentacles-exploding horror fan’s wet dream. There had yet to be a true throwback to the sloppy effects laden horror films of the 80s but JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER has finally filled that void. Matthews and Knautz may just be Canada’s answer to Britain’s Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright and hopefully they will continue to make the kind of films that inspired them to become filmmakers in the first place.

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