'Monster Trucks' Review

The premise of this film is that there is a monster inside of a truck. If you have seen the trailer for this film, you wouldn't be expecting too much from this film. Was I right to not have any hope when going to see this film? Absolutely 

Tripp (Lucas Till) is unsatisfied with his life and only finds joy when working in a car scrapyard. Tripp looks to build a truck so he can leave the town but an accident at a nearby oil drilling area displaces a strange creature that has a taste for oil. The creature makes its way to the scrapyard where it befriends Tripp. Tripp finds a way to get Creech into his truck as the main driving force, giving him a chance to finish his truck. Meanwhile, the creature is being hunted down by the oil company to make sure they don't get shut down.

2016 is almost over and everyone looks to be making up their lists of their best and worst films of the year. Amongst new releases like 'Passengers', 'Collateral Beauty' and even 'Rogue One', Paramount have tried to sneak out their newest film 'Monster Trucks'. As I was thinking about my own worst of the year list, I have held off due to waiting for this - and the other Boxing Day releases - to see if any would sneak in. Spoiler alert, this film will be on the list.

First of all, the story for this movie is absolutely terrible. A monster in a truck is the basic premise for this and what is even more baffling is that it took three people to come up with the story for this film. In saying that, it takes the best part of an hour for the monster to actually become a part of the truck as it builds up uninteresting, unentertaining characters in the process. Films like this amaze me as I really can't understand why a company would waste money on something like this. Even worse when you realise that the budget for this film was $125 million! That's over $75 million more than the budget for Paramount's best film this year 'Arrival' which is astonishing. Paramount must have a lot of money to spare if they can fork out that much for an idea that is quite frankly terrible. Don't get me wrong, the film does have its moments where it is actually pretty funny. But in a so bad it's funny kind of way. A lot of this comes from the lines from some of the actors or inconsistencies within actions of characters which really wasn't the intention.

Lucas Till plays Tripp, a high school senior who sulks all day except for when crushing cars at the scrapyard and working on his truck. To Till's credit, he is probably the best part of this film as he does seem to try- unlike some of the other performances in this film. What lets Till down in the poor script that gives his character some unintentionally hilarious moments and terrible lines of dialogue. There were so many moments during this film where I looked across to my friend who I saw this with and sighed due to how bad the writing in this film was. Jane Levy was fantastic in the disturbing and effective horror 'Don't Breathe' but oh my, she was terrible in this movie. The writing again doesn't help but her delivery was even worse as it was comically bad a lot of the time. Maybe this was just a payday for her - as well as for the likes of Rob Lowe, Danny Glover and Barry Pepper - as the performance was not up to standard at all. The film lacks good characters and the performances are just as bad. When your film is focused on people around a beast that cannot speak, that is a huge problem. 

The film uses both practical and CGI effects to bring the monster's to life in this film and they look awful. The designs are very bland and really aren't that impressive. There are practical effects from the 70's and 80' that look better than what is in this film. What doesn't help the creatures is that there really isn't anything about them. We know that they like oil and that is about it. There is no development with the creatures to make us interested or even care about them. Again, this poses a problem as the film focuses on our protagonists protecting these creatures but there is simply no emotion or attachment to them. Younger ones may enjoy this one a bit more but not a lot due to these creatures not being nearly as fun as intended.

'Monster Trucks' is simply one of the worst films of 2016. The film is filled with poor performances, writing and effects and doesn't deliver on the fun aspect like they intended. There aren't many redeeming qualities with this one and it really isn't worth your time. A very poor film.

Final Verdict = 

So have you seen 'Monster Trucks'? If so, what did you think of the film? I hope that this review was helpful for if you were planning on seeing the film or not. Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my review, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor

'Don't Breathe' Review

2016 has seen a pretty great return for the horror genre with 'The Conjuring 2', 'Lights Out' and 'The Witch' really impressing so far. 'Don't Breathe' provides yet another intriguing premise to the genre and fortunately for the audience, gives an entertaining and very effective thriller.

Rocky (Jane Levy) wants to move to California for the benefit of her daughter and promises to do so as soon as she can. Along with Alex (Dylan Minnette) and Money (Daniel Zovatto), they look to rob a war veteran who has been blinded. The blind man (Stephen Lang) won a court settlement worth $300k after the death of his daughter. Figuring that the job will be easy, they break in an attempt to retrieve the money. They are in for more than they bargained for as they are soon trapped with the blind man who is very dangerous as they also discover a very dark secret.

Horror is having a great 2016 with interesting premise's like 'Don't Breathe' leading the way. The stories are becoming a much larger part rather than just gore fests and lazy jump scares and it really is a great thing to see. The premise is what has intrigued a lot of people and has been the main part of the films marketing campaign. How refreshing is it to see a film taking advantage of its quality to create a decent campaign rather than tropes that others have made very stale recently?

'Don't Breathe' may just be one of the most tense film of the year as there are so many close encounters throughout the film, you are continuously on the edge of your seat. With the three burglars breaking in, they soon realise that the blinded war veteran is a much bigger problem than they anticipated and everything soon turns south. The film constantly looks for new ways for how to create these close encounters and does well to not continuously go back to the same tactics. This keeps the film feeling fresh throughout, creating an entertaining viewing. That's something that the scares in the film deserve credit for too. Most of the scares come from frightening acts and just how scary Stephen Lang is as the blind man. His actions are terrifying and does seem reasonably realistic which is terrifying. This is even more true when the dark twist is revealed and we see a much darker side to the blind man than we had anticipated. There are some jump scares but they are effective and used to good effect such as when the characters are in the dark with the blind man trying to get a hold of the intruders. Refreshing once again to see a horror not rely on cheap tricks to be very effective.

What is also effective is how the film makes you wonder who is in the right here. At first, you are against these robbers as they are breaking into what seems like a harmless mans home for their own personal greed. You don't really see a reason to like them apart from Rocky wanting to create a better life for her daughter. Even once the blind man turns vicious, it seems more than fair enough for him to react this way. However, as the film progresses, we learn more about the blind man who leads you to actually feel and root for the intruders. It does this very cleverly and does not rush as it builds the story magnificently.

Stephen Lang really shines in this movie as the very dangerous blind man. Early on he seems very timid and not a threat at all. His performance is very effective as he does fool you into thinking he may not be a problem and then a quick switch shows him go from clam to crazy, turning him into an unstoppable force. He then is very scary, showing that you a realistic horror villain can be just as threatening. Jane Levy also does well as Rocky who seems to be taken back by the events that have just occurred, reacting very well towards them. She is also very strong throughout the film as she is clever with what she does as well as not being afraid to take action against the blind man. The character of Alex played by Dylan Minnettee seems to have a very fast recovery throughout the movie as he takes a whole load of damage. At times it seems odd that he gets up and moves around as if nothing had happened. This does get a little annoying throughout the movie as its like he's not selling his injuries at all. It does pose a problem for the film and hinders the performance which was fairly solid.

There is a big twist in the film that is very effective but also at the same time puzzling. I won't go into too much detail about it as it may ruin the experience for you but you will be thinking to yourself how it was possible. There isn't much context given to it with no reason to how it happened and that there were no repercussions. It does seem odd that something so significant would go unnoticed with no questioning whatsoever. The lack of explanation seems quite lazy in all honesty as they just skip over it entirely.

Overall, 'Don't Breathe' has continued the good run of horror movies in 2016. A very effective film that does seem scarily realistic and does not seem that far-fetched. That really adds to the film making it that more horrifying. It is worth seeing but if you are squeamish, there will be some parts that will unsettle you.

'Don't Breathe' Final Verdict = 

So have you seen 'Don't Breathe'? If so what did you think of it? I hope that you enjoyed reading this review and hope it helped you decide to see this film or not. Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my review, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor