Review: Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer

This was a weird movie. Not that it didn't make any sense, just that it had the potential, but slipped.

The movie is about this guy, a plumber, Jack Brooks. Plumber by night, college student by day. He has major anger issues, has his entire life after a camping accident in the woods which left his sister and parents dead after being attacked by a troll. He grows up without a family in his tiny town, going day by day doing what he can to get by. Putting up with his annoying girlfriend, fixing leaky pipes in exchange for egg rolls, and all the while his professor is taken over by a demon of sorts.

All of that took me about 2 minutes to write. But it takes the movie about 1 hour and 10 minutes to describe and get to. We don't see any real mayhem begin until around the 1 hour and 10 minute mark. And no monster slaying goes down until around the 1 hour and 15 minute mark. And sadly, the movie is only about 1 hour and 25 minutes. So you really only get 10 minutes of what you came for.

Now I am all for character development, but that can be a tricky thing in horror movies. When I get a movie that reads, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, I expect to be watching a movie about a guy kicking some serious monster ass. I get that but it takes almost the whole movie to get there. Which is why it's weird. Because if a sequel does come out, it's all set to go. And a sequel will be exactly what I was hoping the first one would be. And yes there are talks of a sequel thankfully.

Despite it being full of no names besides Robert Englund, the acting is pretty decent. The gore is great. And there is NO CGI!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! The less CGI in horror movies the better. This movie pays homage to Ray Harryhausen, with the monster we see at the start of the film. The first thing I thought of was Sinbad when I saw it. Other than that, you can tell that Demons and The Evil Dead are a heavy influence on the makers of this movie. The demons running around causing havoc are very, Demons like. And of course, Jack Brooks is no Ash, but since we have no current Ash, Jack Brooks will do just fine.

Over time, this movie will grow on me. I have a feeling the sequel will be much better, which will make me enjoy this movie even more and I will end up with both on my DVD shelf. I recommend this movie, just be aware that this movie is purely set up for an ass kicking sequel we are sure to get.

7/10