[Jack Brooks:Monster Slayer]
Plot:No one would ever believe what happened the night Jack Brooks witnessed the brutal murder of his family. His life destroyed, all he has left is an unquenchable fury he's now fighting to control. Now the local plumber, Jack continuously struggles with his memories as his life becomes a downward spiral until his girlfriend Eve convinces him to attend night classes. Little does he know that in that dank, tiresome classroom, his destiny awaits. Evil awakens as Jack unknowingly disturbs the grounds surrounding Professor Crowley 's dilapidated old home. Lured by this ancient demonic power, Crowley discovers a monstrous black heart that quickly forces its way into him. Possessed by the heart now beating in his chest, the Professor starts a slow, gruesome, transformation... One night, as Crowley bursts into a creature of legends, Jack finally discovers the true purpose of his rage as he attempts to save the lives of his classmates and learns that you can't run from your past.

Cast:Trevor Matthews, Robert Englund, Rachel Skarsten, James A. Woods, Daniel Kash, Ashley Bryant, Stefanie Drummond, Meghanne Kessels, David Fox, Meg Charette, Krystin Butcher, Andrew Butcher, Simon Rainville, Matthew Stefiuk, Austin Macdonald.

My Thoughts:Better and more creative than the average creature-feature.

Review:Jack Brooks:Monster Slayer" concerns a plumber named Jack Brooks, who has a bad temper, among many other problems in his life. While taking night classes, he is asked to fix his one of his professor's (Robert Englund) sink pipes in his backyard. He fixes the pipe, but it's then revealed that there's a hole in the ground of the professor's backyard. A hole which houses something evil. The professor soon decides to dig up whatever is inside the hole, and discovers that it's a black heart.

Upon further examination, the heart leaps inside his body, and slowly begins to transform the professor into a carnivourous being who craves food 24/7...but that's not all it's doing to him. It's also transforming him into a full-fledged monster, and soon his cravings move on from food to human and animal flesh. Can Jack Brooks stop the professor post-full-metamorphosis, before he turns the entire town into an army of monsters much like himself?

Most creature features these days run on the same plot. Somebody is fucking around in a science lab, creates a monstrosity, and said monstrosity goes on a killing spree.....running amok until the army has to come and put it down, or the entire town is bombed back to the stone age as part of a "kill a few to save the many" campaign. But "Jack Brooks:Monster Slayer", while cheesy in many ways....is alot smarter, and more different in the way that it introduces it's creatures. That small detail alone makes the film worth watching, and not a regrettable experience.

It's nice to know that in the creature feature subgenre....a subgenre which has been bogged down for some time, ever since "Jeepers Creepers" kind of went silent, there's still original ideas. "The Host", the Korean monster movie, "Cloverfield"...JJ Abrams "monster attacks New York" film, and now "Jack Brooks"....give me some new hope for this subgenre of horror film. Jack Brooks himself played by one Trevor Matthews is also an interesting character to watch develop on screen.

Matthews plays the character very well, and Brooks goes from being an angry (yet funny and likeable in some ways), blue-collar guy...into being a hero who eventually, because of the situation he's been thrust into...has to focus his anger and aggression at the new villains who have invaded his town, and more importatnly his life. He's a funny character because everyone, including his extremely annoying girlfriend (Skarsten)...is always trying to get him to chill out, and not be so angry all of the time. But Jack constantly pushes back, because he doesn't want to calm down, and he's sick of people trying to get him to chill the fuck out.

Yet at the same time, he still cares enough about their opinions and his relationship with his girlfriend to seek anger management in secrecy, and without their knowledge. So you see, he's a very complex guy...not the type of character who most people are used to seeing in indie horror films...a genre where any character who is beyond one-dimensional is a rareity. But when the professor finally changes into a full-fledged creature, tentacles, teeth, slobber and all...Jack's anger and aggression become very useful, and he's motivated to try and save the day by said anger, as well as a very traumatic life-changing experience from his childhood which is played out in a flashback early on in the film.

The creature fx in "Jack Brooks" is also very good, not as much for the monsters as it is THE monster though. The people in the film who are turned into monsters have the standard monster face makeup fx, but the monster Englund's character morphs into near the finale of the movie is a very nicely grotesque specimen. Not only does it look mean and nasty, but it's got some interesting abilities as well.

The finale of "Jack Brooks" is it's best offering of everything from performances, to gore, to monster guts, and everything else. The film really finishes strong and sports an awesome final shot as well. "Jack Brooks:Monster Slayer" is an enjoyable creature feature for horror fans looking for something different from the A-typical monster movie.

Positives:Good performances by mostly everyone, especially Matthews. Great creature fx, strong finale, and creative story.

Negatives:Skarsten overdoes the annoying girlfriend role a tad bit too much sometimes.

Overall:Three out of four stars.





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