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Main > Movies > Horror Movies > The Monster Club

Pitch Black

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Welcome to Bob's Movie Reviews for Horror Movies, your online source for information on everything imaginative.

The Monster Club

Horror writer R. Chetwynd-Hayes has a run in with a vampire named Eramus.  Eramus takes the writer to a special club, The Monster Club.  At the club, between entertainment acts, the two discuss monster genealogy and the writer learns of three chilling tales of true monsters.  The first is of a creature called a Shadmock.  What does a Shadmock do?  It whistles.  That doesn't sound scary until the story unfolds.  Then a film producer shows a preview of his childhood story on film, involving his father the vampire.  The third tale is about a film director looking for a location to shoot who stumbles into a village that he shouldn't have.

Grilled cheese lovers unite!  The Monster Club is rightly referred to as having its tongue firmly planted in its cheek.  This is a 1980 film made in the 60's style.  There is little to no violence, and very limited gore.  That said, the bit there is is still pretty spectacular special effects.  The writer, based on the real British author who wrote the book, is played by horror staple John Carradine.  Eramus is played by horror legend Vincent Price.  There is a host of other older horror stars.  Considering the purposeful camp and other eccentricities the acting is pretty good.  The directing is pretty cutting edge 80s styles for the first year of the decade.

The first story in the anthology is by far the scariest.  It's downright chilling and a definite favourite.  In fact, for myself it was the only thing I distinctly remembered (from twenty years ago) besides the end of the film.  It is a classic style tale with a bit of a twist.  It kept me gushing about the film for all that time.  The second story stars Donald Pleasence with all of his usual intensity, and is sort of funny.  It has a wild and almost outrageously heavy-handed musical score.  The third story is extremely atmospheric and leaves a lasting impression of the colour grey.  The overlaying story of the vampire and the writer is not bad.  It has some witty repartee.  The entertainment in the club is very interesting.

The musical score throughout is good.  It's mostly pure 80's stuff, and a bit over the top on occasion.  The lyrical soundtrack is mostly provided by bands on the club's stage.  They have some very early punk music.  The lyrics are often pun filled, such as in "Sucker for Your Love".  Some have a definite music video feel in their direction.  The makeup effects in the stories are fairly good if a bit limited.  In the club scenes there are a lot of rubber mask monsters though.  The interior sets in the film are good throughout, as are the exterior locations.  The Monster Club is everything excellent I remembered about it, a glorious, enduring classic.

DVD NOTES: The Monster Club DVD has Interactive Menus, Production Notes, a Trailer for the film, Biographies, a Stills Gallery, a Commentary Track, Scene Access, and unmentioned on the back of the box, the film's soundtrack for its special features.  The video is an excellent transfer considering it's age and the fact the disc before playing the movie says it did not come from the original source stock.  The picture is a little soft, but there is minimal grain.  The dark scenes are really really good.  There is the occasionally white flash in a small part of the picture that is familiar to older films.  The audio quality is good though it is mono.  The sound level is fairly consistent so that you can hear the dialogue but not be blasted by the music or sound effects.  This DVD has been long awaited, and with its low price it's worth every penny.  The Monster Club is an awesome movie and a pretty excellent DVD.

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All ideas, opinions, and information are from the reviewer and are not representative of any company or group involved with the creators and/or staff of the materials being reviewed.

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