Not a lot of reviews of this one and it's a must-see for any Meyer fan as it is almost eerily reminiscent of the master at his best, so I'll add my opinion. Basically this is an Australian "Faster Pussycat" with 50s B-movie monsters thrown in. Despite a tiny budget, it's a lovingly crafted homage, which manages to capture the laid-back, slightly random atmosphere, mannered acting and general lack of morality of the original. The big difference: Meyer's trio of hellcats don't mind who gets hurt or killed along the way; but these three positively enjoy the carnage. The way they transform from sociopath bitches to front-line heroes when the monster attacks is a lovely touch.There's no sex or nudity, not a huge amount of tension but bags of style and plenty of dismemberment and gore. The four main female actors, especially singer, model and photographer, Nelli Scarlet in the leading role, look perfect in their parts and do a good job on the acting side despite having almost no experience. The guy in the wheelchair is also fine. The rather quirky direction and script, minimal storyline, etc. may seem strange to some, but, while this can't claim to be a great movie, it's a carefully-put-together piece of art. The pace never flags, with fun, violence and action all the way.Those reviewers who complained about, for example, the laughably awful special effects, haven't understood what is intended here. If you enjoyed "Pussycat", "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" and any of a host of crazy 50s monster-movies, you shouldn't miss this. If you're more into big-name stars, multi-million dollar Hollywood budgets and loads of CGI, better stay away.

Monstro! is one of those films that sounds like it's going to be a sure-fire winner when read about. It even has a cool poster. In truth, it doesn't live up to its potential. Its story has three bad girls on the run for a double murder. They wind up at a small seaside town that is terrorised by a tentacled sea monster. It should be fairly obvious from the above synopsis that this is a movie with more than a passing debt to the exploitation classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Furthermore, it even features the quite specific detail of a wheelchair bound misogynistic old man, which also aligns it with Russ Meyer's film. But this is a far less interesting movie sadly. The three girls here are a far cry from the Pussycats unfortunately and aren't nearly alluring enough to carry the film too far, although they are still the best thing about it.Irrespective of the bad girl trio, it's essentially a low budget Australian creature feature. The monster of the title does pitch up every so often and gets involved in some gory killings. We don't really see too much of it beyond tentacles until the pretty decent finale. But the very combination of the three bad girls on the run with a creature feature is quite odd and does feel like two entirely different films colliding head on; which I am sure was the intention of the writer/director. There's also a pretty good soundtrack of retro tunes which adds some value to proceedings.I would have to classify this as a bit of a miss considering the great possibilities it suggests. But overall it is fairly entertaining and doesn't ever get boring. And at 75 minutes it never out stays its welcome.

They were told to never go into the water. Now the sea will rise in a tide of blood.I entered this with some pretty low expectations but an open mind. I did not know the plot and only knew I was going to see a "monster movie". I ended up being pleasantly surprised by this unique, artistic and inventive film.While the character of Hannah (Kyrie Capri) stands out as the heroine, and Capri could have a future in films, everyone involved deserves credit. This did not come off as an amateur production, despite the fact I am certain most of these people had never been in front of a camera before. Whether the auditions were thorough or lucky I do not know, but they came out with a top-notch cast.The visuals are appealing, with a nice blend of black and white with color, a twisted little homage to "Wizard of Oz" (whether intentional or not). The grindhouse effects of frames skipping was unnecessary, but well executed. And the soundtrack is phenomenal, really giving the whole production a western feel when it was anything but.I do wish the sound was mixed better. As an American, the accents were hard for me to take in at times. This was not helped by the dialogue being drowned in the music. A bit more emphasis on speech and less on music (at least during the talking) and I think this would be more digestible for American audiences, if that is a goal.

Wow. I really don't know what to say about El monstro del mar!My jaw is still dropped. You can listen to all the nonsense about how this is a rip off of this or that but really, this is Austrailia's answer to The HostDuring every moment of this film I expected to be disappointed by clichés but instead I sat at the edge of my seat astounded by the originality.Yeah it's like a collage of other movies but it does it so well, it's Thelma and Louise against Jaws, but not played for humor.Yes, watch it.