There Are Monsters
There Are Monsters
| 13 September 2013 (USA)
There Are Monsters Trailers

Monsters are taking over the world, slowly, quietly and efficiently, but you won’t see them coming until it’s far too late! Four film students embark on a road trip to obtain promotional interviews for their college. However en route they witness a series of odd events, strange behaviour, shocking actions and what seems to be surplus of twins. Their well-ordered universe literally changes before their camera lenses uncovering a terrifying secret lurking just under the seemingly calm urban landscape.

Reviews
ellen-30048

Really enjoyed the storyline, shame none of the potential movie makers in the film could actually focus on anything. Felt quite seasick at times and got bored watching a black screen. I get that they were trying to be realistic but I can film from a car window and still focus. Having said that, I did enjoy it

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Nigel P

Looking back, 2013 was a prolific year for horror films. However, not many of them have proved as enjoyable as this low-budget found footage production. Using simple but very effective tactics, this project does its best to convince us that our planet is slowly being taken over by doppelgangers. These beings look like us and do their very best to act like us – but in subtle ways, they get it wrong.I've always been more frightened of the idea of human monsters than the bug-eyed variety, and 'There Are Monsters' plays very well with this idea. A group of sardonic students on a road trip, filming their experiences, are methodically shaken out of their high-spirited reverie by repeated sightings of people acting very oddly. Well, actually not very oddly – just slightly oddly. It is a subtle device, but that and frequent news bulletins of things being 'not quite right' create an effective feeling of growing unease.Director and writer Jay Dahl is a name we should hear more of. His style here is very 'found footage' (lots of shaky cam and a seemingly haphazard knack of catching reactions and fleeting glimpses), and he makes full use of it. There are even a few very effective jump scares. As the relationship between the group becomes more frayed, we are aware that we are in a kind of 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers' scenario, just without the horticulture.Two elements of this film put me in mind of other things. The briefly seen 'twins' reminded me a little of the mighty Castel twins in a number of fantastique films directed by Jean Rollin (especially 1975's 'Lèvres de Sang/Lips of Blood'). Secondly, some of the effects used reminded me of the terrifying Aphex Twin's music video for 1997's 'Come to Daddy'.Original, unnerving, and highly enjoyable.

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Finfrosk86

This was the very last movie at Glasgow Frightfest 2015. And quite a good one to end it all.The bad: This is, I assume for budgetary reasons, a found footage flick. Unfortunately this means quite a lot of shaky cam. Really, really shaky. Way too zoomed in, and shaky. Like, Blair Witch with Parkinson's. I was literally squirming in my seat hoping whoever was filming would just. zoom. out. And ever so often the movie cuts to these just wild zoomed in shaky parts, where you see absolutely nothing but blur. OK, got the bad out of the way!The Good: The good thing is that not all the filming is shaky, and pretty much all the actors did a good job. The movie was well paced and not boring (even after watching 5 movies before it, as this one was last). The characters are likable, and seem to have pretty good chemistry. There are some laughs to be had, too.The Scary: This movie actually gave me chills a couple of times! Kudos. Some of the sound effects, and visual effects, are pretty darn creepy. And a couple of the jump scares are very effective. Pretty cool. I especially liked how some of the creepy parts gets you thinking: was that actually a creepy effect, or was it my mind playing tricks on me? All in all it was pretty entertaining, and very good for a found footage movie. Good movie to see with a couple of friends, if you have those.

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