I like a good horror movie spoof, but I'm getting a little tired of the ones that keep winking at us and trying to impress us with how self-aware and "meta" they are. That's why I liked LOVE IN THE TIME OF MONSTERS (2014)--because, instead of constantly letting us know that it knows it's a horror spoof, it just concentrates on being one.
Sisters Marla (Gena Shaw) and Carla (Marissa Skell, SORORITY PARTY MASSACRE), who lost their dad in a tragic family vacation mishap years earlier, travel deep into the forest to Uncle Slavko's All-American Family Lodge where Carla's husband-to-be Johnny (Jade Carter) works as a costumed Bigfoot performer. But as they spend a boring weekend in tourist trap hell, Johnny and the other performing Bigfoots fall into a lake contaminated by deadly industrial waste and are transformed into mindless, flesh-eating monsters who attack the lodge and everyone in it.
I don't remember this particular premise turning up in very many other movies, which makes this one refreshingly unique even as it pays homage to various genre tropes here and there. Aside from the sisters, you got Brandi the bimbo (2010 Playboy Playmate of the Month Heather Rae Young, CHILLERAMA), macho hunk Armando (Danny Vasquez), bossy bitch Agatha (Paula Rhodes as Uncle Slavko's ultra-efficient employee wrangler), crazy backwoods Bigfoot hunter Chester (Hugo Armstrong, LAY THE FAVORITE), sassy gay guy "Big Kahuna" (Ben Palacios), sassy black lady Jade (Zylan Brooks), cowardly nerd Dan (Alex Sanborn), and egghead know-it-all Dr. Lincoln (Doug Jones, who played Silver Surfer in FANTASTIC 4: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER).
Everyone's favorite Jason Voorhees, Kane Hodder, gets to freak out to his heart's content as the head Bigfoot when he and his bloodthirsty companions--still snug inside their fluffy, furry Bigfoot costumes--come staggering out of the woods and descend upon everyone in sight in an orgy of cannibalistic carnage that should satisfy the gorehound in you while somehow still managing to tickle your funnybone.
Not that LOVE IN THE TIME OF MONSTERS reaches any dizzying heights of hilarity--some of the humor, in fact, is groan-worthy, and two or three times in the latter half things grind to a dead stop for some really ill-conceived stabs at seriousness (such as the secret unrequited love between crazy Chester and Slavko's lonesome wife, Marianna, played by former "Baywatch" babe Shawn Weatherly).
But overall, the whole thing is just so pleasantly goofy and, at times, genuinely amusing that it can't help being likable. A few touches are downright surreal, as when the surrounding wildlife itself becomes infected by industrial waste and our heroes find themselves being attacked by hordes of crazed birds, fish, a killer moose, and more. Even so, the film gets points for not desperately bombarding us with so much random, over-the-top nonsense that we get numbed by it.
Production values are good considering the low budget, and performances are generally above-average. The gore and other practical effects, while not always convincing, are plentiful and often comical. (I particularly liked the chest-burster scene.) While the film really drags in the third act, it cranks up again for a big frenetic finale that sends us away smiling.
The DVD from Indican Pictures is in anamorphic widescreen with 5.1 surround and stereo sound, plus subtitles in English. Extras consist of a genial director/ writer/producer commentary, "making-of" video blogs, outtakes, deleted scenes, and a music video for the song "Magnum Love" by Thunderdikk, which I listened to for about five seconds.
Aside from the misguided attempts at actual drama (funny dialogue--GOOD! Serious dialogue--BAD!), LOVE IN THE TIME OF MONSTERS is just simple, dumb fun, and proud of it.
Buy it at Amazon.com
Trailer
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