Monster
Monster
| 19 June 2005 (USA)
Monster Trailers

A mother battles with her son's fear of a monster lurking in the closet, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.

Reviews
ThiefHott Too much of everything
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
edgalarza It's a shame I came across this short 13 years after it was made. I loved the full featured film of 2014 when it came out. It's really nice to see the original inspiration for the 2014 film in this one. I actually thought the monster in this one was scarier than the one from 2014. The little boy in this one is just as effective at annoying the adults as the 2014 film lol. But the boy was adorable just the same.
Theo Robertson AS the title character in DOCTOR WHO once stated " The most frightening place in a universe is a childs bedroom " . True even if it may be stating the obvious . Living on an island as a child I was sometimes worried about an incursion of Sea Devils and worried they could squeeze up the U bend of the loo and come crashing in to my bedroom before I knew what was going on . This short film by Jennifer Kent plays on that fear The film is somewhat minimalist taking place entirely in one house featuring a mother , her young son and the protagonist of the title . I notice IMDb legend Bob The Moo has reviewed it. . Let me reveal a closely guarded secret about The Moo - he doesn't like horror movies and as he's stated he had hoped for a bit more space and development and looks forward to seeing the feature length film this short started off as . As for myself I can take each and every horror film on its own merit but often lament how difficult it is to do something new with a tired and staid genre . That said yesterday I saw a sci-fi horror called EXTRATERRISTIAL featuring a bunch of horny teens in a remote cabin which had nothing new to say to the audience and yet managed to compel and creep out this audience member . Kent does something similar here . Okay it's down to the obvious cheap tricks of using fast movement and silence followed by sudden loud noise which caused me to jump out of my seat . If I was watching this in the dark late at night I'd be running to switch the lights on and having difficulty sleeping . Compared to the monster in this film the Sea Devils are small fry
Aaron1375 This short horror film was pretty good. It had some moments that were a bit creepy and I enjoyed the performances of both the mom and the little boy in this one. The atmosphere was good as the black and white made an everyday house and everyday things seem more sinister than they would have been otherwise. The story has a rather hyper active kid really beating down one of his stuffed toys, a rather ugly doll that to me resembled a witch a bit. Most kids can remember that childhood toy that really did not delight them, but rather scared the crap out of them. Well the boy seems convinced that the thing is alive and really freaks out when he glimpses it in the closet. Well the mother thinks it is just an over active imagination at first, but something seems a bit off kilter. Like I said this one overall was okay, my favorite part was when the mother heard something while she and her son were in bed and she looked out her door. To me that was the freakiest part in the film. The conclusion is a bit strange though, I did not completely care for it, but then I still feel I must give it credit for being original. The final scene is even more strange, but once again it was different. So while not the most shocking or creepy short horror film I have seen, it was an interesting watch and it did things a bit differently than one would normally expect.
Mike Hathaway We saw this at SXSW 2006. Easily the favorite short of the festival! Excellent job all around. The story of "Monster" is my favorite kind of scare - based on unrealistic childhood fears come to life. I wasn't really expecting much when the grainy black and white spooled up, but man - was a I surprised! I also think some of the imagery may be lost on American audiences. There were a couple of "huh?" moments in the setup, but nothing distracting.It could also just be my editor brain ;-)All in all, this creepy, genuinely scary short is worth the search. I just wish it was available somewhere for purchase or online viewing.