The Monster was slightly better than I expected it to be. It manages to take a very basic plot and turn it into something more engaging than you'd think. But it is by no means a great film.

First of all, the pros. The acting from the two lead characters, especially Zoe Kazan, who plays the mother, is pretty good. These two show a ton of emotion throughout the film that really hooked me in and made me feel for them. I'm happy to say that the child performance was solid. Child performances are too often cringe-worthy, but this one was okay. Not fantastic by any means, but not terrible.

The direction and tension the director managed to create, with the atmospheric lighting, camera movements, and shot composition, was very good. You can tell a lot of effort went into creating a tense, suspenseful atmosphere.

The makeup effects on the monster were decent. They are 100% practical, no CGI. If you appreciate practical effects like I do, you might enjoy this monster design.

Lastly, the final act of the movie was pretty strong. It was engaging, emotional, intense, and all around the best part of the film.

Now the cons. The story is the definition of mediocre. Two people get stranded on a deserted road and a monster from the woods terrorizes them. The film tries to engage the viewer more by making the primary focus of the story about the strained relationship between the mother and daughter and how this terrifying experience brings them together. On some aspects this works, but it's not enough to make the plot anything more than average at best.

The dialogue was also very shoddy at points and felt unnatural and forced. I wouldn't call it terrible, but it wasn't great either.

Lastly, some of the decisions the characters made just had me scratching my head. They came across as nonsensical and just flat- out dumb.

Overall, this is a pretty average movie. I'd recommend one watch just for the decent performances and direction and a cool monster. Don't expect anything great. Expect a flawed film with an unoriginal plot with some good aspects scattered throughout, and you might enjoy it.

5/10

Just watched this and loved it. Another smart addition to the encouragingly robust genre of smart and allegorically innovative horror movies.

My take? The monster is simply Kathy's addiction, as experienced by daughter Lizzy.

• it attacks when she's vulnerable

• it removes people who are there to protect her (Lizzy's father (the actual addiction)/ the tow truck guy and the paramedics (the metaphorical monster))

• shining a light on it/ acknowledging it weakens it

• once you've acknowledged it, you're in a better place, but you still have to go through withdrawal and might be too damaged to pull through (Kathy vomiting blood in the woods due to her internal injuries)

• despite your best intentions, innocents will still suffer because of it. (Lizzy undergoes her mother's "overdose" and death, and then still has to grapple with the monster on her own.)

• Finally, the ultimate version of "shining a light on something", i.e. setting it on fire, is what allows her to be free, albeit with a forever altered view of her own safety, and the security of the world in general. [ Fun add on-- she had to sacrifice her childhood/ innocence, i.e. her singing teddy bear, in order to finally overcome the monster. ]

A lot of people are commenting on the weird/ unbelievable choices made by the characters in the third act. If you're looking at it as a straight up horror movie, I could understand that. But seeing it through the lens of the pretty obvious analogy that was being made about addiction, they all felt totally spot on to me.

Definitely recommend!

There are a lot of strong opinions on this film in its early reviews. I just want to give a practical commentary on what I see.

This is a great horror flick with some heavy symbolism. It is a story about a mother and daughter who are terrorized by a monster when their car gets stuck. A lot of dudes (or women haters) seem to hate it (check the low reviews and notice the colorful words they have for women). As a dude myself, I had no problem watching a film from a female perspective. I rather enjoyed it and found it touching at times.

The characters are both flawed. I related with the daughter at times because I grew up with a flawed father. I acted and reacted a lot of the ways the daughter in the film did too. So from my perspective, there was some heavy realism in the backstory. I found the "boring" moments to be touching.

The practical effects are superb in my opinion. Some will disagree though.

Some of the writing is flawed in regards to character choices. I think discourse could answer some of the choices, but my fellow horror film nerds seem to be either accepting or spiteful of cliché character fails in the genre. I could see past them though for quality story though.

So if you don't get angry being put in a woman's perspective and like horror films, this should be right your alley.

I recommend it. The whole monster aspect and horror sequences are a little generic - nothing ground breaking- but you get invested in the two leads and the acting is top notch IMO. I cared about their characters which made the movie work. It has some decent jump scares and a nice dark setting. I thought it was well written and works as more than just a horror film. It is a limited theatrical release with a fairly small budget and does a great job creating atmosphere. I know some were disappointed in the moving looking at other reviews but I think maybe they were expecting a more traditional horror movie. I myself found it to be quite tense, if anything from an emotional aspect.

People here was watching it thinking the film was about actual monsters not realising it was all a reference to a mother and daughter fighting addiction...

As children, we often have irrational fears of things we have not being given a proper introduction to - We are told numerous stories, some still ignoring the lingering question we harbor deep within - Our Monsters Real? - Or an allegory of our very existence? This idea is effectively used in recent films such as, 'The Babadook', 'It Follows', 'The Witch' and 'Under the Shadow'. Director Bryan Bertino ('The Strangers') shares a similar notion of this with 'The Monster'.

Kathy (Zoe Kazan) a divorced alcoholic and inexperienced mother is taking her young and mature of age daughter, Lizzy (Ella Ballentine), to permanently relocate with Lizzy's father. While driving at night through a remote, rain-lashed forest, Kathy crashes into a wolf, which wrecks their car leaving them stranded for help - Waiting for a tow truck and ambulance. From here on, questions are raised - Where did the wolf come from? What was it running from? Where'd it get those deep cuts on its body? Or where did the body disappear too? Strangely these questions are not justifiably asked by Kathy, but by Lizzy.

The only voice of reason!

Ella Ballentine is the standout here - reminiscent of a young Reese Witherspoon. Inquisitive, timid, fearful and courageously carrying the weight of 'The Monster', as she has spent much of her youth taking care of herself - and her mother - Through flashbacks provided. One in particular truly showing her acting chops. Zoe Kazan also great as Kathy tries to maintain her sobriety while navigating and understanding the needs of her daughter - Yes an overused device in Hollywood - But effective still none the less.

Scott Speedman shows us halfway through the movie with little to say or do, perhaps a favor to Bertino, whom he directed in 'The Strangers'.

Cinematographer Julie Kirkwood offers very little to appreciate here - With Bertino not fully utilizing her until the third act - With a beautiful shot of the enclosed woods. The monster itself plays a minor role - As the full look of it seems rather cheap.

Overall 'The Monster' may not hold up well with most allegory horror films, but it will stand on its own merit for Ella Ballentine - As she comes face to face with the monster - Or are understanding of what it means to let go and grow up - Afterall monsters are only what we make of them.

The relationship between the mother and her child is the number one priority here. So while this is a horror movie (mostly in the psychological area), it is also a Drama. And some of the best Horror movies (that are not Slashers or particularly explicitly violent) have been Dramas at heart too.

And while I get that the child may seem annoying to some and some decisions made feel rushed, the casting was good and the script was decent enough giving them all something to play with (no pun intended). The movie is very dark (both in tone and in visual flair) and while it does drift into expected (read cliché territory) and has somewhat of a downfall towards the end (and maybe for some a slow beginning), overall the positive things do win over ...

Kathy (Zoe Kazan) is the alcoholic and smoking addicted mother of the young, but mature teenager Lizzy (Ella Ballentine). They live together since Kathy's husband Roy (Scott Speedman) left her, and she neglects her daughter. Kathy is supposed to drive Lizzy to her father's home in the morning, but she sleeps until late afternoon and they have to travel during a rainy night. While driving through a lonely road through the woods, Kathy hits a wolf that breaks her car, leaving them stranded on the empty road. They call 911 and while waiting for the tow truck and an ambulance, the wolf disappears from the road. When the tow truck arrives, the mechanic Jesse (Aaron Douglas) tells that he needs to fix the axle and an oil leakage to tow her car. While repairing the vehicle, a monster attacks him but neither Kathy nor Lizzy note. When they seek Jesse out, they realize that they are not alone in the spot. Further, Kathy learns that monsters do exist. Will they be rescued on time?

"The Monster" is an atmospheric, tense and melancholic low-budget horror movie. The dramatic story is supported by top-notch performances of Ella Ballentine and Zoe Kazan and a beautiful and sad cinematography. Scott Speedman participation is limited to a short cameo only to give his name to the credits. The slow-paced plot helps to create the creepy atmosphere and to show the relationship of Kathy and Lizzy. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

This was a gem of a movie. Lots of people reviewing it will moan about it being slow or boring. It was neither. There was, of course, two monsters in the movie, the toothy one in the woods and the mother. An obvious metaphor but acted out superbly but the two lead actresses. I'm always cautious about child actors but this one was great and one to watch for the future. The cinematography was gorgeous with most of the film happening at night, in torrential rain, the lightning had to be good and it was. I give this a 9 having taken in to account the fact the cast and crew obviously had limited resources. It was a straight 10 until the aerosol business but that's easily overlooked. Gripping, emotional and superb performances, a really solid film!

The Monster (2016) from the same director of The Strangers (2008), my expectations to this film were limited, didn't know what to expect but a scary movie about a monster, fortunately the movie serves way more than this.

The movie discusses the relationship between mothers and daughters in a very beautiful way and how strong that bond is even at the worst times, then it uses the horror factor as a metaphor to show the real bond between them, and whatever problems happen between them just fade away when they're about to lose each other, So I thought this was smart and very nicely done.

The acting in this film is probably one of the best I have recently seen, I was very attached to the characters and actually cared for them, as for the horror there are some effective jump scares and the mood is very dark the whole movie, also the atmosphere of this film sucks you even though when there isn't a lot going on-screen.

In a nutshell, the monster is definitely a great underrated Drama/Horror film that deserves to be watched at least once.

Excellent acting and directing. The setting really does feel magical and scary. But, the monster part is just a catharsis where the main characters resolve their Heroic arc. The young girl was played by Ella Ballentine, a superb actress. I loved the movie.

This movie was really disappointing for me.

While I did enjoy the first few flashbacks and the general story for about half the film, towards the end it just got annoying and ridiculous.

Am I really supposed to believe that the girl who was whiny and cowering for the whole movie suddenly grows into some Mary Sue (TM) hero by the end? And killing the monster with fire in the way it happened is just ridiculously unrealistic, even for a movie like this.

It's a shame. There are some things this movie gets right, I particularly liked the acting on the mothers part, even if some of the dialogue was shoddy. The monster design in general was good too and I always appreciate practical effects over CGI.

The character of the daughter angered me more and more as the film went on with all her whining and annoying questions, though that is more the fault of the script than the actress, she's actually pretty decent.

All in all, very disappointing.

This movie depicts some very serious issues involving child abuse, alcoholism and child neglect.

These issues in themselves would each make entirely separate movies.

However, this movie forces itself into painful contortions in an attempt to marry a creature feature together with a weird childhood drama seen from a teenybopper perspective.

It literally becomes painful to watch.

This is the first movie that I've ever watched where I've found myself so completely longing for the utter vampiric soul draining tedium to conclude.

The audience is not given any background on how the generic one dimensional monster that was was seen for a about 2 to 3 minutes during the whole film came into existence.

It left the audience scratching their heads after no police ever showed up to a car accident while a tow truck operator "worked" under the car for what seemed to be hours.

I like the whole concept of sublime randomness but for Heaven's sake, at least make an effort to give such unexpected surprise shifts some purpose and even a little poetry.

This movie seemed like one of the longest movies I've ever watched and left me completely drained.

Could have been a better movie if it had a theme that made sense and maybe even had a soul. I would have even had a tiny amount of satisfaction had the monster been a metaphor for the family's dysfunction.

so, at the end of the day, the first grader's painting is hanging on his mother's fridge and the sun is yellow, the grass is green, the sky is blue and the monster is ...yes "The Monster".

Battling our own fears and weaknesses could be an alternative title to this film. At first the mother seems to be an irresponsible, immature young parent. The child has learned to take care of herself. The acting is extraordinary. The actors excelled in making the audience believe that they were living the story rather than pretending. No matter what the problems in their relationship, as they are depicted through the flashbacks, the bond between mother and her child is and remains till the end very strong. As strong are the mother's addictions, which affect their relationship and their lives. I won't disclose in what way. For me it was an allegory and, in that purpose the director - writer delivered. I recommend it.

I'm a big fan of Bryan Bertino's first feature film "The Strangers", it was a somewhat realistic tense horror film that genuinely creeped me out. Since than Bertino hasn't been up to very much directing wise, in 2014 he released the film "Mockingbird" which was a huge disappointment and received a mostly negative response from fans of the horror genre. Now eight years after his last big hit Bertino gives us "The Monster", which is a super dark and dramatic monster movie that follows the struggling relationship between a young mother and her daughter, and also their encounter with a vicious monster on a desolate road in the woods.

The film gets started with a very somber pace, as we are introduced to our two main characters (A young girl named Lizzy and her mother Kathy) it becomes very clear that they have a dysfunctional relationship. Kathy obviously isn't a good mom; she's rude, irresponsible, and she has a drinking problem. This has lead to Kathy deciding Lizzy will most likely be better off living with her father, and this is where we come in on their story. Well into their trip to meet up with Lizzy's father the duo has a car accident leaving them stranded on a road far off from any populated area, and then monster stuff starts to happen. This set up may sound cliché but the film actually does it in a very unique and interesting way. As the film builds up to revealing the monster we are treated to some character development via extremely emotional flashbacks which highlight the big problems in Kathy and Lizzy's relationship. These flashbacks were extremely well done and really did a great job of getting me interested in the characters. The whole pacing of the film was great, and those who enjoy slow burn movies will appreciate it.

The film is very character driven and the small assortment of actors really did a great job of capturing that. Ella Ballentine, who plays Lizzie, does an outstanding job of playing a little girl who is desperate and angry for her mother to get her life together. She actually out acted her adult counterpart in the majority of the scenes. Zoe Kazan did a fine job of playing Lizzie's mother Kathy but Ella really stole the spotlight here and really helped to add to the realistic tone of the film. Even the supporting characters with very small roles managed to be believable and played their parts well, something you don't see too often in horror movies. Some of the best acting I've seen in a horror movie since "The Witch".

With how well done the characters and the story was it's easy to forget that this is a monster movie, an interesting premise and intriguing characters aren't exactly things you expect when watching a monster flick. But I'm glad the film makers went the route they did with it because it really added to the intensity of the monster once he is revealed. It's not the scariest looking monster, and the effects aren't top notch, but it definitely gets the job done. There were few scenes where the monster came off a little cheap looking, but those scenes were mostly made up for by some very brutal attacks by the monster. There isn't a whole lot of gore or kills, but the few that are featured are pretty vicious.

This was a great movie, it's emotional, realistic, and very well acted. Some may find it to be a little slow depending on what they are looking for, it's definitely not your usual fast paced gore fest type monster flick, but it is an extremely engaging dramatic horror flick that some people might really love.

8.5/10

This movie is seriously horrible, from script to acting, to effects, to story line/plot. Its literally the old Chinese version of Godzilla's offspring, for some reason reeking havoc on a pathetic excuse for a mother and her daughter. Where do these people writing reviews saying sad, emotional horror, when the plot never even is fully played out to even make you sad. Yes an alcoholic, drug addicted mother basically hates the existence of her daughter, suddenly for unknown reasons becomes motherly and protective and "saves her daughter's life". But not just 10 minutes after having made her daughter,by herself, go out in middle of the road, in a tropical storm, in the dead of night, go out to check on a wolf that they had hit with they're car. Oh yes I forgot to mention her daughter is 8 maybe 10 years old. But given the end in which her daughter single handedly knows well enough to grab an aerosol can of antiseptic spray and a lighter to char broil the overgrown lizard, I guess she was perfectly capable. I would like to thank this movie for inspiring me to make this account and write my first review.

Boring, boring, boring!

1. From the beginning you can see the movie tries very hard for character developing. And what is the best way to do that, by continuously having memories! Half of the movie is memories which adds to the boredom. It kinda gets the job done, but too many flashbacks boomeranged the purpose.

2. Very low budget. I don't mind for that, but the monster does not look real. Having said that i must admit they did their best for the given budget and the blood/gore was good.

3. Stupid decisions. Again, for a million time its one of those movies where characters actions make no sense. (SPOILER: Pretty happy the monster killed almost everyone. Idiots! Also, the monster outrun the ambulance, how the heck a little girl will outrun it and survive? Suriously, that is your best plan as a mother?)

4. They are supposed to be stuck on the main road. OK granted. Why the f*ck are there any other cars passing by? Not even one?

5. The final blow was just dull, uninspiring and unrealistic.

Overall the movie tried very hard for character development, but succeeded to bore me with too many flashbacks. It also tried to be "realistic", but the characters are just plain idiots. Do not watch the movie. Want something good and original? "Dont breathe" (2016) is an excellent one. Trust me.

I take this movie for what it is, a low-budget independent 'monster flick'. It's left up to you really to fill in the blank as far as what or who the monsters in the movie are. That being said and with low expectations going in, I enjoyed this movie. While we don't get much of a plot and the monster itself is not explained or developed, I did appreciate the acting by both of the female actors. In fact the acting is what kept this movie going in my opinion. I also liked that the monster is not CGI, which was refreshing. There are some powerful emotional aspects in terms of the flawed relationship between mother and daughter which have been played out, but it is very convincing nonetheless.

So....the new flick from the director of The Strangers.

The Monster operates on a very thin plot line and man, they really try hard to pad it out. The story involves a mother & daughter going on a road trip (to drop off the daughter at her dads) where their car breaks down in the middle of the night (after hitting a wolf in the road) and they come under siege from a monster outside.

The acting initially seems pretty decent, but once they get trapped in the car (which is the majority of the film) things soon degrade down to the level of being quite cringeworthy with more ham in the air than several swine filled pig farms. It was obvious too, that they couldn't keep the tension up (or make the film run long enough) by just keeping the scenes set to the car, so we get heaps of these silly flashbacks where we're shown just how bad the mother & daughters relationship has been up to this point which jars badly with the situation now running on screen (btw, if you want to see bad parenting in film go see The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things).

There are a few mildly thrilling moments when the monster appears on screen (looking like a man in a small Godzilla costume crossed with the alien in Xtro but hey, they put its picture on the poster) but its not enough to keep any sort of tension bubbling and as the movie trudged along I just wanted it to be over so I could say I saw all of it. Sadly then, The Monster was a monster fail for me.

Is the feeling you will get when watching this movie.

It starts with how they market this thing as a horror while it's actually a really bad drama. The dialogue and acting looks like a soap opera and the mother/daughter relationship is portrayed to obvious to be realistic.

Example of what is one of their greatest "shockers" is the mom yelling the F words repeatedly and the daughter yelling I hate you,I hate you,I hate you. And...that sums up this movie for me.

The drama we have seen done before in better movies and without stuffing it down your throat and the horror or "the monster" seems to be borrowed from "twilight zone the movie' which they made 30 years ago.

They top all of this by showcasing a lot of things that don't add up or make no sense what so ever and even worse so don't deliver the promise that they made by calling it a horror movie.

This stinks of false advertising and I really hate it when filmmakers give in to this and give you a trailer and a cover that highlights parts which are poorly represented in the movie itself. On the cover or poster the monster looks really big ,in the movie his size is nowhere near that (more like a big slimy dog).

Of course in the end we have the sacrifice of the mother and that seems to be the big Hollywood plot of today since i've been seeing a lot of that in almost every genre.

The build up to that particular scene with the sacrifice felt cheesy and with dialogue that seems to been have stolen from (again) a better movie.

A sad,flat,blown up,deflated mess this is and if it's the same guy that made "the strangers" than he really hit rock bottom.

The 2.7 million were probably spend on the poster,the trailer and a rain machine....cos when you got money you gotta let it rain,right?

Not a good story,not a good movie,not a horror.

Nothing to see here,move along.

A disfunctional family drama with a sprinkle of monster. Very good.

Is it a horror or is it a story that would like to tell you things and the monster being the bad thing. I don't care. I just watched it as it was and I can agree to both parts but to be honest. I watched it as a horror flick.

What I can say is the fact that it isn't a horror for all the geeks walking among us. It's slowly build and it has a lot of flash backs. But it did deliver on a few parts which makes it worth picking up. The acting was above mediocre and to put a teen (Ella Ballentine) in a rather bloody flick,well, she was sublime.

That be said, the monster appears after a while and once he's there he do attack. You don't see any gore of the attacks but you do see what is happening with the victims in a messy and bloody way. But all taking place in the woods in the dark it is naturally easy to hide stuff on part of the effects.

Still, The Monster is out there so if you are into a bloody flick with our without a message, it's up to you, pick it up, worth 90 minutes of your expensive lives.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

Expertly executing most of its genre elements, making numerous poor decisions along the way and unnecessarily adding segments that it was better without, The Monster makes up for a relentlessly gripping yet often frustrating viewing experience that had a lot of potential yet squanders much of it to finish as just another monster flick that's more or less mediocre.

The story of The Monster focuses on a mother-daughter relationship that's been tumultuous for a while, mostly because of the former's negligence & drinking problems. The plot follows the two as they journey through a deserted road but find themselves stranded when their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. To make matters worse, there's something in the woods that hunts them.

Written & directed by Bryan Bertino, the screenplay is marred by a list of issues & questionable choices that restrict the movie from attaining a better altitude. There was no need for flashbacks, no necessity to make one of its characters unsympathetic, and no reason to show their relationship as sour, plus it may have been more effective if it had stayed in the present throughout its runtime.

Majority of the sequences that unfold after the vehicle breaks down are thrilling and Bertino handles the elements of horror really well in those moments. The atmosphere is unsettling, eerie & alive most times. Performances are its main highlight, for both Zoe Kazan & Ella Ballentine chip in with outstanding inputs and play their part responsibly although the two actually looked more like sisters than mother-daughter.

On an overall scale, The Monster is a mixed bag that has its share of some good frights yet fails to add anything new to its genre. The monster design isn't intimidating either plus there are times when it looks unintentionally funny. Brilliantly steered by its leading ladies & superbly elevating the tension with its excellent sound design, The Monster works best when it aims for the "less is more" approach but thanks to its generic finale, it finishes as a forgettable entry in the world of monster flicks.

This was one of the worst movies we've seen in a long while. The entire film is just a huge tear fest. Either screaming, or crying. The acting was not good at all, and the typical "investigate with no brain cells" has to rear it's ugly head in these kind of films. There is no creativity in horror films at all. Same old same old. The monster itself had no reasoning. No idea where it came from. Why it's there. SMH Just randomly on some dark road huh? On what Planet, do we have EMT's place an injured person in the truck, only to go out and investigate like they are Homicide Detectives? Who thought that up? The monster itself looked pretty good, kind of similar to a few horror gems that we all know and love. The little girl did become a super hero at the end all of a sudden too. Not sure who thought up this plot, but it was really bad. Don't waste your time on this snooze-fest if you haven't already. We literally had to start fast- forwarding through the movie to get through it.

If you are expecting horror I have one word.

Avoid.

Don't expect horror, expect a metaphoric depiction of the mothers relationship with her child and problems that engulf their relationship.

Most of the middle has clichéd jump scares.

The beginning and end don't seem to fit with the middle part and it could be two separate films by different directors sandwiched together.

Not the greatest film but does have a couple of emotional bits, particularly if you have a child of a similar age.