Review by Emily Craig
Directed by: Matt Jackson
Starring: Gena Shaw, Marissa Skell, Jade Carter, Doug Jones, Kane Hodder, Michael McShane, Heather Rae Young
Love in the Time of Monsters is a comedy-horror film and the first feature length film by director Matt Jackson. The film’s main protagonists are two sisters, Marla (Gena Shaw) and Carla (Marissa Skell) who travel to a nature tourist trap to visit Carla’s boyfriend Johnny (Jade Carter) who is working there as a Bigfoot impersonator to entertain tourists travelling in the woodlands. Unfortunately, Johnny and the rest of his Sasquatch crew fall into a contaminated body of water and turn into flesh eating monsters.
The 21st century has seen a peak in Bigfoot horror films, including 2013’s found footage flick Willow Creek and the TV film Bigfoot in 2012. It’s clear that Love in the Time of Monsters isn’t an original piece of work but none of the above films have tackled the monster in a satirical, comedic way like Jackson has.
With the rise of the zombie genre, it has become increasingly popular to create films which defy the classic narrative. We’ve had zombie beavers in Zombeavers (2014) and zombie Nazi’s in Dead Snow (2009); and now we have zombie Bigfoot to add to the collection. Love in the Time of Monsters resembles classic B-Horror films in terms of its campiness, down to its poster; it’s a film made for die-hard horror fans. The cast of the film will most likely attract many horror fans with its monstrous cast including Doug Jones (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) and Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th). When I first saw that Doug Jones was going to be in the film, I automatically assumed that he was going to be playing one of the zombies, as he is almost always seen playing a creature of some sort; I was pleasantly surprised to see that he plays Dr. Lincoln – a human.
The film is continuously funny from start to finish; it has campy one liners, at times terrible CGI and flamboyant narcissistic characters, which are characteristics you wouldn’t want to see in a film, but for some reason it flows brilliantly. It’s self-aware about its cheesiness, which is what makes it so funny – it’s not trying to be serious. It parodies old B-Movies and does so perfectly, with funny genre stereotypes such as the ditsy blonde and the creepy old man who lives in a cabin in the woods.
The film’s characters aren’t developed enough for you to care too much about their fate; we are introduced to two quite unlikeable characters with not much backstory – other than their father was brutally killed years ago in an accident involving a statue, which is irrelevant to the film. There’s no time for the sisters to develop as characters as we are introduced to a whole ensemble of other people who make the film too overcrowded.
The criticisms for this film are all forgotten when it comes to the final battle scene. All humans, zombie Bigfoots, infected woodland animals and real Bigfoot come together in a gory showdown; ridiculous but genius. Overall, it’s a decent first film with lots of laughs, but is slightly cheapened by special effects and somewhat disoriented. True horror fans, however, will be able to appreciate and respect what the film is trying to accomplish.
