Review: Monstrous (2022)

• Director: Chris Sivertson
• Writer: Carol Chrest
• Stars: Christina Ricci, Santino Bernard, Colleen Camp

Review

Trauma and hauntings, monsters and ghosts go hand in hand in horror since almost the beginning of time. It’s the 1950’s and Laura (Ricci) is starting a new life with her son Cody (Santino). Escaping an abusive relationship and moving to California to escape her husband and start a fresh.

The new house offers a few strange happenings but is it Laura’s mind that’s playing tricks on her? Laura is a woman on the edge, holding a positive attitude and repressing a truckload of issues. She is scared of the phone ringing, of the husband finding her and now her son is seeing monsters in the house.

Ricci is (unsurprisingly) really good in this, despite the writing lacking any real flair and the plot offering nothing new. Bernard in his first film also does an good job in his first role but it is Ricci that does the bulk of the work, a lessor actor could’ve made a really mess of this but Ricci elevates it to a level higher than it really should be.

Sivertson directs in a workman like style with no shots standing out but it looks good and is well done. The film did offer a surprise with something (well two things) that I didn’t see coming and that was welcome, however the rest of the film didn’t bring anything new to this kind of story. The monster effects were decent but when you got a full look at it, it is very impressive.

Monstrous is lean film, using only a handful of actors and making great use of what they have. Worth checking out if this is your thing. Christina Ricci rules.

Monstrous is available now in Cinemas and On-Demand.

Ryan Morrissey-Smith | Twitter: @TigersMS78