I found it hard to believe at first that this was directed by that one nerdy guy in Legally Blonde who turned out to be the OG Norman Bates' son, WoW

That aside, great direction & cinematography here, all the wide shots with dark environments leading to you believe something was looming somewhere making you queasy in your seat feeling like something gonna jumpscare you at any given moment

Maika Monroe & Nic Cage both ate in their respective roles, how I wish they'd interact more

Unfortunately for me it doesn't quite live up to the overhype though as it was quite something else than I'd imagine it to be. The brilliant marketing turned out to be a double edged sword imho. Despite this, totes worth a viewing at least once in the cinema where you can seep in all the dread it oozes

I've always enjoyed movies in this format where it's just 2 people engaging in long convos the entire movie. The 1st time I saw the trailer I knew this went straight into my watchlist. I was anxious though if it'll somehow end up showing in cinemas here considering warga 62 is still (and sadly probably won't?) not ready for these kinda movies. That's why I'm very grateful that KlikFilm brought this movie here & I knew I gotta watch it 1st day cause it won't stay long.

Truthfully I was kinda let down a bit that Sean Penn's character was annoying at first but then I realized that it's just a realistic portrayal of certain people & of course this movie was no fairytale so it stayed true to being humane.

As for acting, I enjoyed both Dakota's & Sean's chemistry, no boredom at all for the whole run time. Not a movie for most people though. Totes worth a viewing if you enjoy these kinda movies.

Initially this movie kinda flew under my radar as I've no information whatsoever on what this movie was about & I didn't even bother to check as well, but when Bang Rasyid said that this was remake of Tucker & Dale vs Evil, I was seated directly.

I actually never watch the OG movie, but it's mentioned quite a few times on a bunch of horror lists that it picked my interest. I'm glad I get to at least experience it, even through a remake, cause it's a remake well made. Also glad that they kept the wood chipper scene as it's the one scene I expected most to see. The gore was ofc toned down, but I didn't mind it at all as it's still an enjoyable movie.

Have yet to read the novel, but I'm sure some changes are necessary if it's about to be brought over to the big screen. That said, I don't know whether or not the tonal shift in the latter act really happened in the novel. Overall the movie was still kinda believable up until that point where afterwards I no longer feel the movie was still realistic. I don't mind it at all though, cause a good story is a good story.

The non linear plot also served a nice contrast to Kiran before and after her transformation. I'm quite confident some accolades are in order for this movie, especially some acting nods for Aghniny Haque. Kinda surprising to have her reunite with Djenar Maesa Ayu so soon after Pemandi Jenazah though.

Adapting a short 30 minute-ish audio only podcast into an over 90 minute full feature film is not an easy feat for sure. However I was pleasantly surprised by how good this movie really was initially. It started out strong and I really like how they were able to still make the movie so creepy & tense despite we who have already listened to the podcast kinda got the gist of what will happen next already. Unfortunately the way they dragged the movie in the latter act kinda bogged down the whole movie altogether. But this was in no way a deal breaker as overall the movie was still really worth a watch, even just to witness Diandra Agatha's shift from the innocent naive Mawar to a much more sinister version of herself.

It's a felony for a thriller to be a snooze fest and make the audience doze off instead of being at the edge of their seats. I fell asleep a couple of times during my viewing, so for me Monster kinda failed its purpose.

As a thriller, Monster failed to maintain its suspense throughout as the pacing was quite slow despite the fact that it clocked in less than 90 minutes. The scoring also didn't work for me, I just don't feel that it's thrilling enough to aid the pacing of the movie.

I don't mind the "no dialog" approach this movie took at all, I really just wish it were more suspenseful with faster pacing and more intense scoring perhaps?