Sometimes you just have to root for the little guy. With all the dreck that is out there with a series of numbers after the title, you have to appreciate when some filmmakers with a budget of 37 cents make a film that’s a fun tribute to the genre.
Jack Brooks (Trevor Matthews) is a plumber who has a problem with his temper. He’s not always had anger issues, but when his entire family was slaughtered by a creature on a campout the anger issues surfaced.
He’s seeing a shrink and his girlfriend (Rachael Skarsten) has convinced him to take a night class with her. The professor (Robert Englund) that teaches the class has had some plumbing problems and asks Jack out to check it out. It seems that the prof has purchased the usual ominous mansion on the hill.
Jack discovers that he needs a part and leaves the professor alone in the house; however, what’s really blocking the pipes is something more sinister. A mysterious fog enters the house and appears to possess the professor as he digs up a buried crate that has been blocking up his plumbing.
When the professor awakens the next day he finds himself covered in dirt and staring at a crate he didn’t know was buried in his backyard. When he opens it he finds bones, but also a heart that seems to have been remarkably preserved. When he touches it the heart starts beating and it seems to force him to eat it.
Now our night school teacher is possessed by a demon heart and out to take over the world, which is unless Jack has something to say about it.
Jack Brooks is a fun throwback to those 1980s monster flicks such as Evil Dead. The problem may be that they’ve had to do it on a low budget and the script seems to wander a bit too much.
The good thing is that you have genre vet Robert Englund joyfully chewing up the scenery as the professor and a likeable lead in the form of Trevor Matthews. It would appear that the filmmakers intend this to be the first in a series of films involving the adventures of the short-tempered Jack.
He starts off as a loser that is until he finds his true calling as a hunter of things that go bump in the night. The film, although short already, seems to wander off of Jack and focus on the professor (it is Robert Englund after all) a bit too much. However, I have to give the makers a break since their beating demon’s hearts are in the right place.
It’s fun and seems light years ahead of some big studio horror film junk that I’ve been watching lately. Let’s hope that Jack gets a chance to slay again.
Jack Brooks, Monster Slayer is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include an audio commentary with director Jon Knautz, producer Patrick White, producer/actor Trevor Matthews and composer Ryan Stone.
The 50 minute “Behind-the-scenes” shows how Jack came to be. The 15 minute “Creating the Monsters” shows the makeup effects to create the beasties. The 12 minute “Creating the Music” is about the composer.
There’s also 3 minutes of footage from the film’s premiere in Sitges, Spain, 15 minutes of deleted scenes, a 10 minute storyboard comparison, a conceptual art gallery, on set still gallery, and the 2 minute trailer.
Jack Brooks is a fun flashback to some low budget genre classics. There’s a bit too much focus on the genre vet that costars in the film, but the film has a certain charm that’s warms the cockles of the black heart.
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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