(2001)

review by:

4-3-03

Written by: George Huang Directed by: George Huang Starring: Clea Duvall, Tyler Mane, Jason Marsden With: Julie Strain

A strange team of programmers is brought in to improve the game Evilution, which sucks the big one. Their competition for a million dollar bonus leads to sabotage and other mishaps, culminating in a power surge during a motion-capture session. This surge manages to destroy the power, but links the telemetry suit with the game's enemy AI. The suit goes on a murderous rampage, stealing people bits to make itself look more like its video game counterpart. Hilarity ensues. For a monster movie in pretty much one setting, this was surprisingly good. The writing, unlike in most of these movies we've been reviewing, is actually good and believable. The interaction between these three programmers is pretty funny, and as the movie progresses a message about greed and backstabbing emerges. Wait, a message in a monster flick? It's admirable, whether or not one agrees with the actual statements. The writing is complemented by great acting all around (a few of these actors are A-list stars), and some good direction. In fact, the only real bad part of this movie is the occasional continuity error. At dinner Laura (Duvall) and her boss play the magic chair-switching game almost every time the camera angle changes. Another is when Julie Strain jumps around, breasts exposed, during the motion-capture sequence, but the monster later on has a complete breast plate (thought I'm sure that's a problem with many of the viewers, right?). How To Make A Monster is a refreshingly good film in the wake of plenty of crap. It's a light, funny monster flick with some semblance of a message. I have yet to see any of the other Creature Features titles, but I hope they're all as good as this one.

AKA: Grand Theft Body Parts          The Wacky Limb-Stealing Adventures of Bucky The Telemetry Suit

Rating