Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer

There have been a lot of horror movie homages over the past few years, from Hatchet to Behind the Mask. These films mainly relish in winking at the audience in regards to their past horror movie references and trivia. It’s pretty rare when these films actually rise to transcend their self-referential genre and become one of the great films which they are emulating.

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer pays homage to all the old school monster flicks and Evil Dead style demonic possessions. The difference between Jack Brooks and the other types of tribute films is that Jack Brooks actually stands on it’s own two feet as a bad ass movie which packs horror and comedy into the same punch. The storyline is pretty simple. Small town plumber Jack Brooks has some anger management problems. He’s seeing a shrink, but the sessions don’t seem to be helping him much. When he was a young boy, he saw his whole family ripped apart by a creature. Since the event, he has always blamed himself and just hasn’t been the same. Jack Brooks is enrolled in a night time biology class with his girlfriend Eve, but only because she insisted on it. Eventually, Jack helps his professor with some plumbing problems the professor has been having at an old house the professor has been renovating.

The house has a pretty nasty history and we don’t find out just how nasty until the professor finds a huge crate in his backyard that contains a skeleton and a black heart which supposedly belongs to some demon. The heart is still beating. Afterwards, the professor just isn’t the same and begins to transform into something horrible.

The movie is quite a fun horror film, which packs a great hero with CGI free demon looking monsters acting out a fantastic storyline which is sure to suck you in immediately. There are plenty of flashback sequences which help explain the significance of the black heart, and Jack’s character is solidly developed so that you feel sorry for the guy while rooting for him at the same time. There are some great slimy gory scenes within the movie, especially the students which are converted into monsters by the professor. The final showdown is also a great ending, with an explosive ending which will leave you satisfied. The movie is a fast paced tale which is sure to please your horror and comedy bone, all in one motion.