There is a Monster came out to rent on Tuesday, Jan. 30. The film follows Jack, a photographer who begins seeing shadows and is convinced that a monster is hunting him. No one else can see the figure, but the damage done to his body is evident.

This is a premise that we’ve seen done before, and unfortunately, There is a Monster doesn’t bring anything new to the table. The horror almost feels put on the back burner here, as the majority of the flick is attempting to examine the relationships between characters. This works in moments, but there are a number of sequences that add little to the story. Because of this, the pacing is thrown off and the movie never comes together as a whole.

Despite never tying together perfectly, I will say that the end of There is a Monster did make me recontextualize the whole film. This is a very personal story for director Mike Taylor, and you can see his love and passion shine through in certain scenes. Knowing what this movie is actually about allowed me to look at it in a different light, and find a greater appreciation of certain moments that I may have glanced over on my initial watch.

There is a Monster’s biggest issue definitely came from the editing room. Obviously, I can let some of the inconveniences that come with a smaller budget go, but the movie’s editing is all over the place. The film over-relies on fadeaway transitions that don’t flow into the next scene smoothly, which makes it feel very amateurist. The sound design took away some immersion as well, with jarring transitions frequently distracting from the visuals. Even with a smaller budget, there are several things that could’ve been done to vastly improve this movie.

With this being a horror movie, there should be a certain level of intensity and tension. It is evident early on that there is a monster following Jack, but nothing exciting really comes out of it. The setup for the monster wasn’t good enough to make me feel invested in that part of the story. Surprisingly, I actually found myself more intrigued with the main character’s career, but the horror aspect isn’t built up enough in comparison.

Overall, There is a Monster never really feels like it has a plan. With just five minutes left, it appears that the final act is beginning to be set up, but then it ends. More clues needed to be given throughout to help tie everything together, rather than asking the audience to reflect on the film and forgive at the very end. The more grounded and realistic approach revealed was satisfying and impactful, but the journey to get there was not.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5