Since I’ve started this site, I’ve written a lot of reviews. In case you missed some of my earlier ones, I would like to share an older review of “Love in the Time of Monsters” which originally appeared here. This one holds a little more significance as it was the first screener I’ve ever received and I was also lucky enough to get a whole bunch of extra content including a clip later in the review.
Two sisters Carla and Marla (Marissa Skell and Gena Shaw) are on their way to a tourist trap known as “Uncle Slavko’s All-American Family Lodge” with its prominent themes of America and Bigfoot. Carla is there because she wants to surprise her boyfriend who works there and Marla just wants to have a good time. Meanwhile, the lodge’s Bigfoot mascots led by Lou (Kane Hodder) accidentally fall into a pond contaminated with toxic waste. This toxic waste causes them to become hungry, flesh-eating, monsters with one of them being Carla’s boyfriend. These Bigfoots are now on a bloodthirsty rampage, killing and eating anything in sight. Now both sisters and the inhabitants of the lodge must fight for their survival.
Here’s a clip of Dr. Lincoln (Doug Jones) explaining how the Bigfoots came to be:
I came into this with low expectations. This film exceeded them. When you see a film called “Love in the Time of Monsters”, you immediately think its one of those “so bad that its good” films but it’s better than that. The film stays away from that for the most part but does briefly touch it. More about that later. The first thing you’ll notice is how good it looks, it looks very clean but also a little grainy like old horror films. I found that it and also the soundtrack added to the ambiance the film was trying to create.The acting was also pretty decent for this kind of film. It really saved the dialogue which came off as cheesy a lot of the time but I thought it fit with the story. I liked how it was more of a comedy than horror and that it didn’t take itself too seriously which kept me interested in the story. I laughed a lot more than what I expected. I also liked that it had the right amount of gore and violence which made the bigfoots more scary in that we saw what they were capable of. Since they were originally human, they felt real in that the powers they got were not too over-the-top. I enjoyed how fake the animatronic animals looked. They were so bad but the actors were still committed. The film starts off a little slow but when it gets going, it really does get going. That brings me to my favorite part of the film which is near the end, and that’s all I’m going to say to not spoil anything. Overall, with parts that seem like they would not work together that do, a fun story, good special effects, and acting, Love in the Time of Monsters is a fun and entertaining film that both amateur and die-hard horror fans will enjoy.
Score: 8/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.