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Synopsis: A washed-up musician teams up with a teacher and a kids show personality to protect young children from a sudden outbreak of zombies. (IMDB)
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Alexander England, and Josh Gad
Writer: Abe Forsythe
Director: Abe Forsythe
Rating: n/a
Running Time: 94mins
Trailer: n/a
There are just these types of films that are so ridiculous that they somehow work. Little Monsters is one of those films. After premiering earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, it has made quite the splash (and would be a worthy companion piece for Us). This is a near-perfect midnight movie as it has everything one would expect, plenty of violence and wildly offensive humor that worked much more often than not. However, please don’t dismiss it just yet as it manages to balance all the craziness with a surprising amount of heart not to mention that it is a blast to watch.
The story here was about a washed up and immature musician named Dave (England) who was trying to get his life back after a nasty breakup. His fortunes would change once he laid his eyes on his nephew Felix’s (Diesel La Torraca) kindergarten teacher Miss Caroline (Nyong’o). Dave’s love of Miss Caroline eventually took him to a field trip with Felix and Miss Caroline’s class. That field trip would of course go wrong once they would be at the center of a zombie outbreak (suffice it to say that they why does not really matter in the case). Needing to protect her students, Miss Caroline would step up as would Dave.
Ultimately, the film would not have worked nearly as well if not for the performances across the board, children included. Nyong’o was superb as Miss Caroline, going from a nurturer to a straight up badass while taking charge of the situation. England was hysterical as Dave (admittedly thanks to some great material). putting both his charisma and comedic timing on display. The chemistry between he and Nyong’o was the best part of the film as their dynamic ensured that the film never fell of the rails. Meanwhile, Gad stole plenty of scenes as a children’s entertainer named Teddy McGiggle.
Overall, Little Monsters was a near-perfect midnight movie (and also one of the best films of the year) and a blast to watch with plenty of violence, wildly offensive humor, and also a surprising amount of heart. It’s ridiculously over-the-top but it never fell of the rails thanks to another excellent performance from Nyong’o and also England, who is a name to look out for, and Gad
Score: 9.5/10
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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.