Monster Man (2003) User Reviews

A monstrous mess! But still amazingly entertaining...

[The_Void · 7/10 · 3 January 2007]

Well, it has to be said that Monster Man is a huge mess of a film, but somehow multiple different genres and a clichéd plot come together to make one of the most enjoyable modern horror films I've seen in ages! The two biggest styles that the film mixes are a 'Road Trip' style teenage comedy and a 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' style redneck horror vibe, and while one gets in the way of the other quite often; director Michael Davis manages to keep things moving thanks to the fact that the constant shift in tone means that we're never quite sure where the film is going to be taken next. Things start out worryingly as we're introduced to two characters, both irritating in different ways. Adam is a wussy virgin, while Harley is a fat big-mouthed "A-hole". They're both driving across the desert to attend the wedding of some chick they both liked in high school. After a couple of strange events, they pick up a hitch-hiker, and then find themselves being chased by some maniac in a monster truck for reasons unknown...

The idea of someone being chased by someone else in a bigger vehicle is hardly original, but the way the monster truck is used here is one of the film's biggest assets. The truck itself looks spooky because it's so haggard and rusty, and the fact that it bounces around the screen makes the unfolding action exciting and suspenseful. After a while, you begin to get used to the characters and once Aimee Brooks enters the fray, things start to look up. The teen comedy side of the movie actually works pretty well, as Justin Ulrich is always on hand to deliver some entertaining lines of dialogue and the scenes between the dorky virgin and the hot female hitch-hiker are interesting enough. Just when you think the film couldn't possibly get any messier, things take a turn for the weird in the final third. Without spoiling things, it has to be said that Monster Man features the sort of ending that couldn't possibly be seen coming, and along with the twist, is a big surprise. Some people may feel ripped off by the sudden turn at the end - but I actually thought it worked quite well as it fits the film in that nothing here really fits... Overall, this isn't a 'great' film by any means - but if you're looking for some silly entertainment, Monster Man should hit the spot!

Gore comedy, hung together by absurdity...Good or bad depends on your own personal mood.

[Coventry · 5/10 · 20 March 2004]

Monster Man is a small and modest production, made by a bunch of people who're obvious genre-lovers and ambitious fantasts. I really can't be too harsh on it as the goodwill and enthusiasm of both cast and crew can count on my sympathy a lot more than the uninspired and plot and messy script. Unoriginal is one thing this film surely is since it borrows ideas from films like Spielberg's Duel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the Hills have Eyes and even Jeepers Creepers!! Seriously, why anyone would want to steal ideas from junk like Jeepers Creepers is a complete mystery to me, but still… The plot involves two lowlifes (a male virgin nerd and a boisterous, chubby joker) who're on their way to wedding of a girl they both worshiped in their youth. They pick up the inevitable hitch-hiking sexy babe, which leads to new cliché intricacies. Meanwhile, they're being terrorized by this huge Monster Truck, driven by a ghoulish and severely mutilated madman. The make-up effects in this film are playfully gore and the bloodshed is very explicit…Heads and limbs are cheerfully being crushed under the giant wheels of the truck and numberless `roadkill'-corpses appear out of nowhere. The comedy-horror approach of this film reminds you about other memorable titles such as Evil Dead II, Braindead and The Return of the Living Dead…however, I severely doubt that Monster Man will ever enjoy the same status in the field like the previously mentioned titles do. The extremely far-fetched and stupid climax is a bit too much and hard to swallow, even though I was in a generously mild and open-minded mood. Even for an absurd comedy, Monster Man has a dumb ending and that's a shame because the previous 80minutes are a well-intentioned attempt. Oh well…Monster Man will certainly be appreciated by young and over-enthusiast gorehounds and cinema thrillseekers… The more trained and experienced horror fans can keep themselves busy by tracking down the references and tributes to classic horror delights….IF they're in a good mood, of course.

Pretty good, gory little movie

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 20 June 2005]

Adam (Eric Jungmann) and obnoxious best friend Harley (Justin Urich) are driving cross country to a wedding. Along the way they pick up sexy hitchhiker Sarah (Aimee Brooks). Then, for no reason, a monster truck keeps trying to run them off the road...and maybe kill them. Who is doing this and why?

Pretty good horror film. Its energetic and full of flashy direction which gets you right into the action. It's also a horror comedy. Most of the humor is infantile and REALLY gross but actually somewhat funny. Also this movie really piles on the gore at times--but that's a GOOD thing! The acting is OK--Jungmann overplays his nerd role a bit much; Urich is stuck with the hopeless role of the foul-mouthed, sex-obsessed best friend--but pulls it off; Brooks is good too in a limited role.

BUT I could see the "twist" ending coming long before it happened and logic totally disappears at the end (especially the rescue). Still, this is a gory, sometimes funny and sometimes scary horror movie. I give it a 7.

Hilarious

[relwes · 8 November 2004]

I enjoyed this film as much as I've enjoyed any film recently. I admit that it's pretty trashy, and not particularly frightening, but I loved it. It's a gore-comedy basically, and I thought that it was absolutely hilarious. Very much in the fine tradition of Brain Dead (Dead Alive) and clearly influenced by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it takes the form of a college-road-trip movie plus monster-truck fun. I thought the road-trip part of the film was far funnier than most examples of that genre thanks to 2 good central performances, a witty script, and sharp directing. Then there's the gore which is a delight, with a string of outstanding corpse-jokes each outdoing the last for bad-taste. The atmosphere in the cinema during this film was brilliant, if you like real gross-out comedy (and I don't mean someone f***ing an apple pie) you will enjoy this film.

Funny and absurd horror comedy with a healthy dose of gore.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 19 June 2006]

Two city guys are driving through Hicksville USA when a rusty monster truck suddenly appears and repeatedly attempts to run them off the road.Having picked up a mysterious blonde hitchhiker,they pull up at a truck-stop full of redneck amputees,one of whom warns them of 'the demon out there'. But they don't listen.Big mistake!"Monster Man" by Michael Davis mixes comedy with horror surprisingly well.The film borrows heavily from "Duel","The Blair Witch Project","Jeepers Creepers" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".The story is pretty silly,but there is enough gore and violence to keep splatter freaks happy.I enjoyed especially the performance of Justin Urich,which offers the film its comedy relief.Still the complete lack of suspense is hard to forgive.Give this one a chance,if you have some time to waste.7 out of 10.Did I mention that Aimee Brooks is sexy?

Road Trip to Hell

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 22 April 2007]

While driving in a highway to the wedding of his beloved Betty-Ann, Adam (Eric Jungmann) is surprised by his former schoolmate Harley (Justin Urich) on the backseat of his car. Adam has broken off with the inconvenient and moron Harley because of Betty-Ann. Along their road trip, Harley makes fun of some rednecks in a bar and later their car is chased by a giant monster truck on the road. After some incidents, they give a lift to the hitchhiker Sarah (Aimee Brooks) and sooner the trio is terrorized by a scary monster driving the monster truck.

In spite of having one of the most annoying characters I have ever seen in a horror movie, the irritating Harley, "Monster Man" is a surprisingly good trash horror-comedy. The story is a collection of clichés, beginning like "Joy Ride" or "Duel"; then it turns to one of the countless rip-offs of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"; there is a surprising twist, ending with a hook for a sequel. There are hilarious scenes, Aimee Brooks is extremely sexy and this film really entertains. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Monster Man"

Monster Mash

[shes_dead · 2/10 · 20 February 2006]

What an absolute joke of a movie. The case for this film would have you believe it is Duel meets Jeepers Creepers meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Three good films in their own right and you would think, using their blueprint, MM couldn't go far wrong. Well that's what I thought, and I was very, very mistaken!

We follow two college students as they travel miles across the desert to reach a wedding. They pick up a girl (no she doesn't get her clothes off), then they get chased by a Leatherface rip-off in a Monster Truck, whom they aptly name F**kface (AKA Monster Man).

The Monster Truck I will admit is a very cool vehicle, but the less than suspenseful chase scenes ruin it's potential.

So MM decides he's got a bit of a grudge against these guys and chases them for a bit, they loose him for a while and stop at a bar full of amputees, then they go to a motel where lead character Adam sleeps with hitch-hiker Sarah (though they both wear underwear!). Then they are caught by MM, taken to his home where they escape death and try to kill MM, but fail, hence the set-up for the sequel. Apart from a minor 'twist', that's it.

If you can get past the first 2 minutes – where Adam's friend Harley pops up from hiding in the back of Adam's car to try to scare him, with no explanation as to how Harley even got there, how long ago or how Adam even failed to realise – without thinking you hate it already, then you may just enjoy this film.

Monster Man has very poor cinematography and direction which is immediately off-putting. This is the kind of movie that you'll be able to pick up as one of those films in a box set of 20 horror movies that you've never heard of.

What is so irritating is Blockbuster stock so many of these poor quality films that are shot on digital by some amateur film students, and that's exactly what MM is (though IMDb states this particular director was born in 1961).

The acting throughout this film is atrocious. The script, which the writer obviously considered to be funny, is irritating and childish. You get the impression only one draft was written before they started shooting. In fact, the script is do dire a lot of the film seems improvised, full of those boring, un-entertaining conversations that are only funny or important to the actual people involved. Imagine you filmed yourself and your buddies having a conversation, sure, points are funny – TO YOU, but mostly it's trash. That's what the script for MM is like.

Don't watch it for the gore either – it's fairly minimal and there are much better gory films out there (Bad Taste, Evil Dead et al…)

Jeepers Creepers 1 & 2, even with their cheesiness and plot holes, are far superior to this film. Compare the intro of Jeepers Creepers to the intro of Monster Man and you'll see what I mean.

cheesy fun!!!

[SpeedyFromTheBerks · 7/10 · 18 May 2006]

Ah, where to begin with MONSTER MAN, a down right cheesy, campy, all together fun movie. With that said, this is definitely not a movie for everybody's taste.

Adam (ERIC JUNGMANN-'NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE') and his pal HARLEY (JUSTIN URICH-'HOW HIGH') are on a road trip to a wedding. Along the way, they are stalked by a menacing Monster Truck with an even more menacing monster behind the wheel, the MONSTER MAN (MICHAEL BAILEY SMITH-'THE HILLS HAVE EYES' remake), hence the title. At first it seems has though he just likes messing with these two but it goes beyond that. Like when they spend the night in what looks like a seedy hotel. Harley has a dream of a sexual nature and starts fingering the wound of a dead cat that has some how ended up in his bed. All Harley's moaning and such causes Adam to wake up and look over at Harley to see what is happening. To shocked to say anything, he continues to watch as Harley draws the cat near his mouth and he starts to lick the wound. Of course, this causes him to wake up and his reaction is one to make you laugh. Also, they pick up a gorgeous hitchhiker along the way named Sarah (AIMEE BROOKS-'CRITTERS 3') who may or may not be what she seems to be.

I'll leave it at that and say watch MONSTER MAN. It may not be for your tastes and you can decide that after viewing. However, I got a kick out of it. This movie was written and directed by MICHAEL DAVIS, who did 100 GIRLS, a movie on different level but still entertaining. Watch that one too.

Average horror movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 1 January 2016]

I can't claim to be much fan of cars and engines, much less monster trucks. So I didn't really find that part of "Monster Man" exciting or particularly interesting.

This movie contains elements of horror, comedy and typical teenage flicks. And it did work out well enough, coming together nicely at the hands of director Michael Davis. That being said, then "Monster Man" wasn't particularly innovative or mind boggling.

I will say that the setup and execution of the movie was quite nicely done, and there was a good continuity throughout the entire movie.

However, it was the make-up and special effects that were most noteworthy throughout the course of this movie. And without giving away anything, then there is enough gore and mayhem to peek the interest of even the sturdiest of gorehounds.

"Monster Man" is not your average type of horror movie. And chances are that, if you are a horror fan, you will find the movie to be a bit too silly. Just like I did.

This is essentially a campy horror movie which does have some good moments here and there, just don't except to be blown away in any sense.

Odd mix of genres

[Verona · 7/10 · 25 April 2006]

Well, at least this movie was entertaining, and way better than "Cabin Fever". When I first saw the title, I expected something like from Werewolf (MST3K), a guy with a puffy hat driving a car.

The main guy, Adam looked like a strange mix of Jason Biggs and Matthew Fox, but was likable enough. His friend Harley was like a knock-off Jack Black mixed with Stifler.

Although the movie was uneven, jumping between (like another reviewer stated) Road Trip, Jeepers Creepers, JoyRide, Detour, Wrong Turn and The Last American Virgin.

I actually wrote down a few points to bring up to the good people of IMDb: 1.) Why was Harley wearing women's shoes? I don't even wear heels that big. 2.) Why the use of "a-hole"? They didn't hold back on any other swearing, so why stop there? 3.) Brother Bob (?) walked like he was doing the loco-motion. 4.) I'm calling for a industry-wide moratorium on the use of the pentagram as an evil symbol. Also, so she practices "witchcraft"? Why does it seem to be a scapegoat for horror movies that don't have another explanation (Curse of Michael Myers)? 5.) There's a "devils manual"? Can I get that at amazon.com? 6.) What a fortunate series of coincidences for the freaks! A virgin who happened to come along and fall into the series of strange occurrences. And also, is stated in the Ancient Texts that "someone must sleep with roadkill"? Did they have roadkill before cars? They didn't HAVE to explain it away, it just could've been a menacing prank by the Jeepers Creepers guy.

Anyway it was entertaining although uneven. Way better than Cabin Fever- I don't think it was trying to make any kind of statement, which is cool.

Wet dreams

[kosmasp · 3/10 · 17 September 2023]

No pun intended - this feels like a teenager made it. I checked the director was in his 40s when this was released. I reckon he remained a kid inside. Good for him - maybe not so good for most viewers of this. Of course like minded people will find it appealing - I remember writing similar stuff when I was a teenager. I like to believe I was a bit more sophisticated, but I can't really say I was for sure.

That all being said, two friends who prank themselves to death (not literally) and a hot ... woman ... yes there are a few more characters, but this is the core group of people we get to see most of the time. And they are annoying as ... well you put a word here you think is suitable. The effects are quite nice, though you can tell this is a no budget movie! Even technically it has not aged well either ... gender specific discrimination (I am putting it mildly and in a way that is not meant to offend anyone ... something the movie is doing all by itself) ... so nothing PC here - it will depend on your ability to let things go ... or how you feel about the immature characters and the also immature story ...

very funny, gory popcorn fare

[FieCrier · 8/10 · 2 December 2004]

Before watching this movie from beginning to end, I happened to just catch the last half hour. Ordinarily I don't watch a movie if I haven't seen it from the beginning, but a friend had it on and once I started watching it I couldn't stop.

I'm really surprised this movie didn't get a wide theatrical release. This is quite a funny movie (often gallows humor) , and the monster and monster truck in it are quite menacing. The monster makes Leatherface look pretty, and the monster truck is a like a cross between a World War I German artillery vehicle and a giant coffin.

A timid twenty-five year-old virgin guy is on a long drive to stop the woman he loves from getting married. His ex-best friend tags along and rags on him constantly. They're menaced on the road by a vintage black hearse and the aforementioned monster truck. They also pick up a hitchhiker, played by the very sexy Aimee Brooks.

I also watched the animated trailer with the director's commentary, and the electronic press kit and I found those both to be interesting. I would bet that the feature commentary with the director and the two male stars is pretty enjoyable too, but I have so many other movies to watch I've never seen before....

It's like "Jeepers Creepers" Meets "Clerks" in a Blender...

[MetalGeek · 7/10 · 7 October 2010]

I picked "Monster Man" out of the supermarket bargain bin due to its irresistible DVD cover art (a Leatherface looking dude and a mutant Monster Truck? Sold!) and the cheap price. I was expecting, at best, a "so bad it's good" kind of horror flick, but was pleasantly surprised when I watched it and found "Monster Man" to be fast moving, funny as hell, and totally enjoyable. I don't usually care for "horror comedies" (with a few exceptions) because most of them tend to focus mainly on the "comedy" and forget about the horror, but "Monster Man" caused me to laugh out loud numerous times and didn't skimp on the nasty stuff either, especially during the third act.

Our heroes this time out are the timid, obsessive-compulsive nerd Adam and his loud mouthed friend Harley (think Jack Black hopped up on several gallons of Red Bull) who are in the midst of a cross country road trip to attend the wedding of an old girlfriend. Adam's been carrying a torch for this gal for years and plans to inform her of his love for her when they arrive at their destination. Meanwhile, Harley is a non-stop gross-out machine, taking pretty much every opportunity he can to belittle, insult, and irritate Adam with a near endless stream of scatological and sexual innuendos. (Depending on how sick your sense of humor is, he's either gonna make you laugh your head off or he'll annoy the hell out of you almost immediately.) While stopped at a roadside bar, Harley (an equal opportunity offender) manages to tick off the town's oddly large population of amputee rednecks with his obnoxious commentaries, so it's not much of a surprise when they get back on the road and are nearly killed by a lunatic driving a gigantic, rusted-out Monster Truck that appears to have been constructed in Hell itself. (Harley: "I feel like we just played Drop-the-Soap with Godzilla, man!") Resolving to stay on the road and get the hell out of the area as quickly as possible, Adam and Harley's already strained relationship gets more complicated when they stop and pick up a gorgeous hitchhiker along the way. Even though they're trying to escape with their lives, the two men still begin a hilarious series of juvenile, one-upmanship gags trying to win her over until Mister Monster Truck appears again to finish them all off once and for all, sending the three on a chase up and down a stretch of deserted country roads before a finale straight out of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" at the lunatic's home base.

"Monster Man" is definitely not be the most original film I've ever seen, but it is still a fun one. The main strength is the witty, never ending banter between the smug Harley and the put-upon Adam (obviously inspired by Kevin Smith's "Clerks"), who are at each other's throats for much of the film, yet the pair put it all aside when the chips are down and things become life or death. The "twist" in the third act involving the hot hitchhiker can be seen coming from a mile away, but wait'll you meet the rest of her family! When you spend as much time diving in the DVD Bargain Bin as I do, you naturally go into movies like these with extremely lowered expectations. Fortunately, you also occasionally find a hidden gem, which is what happened with "Monster Man," an action packed, gory good time. It's a keeper.

Almost utterly without value

[peng88 · 2/10 · 20 June 2008]

I completely disagree with the previous reviewer: this movie has amusing moments but hardly a laugh riot. (unless you really think sipping from a septic tank and heads exploding in a vice are a laugh riot) In fact, the only reasons I gave this a 2 instead of a 1 are because a.) two of the actors are decent b.)the soundtrack is above average with some tuneful pop songs thrown in for contrast and c.)the monster truck is pretty terrifying.

Other than that, this is a movie with some intermittent, creepy or interesting ideas which are overwhelmed by unrelenting crassness, crudity and vileness. The former best friend character is one of the most annoying I've ever seen and the small grace that the hitchhiker character had disappears in yet another contrived twist ending that makes little to no sense at all.

A waste of the lead actor who shows some nervous charm and the aforementioned actress portraying the hitchhiking character...

That Monster Truck Was So Freakin' Cool! This Movie Is A Surprise Hit With Me.

[BigHardcoreRed · 22 February 2005]

I rented Monster Man because I thought watching people being chased around by a freak in a monster truck was kind of appealing, but I knew in my heart that I would be sorry, for I have been burned by the cool box covers many, many times now. I can honestly say, I am pleasantly surprised and I actually enjoyed the movie MUCH more than I ever thought I would.

I have to admit that they borrowed from many other movies of this type, most notably to me was Jeepers Creepers with the creepy vehicle and the freaky monster type. However, that monster truck was so cool. It was freakier than the truck thing used in Jeepers Creepers. Whoever designed that thing can be very proud of himself. I loved how the truck's front end raised up on it's hydraulics when letting off of the gas and dropped down when flooring it. When letting off the gas and quickly flooring it, it gave the impression of a hungry animal trying to bite it's prey, which was especially creepy and cool.

The two main characters, Adam and Harley (Eric Jungmann and Justin Urich), are two guys on opposite ends of the extreme. Harley is an obnoxious, loud mouthed punk and Adam is a meek and timid guy who needs to stand up for himself. Along the way to a wedding they were going to, they meet up with a beautiful hitchhiker named Sara (Aimee Brooks), who joins up with them from that point on.

The special effects were great, with the exception of the obviously rubber corpse. The roadkill scene was hilarious, whether or not it was meant to be. The monster truck was awesome. The Monster Man was creepy enough to make it work, despite the so-so appearance. Brother Fred was probably the creepiest and most likable at the same time (hard to imagine I know). Overall, if you are into the low budget horror movies, then I can recommend this one highly to you. The two main characters get annoying but the violence more than makes up for it. 7/10

Eli Roth....Please Take Notes

[Lord-of-Delusion · 7/10 · 14 May 2005]

This is how Cabin Fever SHOULD have been made. If you are going to make a slapstick horror movie, borrowing classic elements from the genre (and truthfully, what horror movie doesn't?), then this is how you do it. Stick to your guns, and make it fun from the first shot, and don't let off the gas! Monster Man truly surprised me in that it is some good, cheesy fun, but with some great gore! And the part where Harley is stuck under the corpse in the half crushed car trying to get out, is laugh out loud funny! Is this a perfect film? Far from it, but you need to take it at face value. You are in on the joke from the opening moments that nothing is going to be taken seriously in this movie, and if you watch it with that frame of mind, I think you will enjoy it. I mean, really. A mangled faced dude driving a MONSTER TRUCK? That premise alone sets it up for failure if you are going to try to play it straight. But there are some creepy elements to this movie as well (their first "out of truck" confrontation with the driver in the woods comes to mind), and it plays off the comedy w/out overlapping in some cases, truly reminding you that this is a horror flick. All in all, there are better movies out there, but God it's so refreshing to see something unique besides the constant churning of re-makes, and re-hashes. *******/**********.

A very enjoyable and gory comedy horror.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 30 January 2007]

The main bad guy of Monster Man is a messy patchwork quilt of flesh, stitched together by a loving relative after he is mutilated in an accident. Similarly, Monster Man, the movie, is a messy patchwork quilt of ideas and genres, which somehow manages to be thoroughly entertaining despite its lack of originality and an obvious identity crisis. Starting off as a road-trip/comedy and ending up as an homage to grindhouse horrors such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, this one sure ain't going to be to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed every dumb, blood-soaked minute.

Nerdy virgin Adam (Eric Jungmann) is driving to a wedding, where he intends to reveal his secret love for the bride before she gets hitched. On the way there, he discovers that his annoying ex-best friend, Harley (Justin Urich), has smuggled himself on board in an attempt to patch up their rocky friendship. The two argue and bicker, but are eventually forced to put their differences aside when they are repeatedly attacked by a hideous killer who hunts them down in a huge rusty monster truck.

Depending on your frame of mind, it is likely that you will either find this movie a whole heap of silly fun, or extremely annoying; fortunately, I was in the mood for something absurd and gory and Monster Man delivered the goods. Occasionally side-splittingly funny and quite often extremely creepy, director Michael Davis's crazy film just gets more and more insane with every passing minute, until the gore-drenched finale which has to be seen to be believed. Adding to the fun is the absolutely gorgeous Aimee Brooks, as sexy hitch-hiker Sarah, who joins the boys on their journey into terror (any girl who does Yoda impressions during sex is OK by me!).

Initially I'm going to rate Monster Man 7 out of 10, however I suspect that my love for this film will grow stronger with each successive viewing (especially if I've had a few beers beforehand!).

Please Don't Bother

[Ax-London · 3/10 · 11 April 2006]

Now don't get me wrong I love bad movies... no I adore bad movies, Troll 2.... ouch painful, Manos The Hands of Fate... just watch Torgo go, Guru the Mad Monk.. is that traffic noise in the medieval background? OK so that's clear, but this is one of those films that was quite obviously trying to be something better, but didn't make it. Why not? Well it would be easy to blame the plot, but heh we've seen worse, there weren't too many holes and heh I know there's not a lot of originality in it but then that needn't kill a film. The effects aren't bad (if you completely ignore the last scene), the monster is OK, the truck quite menacing so where did it go wrong? Well I'd love to blame it on the 'Chris Moyles' look-a-like Harley... so I will! Comedy and horror are difficult to mix well, bad comedy and horror even worse and there's the problem. I loathed this guy from the moment he stuck his head up (literally), the continual bating of the overly meek Adam becomes annoying, so annoying that you lose belief that the mildest of people wouldn't react by pushing him out of the moving car door... and I thought it was the monster bits that the director was meant to have trouble convincing us of. Why are bad movies fun? Well you have great fun poking holes in them, laughing at the script, all the howlers etc. This film doesn't make the coveted category of 'Worst Movies' because its just bad due to being annoying nuff said. Don't bother, go watch anything else and you'll be a better person for it... I promise! (Fade to chants of Torgo Torgo Torgo)

American Pie meet Jeepers Creepers

[owlfy · 7/10 · 3 October 2017]

How did I live without seeing this film until now? I feel my life is more complete now that I've experienced it. Even my significant other, who normally hates watching horror films with me, thought this film was so outrageous that she looked at me a few times and said "OMG, are you serious" and then laughed her face off. One of most hilarious horror comedies I've seen in quite sometime. It's very immature, over-the- top, and fairly gory. Of course I loved every minute of it.

Two bro's go on an road trip across country so one can tell his ex- girlfriend that he still loves her. On the way they are greeted by a deformed beast that attempts to run them off the road in a monster truck. He continues his attacks until one of them finds himself at the family home of the beast alongside his insane family.

This movie is so bonkers and depraved in so many areas. You have hints of incest, a bestiality scene with a dead and rotten cat (probably the funniest scene I've ever witnessed), and a beast who's lips is wired halfway shut and walks with a limp. His family is equally messed up. While the acting isn't the greatest and can be borderline Syfy channel bad, the way it's told and done makes it a must watch.

Monster Man is a Monster Mess!!

[BloodStone · 3/10 · 8 October 2006]

Last night, I am sitting in my TV room, beer in hand, bowl of pretzels on the TV tray & I decide to put the movie "Monster Man" into my trusty VCR. Expecting a fun-filled, gory, crash & bash cheesefest of a movie. What do I get instead? One of THE most silly, stupid, unfrightening & predictable films I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through. And what's even worse, all during the(& I use this next phrase loosely) "sex scene" the girl keeps all her clothes on! I'll make this summary short & sweet: mix "Dude Where's My Car" (about a good 1/2 of the film) with a very watered down "Hitcher", add a redneck version of the antagonist from "I Madman" as the primary villain & finally some incoherent black magic mumbo jumbo & you'll kind of get a clue how rotten this movie is. It's also utterly predictable throughout. The only notable factor to this buddy movie disguised as a "horror film" is that some of the moments between the 2 guys (even though the "hero" is one MAJOR annoying geek & the other is a Jack Black clone) are kind of funny (just mediocre funny i.e..like most of SNL skits). Other than that, "Monster Man" is a monster mess! 3/10 (This one I'll be handing out at Halloween time-just hope after the person views it I don't get my house egged or worse)

Not too bad, saved by the gorgeous Aimee Brooks & a good twist ending.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 1 November 2008]

Monster Man starts with friends Adam (Eric Jungmann) & Harley (Justin Urich) travelling across the desert highway to attend a friends wedding. While in a roadside bar Harley insults some of the locals & a short time later while back on the road the two friends are menaced by a large monster truck that tries to ram them off the road. Later that night at a roadside motel Adam wakes up to find some roadkill in his bed & along with Harley jumps in his car & speeds off only to discover stowaway hitchhiker Sarah (Aimee Brooks) in the back seat. They agree to give her a lift & carry on but the monster trucker won't go away & a trail of death & murder follows the three travellers across the lonely desert highway as they are pursed by a deformed psycho killer...

Written & directed by Michael Davis this comic horror film firmly has it's tongue placed in it's cheek & is a bit of a mix of genres & other films that have come before it, while Monster Man isn't a great film I did quite like it & the gorgeous Aimee Brooks helps as does a neat twist or two at the end which I genuinely didn't expect. Monster Man is best summed up as a light hearted comic cross between horror themed road films like The Hitcher (1986) & Jeepers Creepers (2001) & maybe there's a little of the backwoods horror of the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) & Wrong Turn (2003) thrown in there as well. The Harley character is a bit annoying at times & can get on your nerves although some of the comic dialogue is fairly amusing with some reasonable one-liners although there's very little horror in the opening hour or so & it actually felt more like the comedy film Road Trip (2000) before the outrageous horror, gore & silly twists kick in during the last third of the film which is where the majority of the entertainment value came as far as I was concerned. I was surprised that I was surprised that the twist surprised me! At the end of the day & at the end of the ninety minutes Monster Man is a fun modern horror film with an attractive cast, some over-the-top gore & violence & a fairly relaxed light hearted tone which makes it easy to watch & like. Monster Man doesn't have a point, it doesn't try to say anything deep or meaningful & it won't change your views on life or the world but for what it is you could do a lot worse.

Visually the best part of Monster Man is Aimee Brooks. Period. She is very sexy in this & looks great in her skimpy black outfit. I recently saw her in The Mangler Reborn (2005) as well & she's hot in that too. As far as the blood & gore goes there's some good stuff here & none of it's CGI, there's a mangled corpse with it's eyeball hanging out, a guy has his legs run over & squashed & then his head is run over, someone is cut in half, there's a guy with his stomach removed, there's a slashed throat, someone's head is crushed in a vice, eyes are poked out & someone runs into a knife & gets it impaled through his throat. There's one sex scene but strangely there's no nudity. According to the IMDb the monster truck used in Monster Man was built for a paltry $2,500 & it was actually made out of wood rather than metal which was spray painted. Apparently it only had a top speed of 30 MPH & the film was sped up & treated to try & give the impression of speed which it plainly didn't have in reality.

Apparently this had a budget of about $1,000,000 in Santo Clarita in California & the production values are slick enough, it's well made although the CGI monster truck scenes look poor. The gory prosthetic special effects are impressive. The acting is pretty good although Justin Urich as Harley can get really overbearing & annoying at times.

Monster Man is an entertaining & pretty gory comedy horror film that does tend to move around genres too much but there's some good twists & Aimee Brooks is a total babe who I could probably look at all day. Nowhere near the worst film ever & anyone looking for some light hearted horror, gore & fun could do a lot, lot worse.

At Least It Features the "Critters III" Girl

[aimless-46 · 5/10 · 25 March 2006]

While a parody of a lot of stuff and a genre hybrid, at its core "Monster Man" is another entry in the familial horror category started by "Psycho" back in 1960. The American family as demented in-breds who lure victims to a home they have turned into a slaughterhouse. Try to imagine a remake of Spielberg's "Duel" but instead of Dennis Weaver as the terrorized motorist you substitute an unfunny version of Laurel and Hardy; instead of the faceless tanker driver you substitute Leather-face from "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre"; and instead of a scary looking tank truck you substitute the big dune buggy from "The Road Warrier".

If this isn't bad enough you replace "Duel's" minimalist dialogue with a lot of Chatty Cathy banter from the pen of Michael Davis (the guy who gave us the script for "Double Dragon").

In "Monster Man" Stanley is called Adam (Eric Jungmann) and Ollie is called Harley (Justin Urich), a couple of students on a road trip mission to pull a "Graduate" type intervention at the upcoming wedding of Adam's unrequited love. The first 30 minutes of the movie are simply awful as there is no escaping Davis's horribly unfunny dialogue, although it could actually just be improv from the two marginal actors. Even the introduction of the "Monster Man" title character fails to improve things.

Then the film picks up a bit with the improbable appearance of "Mangler Reborn" girl Aimee Brooks, playing a voluptuous hitchhiker named Sarah. I began to actually pay attention at this point, in part because Brooks was the first sign that a professional actor was in the cast, but mostly because she is stunningly beautiful. Jungmann even gets to drool on her several times and I suspect that he financed the movie for exactly that purpose.

Unlike "Duel" the truck is not very threatening and Davis fails to generate much suspense but the production design is pretty good in a "Texas Chainsaw" kind of way and a lot of deformed people begin popping up in unexpected places.

For a short while near the end it looks like Davis is going to go out with an original ending and salvage the whole thing, turning it into an extremely twisted black comedy. Instead he wimps out and ends it conventionally. Which at least gives things a consistent retarded quality. Aimee can't entirely save this mess but she elevates it from painful to tolerable.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Road Trip meets Jeepers Creeps

[IndieGods · 8/10 · 5 June 2005]

A beautiful woman, a backwoods, inbred monster man, a super sweet monster truck, a road kill zombie brother and 2 friends...one anal retentive, overly sensitive nerd and the other a foul mouthed, adolescent slob. Throw them all together with a dash of Jeepers Creepers, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Road Trip and you've got Monster Man. A hilarious horror/comedy outing that never sets out to "say something". It's a simple, straight forward laugh fest. Unpretentious and well made, this horror/comedy is at its heart, a buddy flick. This film offered some hilarious and sickening set pieces. I highly recommend this to fright fans looking to be entertained.

funny, fun , and lots-o-blood.

[stormruston · 7/10 · 18 December 2005]

This was a real surprise and a great treat.

Rates with the best of the lousy/fantastic B movies, these guys came dangerously close to making a classic! This is all the good bits of craziness from all the good B movies thrown into a blender and full of humor mixed with gore blood and the odd scare.

Very tongue in cheek, very violent, and that is why we watch these things.

The special effects are admirable considering the budget and the actors are charismatic and funny.

really worth a look.

boring piece of crap

[mr.slut · 2/10 · 25 June 2004]

Heard some good remarks about this film as being very gory and frightning, but it's neither. Obviously the screenwriter wanted to do a scary horror film but at the same time inject some teenage comedy for the young target audience. Scares and comedy seldomly result in good films, the same goes for MONSTER MAN.

Not really funny, nor scary or overly enjoyable on ANY other level.

Aproaching 39 years of age I've seen my share of horror movies. I have seen good ones and terrible ones, but the crop of films released these days are so frighteningly mediocre it bores me to watch 'em. The acceptance these days for bad films like this is what really annoys me. Let's face it, they produced a lot of crap in the 70's, 80's and 90's but they were regarded as such then as well. Today they're regarded as "good entertainment". - Bollocks!