Monsters is a really cool film. It’s an indie Sci-Fi monster movie: no-name actors, tiny special effects budget, no distribution. But watching it you immediately see what is missing from the formulaic, CGI embarrassments that have become so ubiquitous these days. There have been a lot of films recently that try to capture the spirit of various cataclysmic events, including a bunch that deal with aliens living on Earth in various scenarios, but none of them come as close as Monsters does in painting something that seems real, and none of them are nearly as satisfying in the end as Monsters.

Why does it seem so real and why it is so satisfying? Beacuse Monsters takes the time to develop good old-fashioned atmosphere, built through simple, well-chosen settings, scenes and shots. The entire story is perceived through the two main characters, who are realistic, interesting, well-drawn, and nicely acted. The strange, unknowable menace of the so-called Infected Zone where the aliens reside is developed slowly and obliquely. Instead of using CGI to “thrill” the viewer, they use simply-developed ambiance – the slow approach to the infected zone (it’s amazing how effective a simple, obvious technique can be, like the repeated showing of road signs giving the distance to the infected zone,) the crazy adventure teams that are braving the infected zone to make money, and the multistage journey itself, with its frequent delays and mishaps which convey the utter chaos the aliens are causing in the region, and which also give the main characters plenty of time to talk! Without ever seeing the monsters you feel like you and they are both there – it’s old school film making, the kind of film making that made films like Missing so incredible. Monsters is not at the level of Missing (no where near it) but it uses some of the same basic visual techniques, and the result is a delight to watch.

I don’t have too much to say about Monsters, other than it is quite a fine little movie and I would highly recommend it to anyone.