My hat is off to screenwriter Anna Shields, who also portrays the lead character in this film. She’s got some real chops. MONSTROUS does a fine job of subverting expectations. Things don’t play out the way you expect them to. The flick is fresh and inventive and, supported by strong performances by all the principal players and by an effective (if seldom clearly seen) practical monster. The inciting incident that sets off the Sasquatch, having its child killed by a collision with a car, has been done before—in 2014’s EXISTS—but that hardly detracts from the film. The inciting incident is, um, incidental to the overall story. Unlike in EXISTS, there’s no mystery to be revealed as to *why* the monster is on a rampage. MONSTROUS shows you why, right at the beginning. What matters with this one is what happens next. And what happens next isn’t what you’d expect to happen. That’s probably because, in the original draft of the script, Bigfoot didn’t play a part in it. By adding him to the mix, innovation is achieved.
There is another film we can add to the list of topnotch killer Bigfoot flicks, and that film is MONSTROUS. It belongs near the top.