No Such Thing As Monsters (2019)

I am excited! I have lately been seeing a very encouraging trend when it comes to independent horror films coming out of Australia. While Australia has not been releasing many films that have made any serious noise of late, the indie underground is seething and I can see (or at least hope for) a possible explosion of cinematic creation soon to hit from Down Under. As a reviewer, I get some access to such indie work, but there has to be more out there that I don’t get to see, and I’m certain that much of it is quite awesome. An Ozploitation revival may soon become a reality… and with new standards of quality. Stay tuned!

OK, now to focus on the task at hand, so… No Such Thing As Monsters, Stu Stanton‘s 2019 horror feature tells the story of Mary (Angel Giuffria) and David (Matthew Clarke), a young couple, who decide to go camping for the weekend to spend some alone-time and connect with nature. Their plans get completely ruined when a strange family of three sisters, Nelly (Michaela Celeste), Becca (Rebecca Fortuna) and Amy (Georgia Crisfield Smith), and a brother, Elmer (Jacob Fyfe), arrive to share their camping ground. What happens from that point on is definitely something Mary and David did not see coming. As the IMDb synopsis above reveals, the intrusive family are, indeed, psychopathic and proceed to terrorise the young couple.

Stanton‘s direction is quite steady and the film looks fantastic. I was greatly impressed by the look and production value. The cast was quite impressive as well. Angel Giuffria equated herself well in the main role overall. There were a few spots where I wondered if she had been miscast in some way, but then again, she has the most screen time by far and still kept my interest throughout the full film and I was not bored at any point. Carrying most of a feature in this way is no easy feat, so kudos to her. Matthew Clarke was very likeable. I think he has some charisma and I look forward to seeing him in a starring role with more heft in the near future, here he was somewhere between co-star and supporting cast.

Speaking of supporting cast, Michaela Celeste, to me, was the standout in this film. She skillfully maneuvers from relatable, nice person to complete psycho without effort and with maximal results. She was by far the most interesting character to me and thus, my favourite. Rebecca Fortuna also did a great job in such a role, in fact, her normal girl act was creepy enough all on its own to keep substantial tension in the film before her family’s intentions reveal themselves. Jacob Fyfe‘s did an admirable job in my opinion, but I think his character was not as well written as the others and thus, less effective. He did carry the role of the weaker of the bunch in a family ruled by females quite well. Georgia Crisfield Smith‘s portrayal of Amy, was with a certain degree of difficulty, so without spoiling much, I’ll just say that she impressed me by creating a character that we are never entirely sure about and to me, was somewhat wasted in the grand scheme of the story. Two characters who make quick appearances and are a missed opportunity in my mind were David Macrae as “Grandpa” and Rohana Hayes as “Mother“. Hayes‘ character is especially an intriguing one that appeared too late in the film and did not receive enough treatment. Developing her character, which has such imposing presence, further would have greatly enhanced the film.

The soundtrack by MyIndie featured artist, composer Jamie Murgatroyd, was spot-on! It created the right sense of atmosphere in different stages of the film. The score also helped give the film a more “Ozploitation feel” in spots, which was refreshing.

While it is a horror film, and in my eyes, in some respect bears some structural similarities with films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it is not extremely gory but rather thrives on tension and suspense as opposed to jump scares and copious amounts of blood. Having said that, it still has its moments in the gore department, which should please some horror fans, though it mostly leaves things to our imagination. Which is preferrable to my taste.

I can nitpick on certain aspects, but overall I couldn’t find much to complain about with this film, mostly because I thoroughly enjoyed it and definitely recommend it to others. However, the one aspect that, in my humble opinion, needed more work, is the script and depth of characters and their motivation, as well as plot development. Certain aspects were just touched on, then brushed past and some moments felt like they were tacked onto the story, but were kind of unnecessary or just less skillfully added into the storyline. Stanton and co-writer Karen Elgar did a fine job, but could have definitely improved the film another level had these aspects of the script been sharpened. However, all in all, I think that No Such Thing As Monsters is an admirable effort and a huge accomplishment with cult-status potential. I look forward to seeing what Stanton comes up with next.

Tense, engaging and exciting. 7.5/10.