Sean Parker
Christina Ricci, fresh off the hit first season of Showtime’s Yellowjackets, is set to take the UK by storm this weekend at FrightFest Glasgow in director Chris Sivertson’s 1950’s horror-thriller Monstrous (2022). Ricci plays traumatized mother Laura, who is trying to escape from her abusive ex-husband with their son, Cody (8-Bit Christmas’ Santino Barnard). Seeking refuge from one monster, the two find a stunning home in a remote rural location. They soon find a different kind of monster in their home, leaving their story far from the intended happily ever after.
Director Chris Sivertson is no stranger to genre films. With credits that include screenwriting Jack Ketchum’s disturbing horror novel, The Lost; co-writing and co-directing supernatural zombie film All Cheerleaders Die with Lucky McKee; and directing the Lindsay Lohan doppelganger thriller I Know Who Killed Me, Sivertson is certainly well versed in horror and suspense.
Sivertson and writer Carol Chrest have created a remarkable premise in Monstrous (2022), one that puts Laura and Cody in a nuclear-era monster movie during the age of monster films while also calling out taboos of the time. A subtle stare from her realtor’s wife (Clue’s Colleen Camp) gives the judgmental feeling divorced single mothers facing hard decisions must have felt at the time and likely still feel in some capacity to this day. There are also clues toward the subservient role of 1950’s housewives, highlighting dismissive male tactics of hysteria, which in Monstrous’ (2022) case embodies the questioning of Laura’s drinking habits. The use of The Creature from the Black Lagoon on the tv and the director’s use of the imagery at a nearby pond also offers the possibility that everything here may not be as cut and dry as it seems.
Monstrous‘ (2022) trailer is affecting and imminently drives the excitement factor up as we await its release. The film premieres in the UK at FrightFest Glasgow on March 12, ahead of a wide international release later this year.
