Monster Man

Think of this regrettable backwoods schlocker as an amalgamation of other filmic ideas all wrapped up in ‘Scary Movie’-style humour. Two city lads are driving through Hicksville USA when a rusty monster truck suddenly appears and repeatedly attempts to run them off the road (see ‘Jeepers Creepers’ and ‘Duel’). 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’ (‘Blair Witch’). But they don’t listen; in fact, they wind up getting lost, witnessing someone’s head being squished, waking up with roadkill in their motel beds (‘The Godfather’?), even tucking into a ghoulish lunch (‘The Hitcher’). And when they do finally encounter their limping adversary, he turns out to be a bloody clone of Leatherface from ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. Apparently, the film was shot in just 23 days; perhaps director Michael Davis should have allowed more time and not written the script himself. Sporadically funny it may be, but it’s also stereotypical, clichéd, amateurish, stupid and often quite sick.