Purely Joyful Movie!

Just so...so bad

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Good concept, poorly executed.

Three dangerous vixens, one giant tentacle monster.. it's a recipe for a good old fashioned disaster. In a good way, of course. In this brand new ozploitation flick, the glorious classic elements of the exploitation and the input of several characteristics of the monster genre collide. It's the best of both worlds. I wasn't expecting much, but the first few minutes caused my jaw to drop and my drool to escape. Just a figure of speech..It starts off with the three ladies hanging around in the middle of the desert in their broken down car, all shot in classy black/white, steady photography. Australian director Stuart Simpson is obviously paying a tribute to Russ Meyer's monumental classic 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'. It's an effective start and it immediately brings a certain attitude and vibe to it that fans of the traditional action/crime genre will definitely love.The happy, cheery vibe changes as we witness a terrible crime committed by the, apparently, hit-man-chicks. Monstro Del Mar shows a serious side, but at the same time it will never forget the essence of a great monster flick; taking a breath every once in a while and have a laugh. Plenty of room for silly activities, exploiting the female presence without getting to sexual or cheap.With only 75 minutes on the clock there will be little time to get distracted or bored with the ladies, the monster or the epic combination of both. The ending is one to remember and the fact that they used practical effects for the most part is something that made me smile from cheek to cheek. Stuart Simpson knows what's right, resulting in a mixture of genres that will entertain you in a way that most other modern exploitation revivals fail to do.It's not easy to point out exactly what makes Monstro del Mar that much different from the rest. We've all seen it before for as long as we can remember. Maybe it's the lack of convincing new material that makes this traditionally built piece of horror worth your while. Why change a killer recipe, right? The three vixens, Beretta, Blondie and Snowball are all played by first time actresses, making their part even more impressive. They play their roles as if they are having a good time, not as if they're trying to act.I could just repeat the above and call it an end, but I'd like to point out that it really is a refreshing film in the midst of all the crap released lately. Stuart Gordon, who began his career at Troma (where else?), has convinced me of his talent in a way that very few are capable of nowadays. Check this Australian masterpiece out whenever you can, it will be worth your time!

Not a lot of reviews of this one and it's a must-see for any Meyer fan as it is almost eerily reminiscent of the master at his best, so I'll add my opinion. Basically this is an Australian "Faster Pussycat" with 50s B-movie monsters thrown in. Despite a tiny budget, it's a lovingly crafted homage, which manages to capture the laid-back, slightly random atmosphere, mannered acting and general lack of morality of the original. The big difference: Meyer's trio of hellcats don't mind who gets hurt or killed along the way; but these three positively enjoy the carnage. The way they transform from sociopath bitches to front-line heroes when the monster attacks is a lovely touch.There's no sex or nudity, not a huge amount of tension but bags of style and plenty of dismemberment and gore. The four main female actors, especially singer, model and photographer, Nelli Scarlet in the leading role, look perfect in their parts and do a good job on the acting side despite having almost no experience. The guy in the wheelchair is also fine. The rather quirky direction and script, minimal storyline, etc. may seem strange to some, but, while this can't claim to be a great movie, it's a carefully-put-together piece of art. The pace never flags, with fun, violence and action all the way.Those reviewers who complained about, for example, the laughably awful special effects, haven't understood what is intended here. If you enjoyed "Pussycat", "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" and any of a host of crazy 50s monster-movies, you shouldn't miss this. If you're more into big-name stars, multi-million dollar Hollywood budgets and loads of CGI, better stay away.

Skeleton Man is the worst just so you have a comparison. Wow! Wow! This movie was a steaming dogpile of wretched octopus vomit. Who are you people that are reviewing this with lauded gusto? Holy Balls, I will never get my hour and whatever odd minutes of life back. The effects? The tentacles were all sock puppets. Someone literally bought a hundred plus socks, painted them green and put them on peoples hands. The plot? There were two of them, Hell if I understood any of them. The only redeeming quality was Kate Watts and that's only because I have a thing for Betty Page bangs. My IQ dropped 43 points from watching this alone. The best part about it is somehow it won like 400 awards. Seriously? They are weird awards like "Best movie 2010" from the Hoboken Community College claymation foundation, but they are awards. I thought this would be a fun movie. It was not. El Monstro Del Mar are there many people who speak Spanish in Queensland?

el monstro del mar had some pretty good things going for it but in my opinion is ultimately a failure. The directing team seems to have lots of potential but just couldn't muster up enough talent to make these half ass actors look good. I liked where they were going, three sexy bad girls on a killing spree fight for their lives against a tentacled beast from the ocean. Its a low budget grindhouse style film which happens to be one of my favorite genres but this one just didn't do it for me. The biggest problem is the actors; the three lead female bad girls are unattractive. They are a bunch of 3's dressed up as 9's and are only wasting my time. Its not that there is anything wrong with being unattractive its just that the role seemed to call for hot chicks and these girls fell short, also their tattoos looked stupid. This could all be forgiven if they maybe had some sort of acting talent, they vomit out their lines in a completely annoying fashion. I felt the whole movie dragged up until the last 10 minutes where it comes quite close to redeeming itself. Once the monster shows up for the final showdown the movie shows some huge potential and had I not been annoyed for the first house I could have seen myself really digging this movie. The monster looks cool and there is some nice gooey action that almost distracts from the horrible actresses fighting it off. I like me some low budget campy grindhouse-esque monster movies but el monstro del mar is hindered by terrible acting and cheap sound.