For me? ‘The Monster Club’ is the cinematic equivilent of a comfy blanket and a delcious hot drink. A gentle offering from Amacus productions in association with the UK broadcasting company ‘ITV’, ‘The Monster Club’ is a 3 part anthology series that, while pretty low on scares, is the perfect accompanyment to any halloween party.

The plot? A famous horror author (John Carradine) helps a passing vampire (Vincent Price) out with a late night snack, and in exchange said vampire offers to repay the author with a trip to the most exclusive ‘Monster Club’ a hidden venue that houses all the spooky creatures your could possibly imagine. When they arrive at the club they’re treated as honoured guests, and in a private booth Price regails the author with three tales of terror, including the story of a young woman who attempts to rob a ‘hideous’ (not really) loner who turns out to be more than she bargained for.

A young boy who gets caught up with an army of vampire hunters (led by Donald Pleasence) who’re on the hunt for his father. And the story of a film producer who takes a wrong turn into a terrifying netherworld filled with ghoulish cannibals! All broken up with some top shelf beats from the finest bands 1981 had to offer!

‘The Monster Club’ to me is somewhat imperfect, but I find that to be part of it’s charm, The script feels very much like a ‘Made for TV movie’ production (partially because it kind of was) but every flaw I find in this film, just presents itself as kind of charming. While the film seemingly has no intention of being family oriented, theres no blood, guts or gore on display here, theres a couple of moments of unsettling imagery, but other than a stripper scene (which itself is played for comedic effect and doesnt actually feature any nudity) this could quite easily have been a kids movie, if not a young adults feature.

The monsters all look SUPER fake, quite literally just people in halloween masks, or folks with their faces painted white and plastic dracula fangs, but its all part of the charm, it comes across to me as a kind of ‘old world’ horror aesthetic, a genre thats really kind of missing in the moder horror ecosystem. It’s a dorky little movie, but its so sincere in what it wants to do that I genuinely cant help but champion it as a fun and enjoyable work.

The script itself is a rip roarer, just over 90 minutes long and it really doesnt feel it. the weirdest (and biggest) problem this film has is simply that I feel it maybe could have gone a *bit* harder on the horror elements and that some of the translation from script to screen seems to not quite have gone to plan.

The first story is the one that suffers the most to me, the story of a young woman who takes a job cleaning the manor house of a ‘Shadmock’ (a beast that can cause awful things to happen if it whistles) the issue? both Price as the narrator AND the woman in the film state that ‘Shadmocks’ are hideous beasts, utterly disgusting to look at and frankly terrifying. When we meet our Shadmock however, he’s basically just a guy in white facepaint with slightly thicker eyebrows than normal. if anything he’s kind of handsome.

It totally defangs the story because, why build up that this creatures utterly hideous, only to then reveal him to be basically just a guy with a touch of anemia? While that story does end on a bit of a high, the flaw in presentation undercuts it unfortunately.

The second story is much more lighthearted, Donald Pleasence plays a pretty mean vampire hunter here, but while this is one of the few moments blood on screen is shown. it is essentially just a 20 minute runaround leading to a punchline that is just a little bit dumb. I really enjoy the vibe of it and just how cheeky and tongue in cheek it can be. But I think your milage may vary depending on how willing you are to sit through a lot of padding for some half decent performances and a relatively weak punchline.

For the hardcore horror fanatics, its the final story that’ll likely be the redeemer for this film, straight out of what feels like an 80s italian horror movie of the ilk of ‘Fulci’, this is a very atmospheric piece, thats low on gore and blood, but SO high on atmosphere, tension and the creepy factor that It always never fails to win me over. With a genuinely decent set of twists and turns, had this story been a feature length production i’d have been quite delighted, but as a short it works wonderfully.

The dialogue across the board is delightful, everyone seems to be having fun with the production, the direction and cine does have a vague heir of the ‘TV movie’ about it in places…But then there are moments that seem to surpass even some of the blockbuster studio heavy hitters of the year.

Its a heavily stylized production that bathes in that wonderful early 80s sense of kitsch horror and halloween. Which when married up to the UK sensibilities of the crew, locations and storytelling makes a totally unique and very enjoyable campy viewing experience.

Add to that some wonderfully animate and engaging performances, the killer soundtrack featuring tracks from UB40 and BA Robertson and its absolute adoration for rock solid lighting setups and vivid colour usage, and while I feel ‘The Monster Club’ wont be for everyone. I absolutely adore it. I try and catch it at least once a year if I can, and if your into your horror anthologies or the campier entries in Vincent Prices filmography as I am, im sure you’ll have an absolute blast with this one! MONSTERS RULE! OK!?

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-monster-club/