Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Jon Knautz

Writers:

John Ainslie (screenplay)
John Ainslie (story)
(more)

Release Date:

19 November 2008 (Philippines)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

...I used to be a plumber

Plot:

As a child Jack Brooks witnessed the brutal murder of his family. Now a young man he struggles with a pestering girlfriend...

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Flashback Sequence | Bitten Hand | Panic Attack | Smashed Skull

Awards:

7 wins

Cast

Robert Englund	...	Professor Gordon Crowley
Trevor Matthews	...	Jack Brooks / Forest Troll
Daniel Kash	...	Counselor Silverstein
David Fox	...	Howard
Dean Hawes	...	Emmet
Rachel Skarsten	...	Eve
James A. Woods	...	John
Ashley Bryant	...	Kristy
Stefanie Drummond	...	Janice
Chad Harber	...	Pat
Patrick Henry	...	Trevor
Meghanne Kessels	...	Suzy
Meg Charette	...	Erica
Kristyn Butcher	...	Celia
Andrew Butcher	...	Raymond
Simon Rainville	...	Slim
Matthew Stefiuk	...	Omar
Brennan Delaney	...	Student #1
Valerie Casault	...	Student #2
Austin Macdonald	...	Young Howard
Evan Gilchrist	...	Young Jack Brooks
Ariel Waller	...	Cindy Brooks
John Ross	...	Charles Brooks
Victoria Fodor	...	Gene Brooks
Derrick Damon Reeve	...	Cyclops
Danielle Kind	...	Waitress (as Dani Kind)
Joshua Bogues	...	Herb
Brad Gibb	...	Radio DJ
Rick Bramucci	...	Gym Teacher
Pascal Petardi	...	Janitor
Steve Stransman	...	Tall Student
Christina Sauvé	...	Student
Melinda Gilhen	...	Yogalates Teacher
Monica White	...	Yogalates Student
Allisa Boardley	...	Yogalates Student
Catherine Grgicakuk	...	Yogalates Student
Norman Mikeal Berketa	...	Man in Hardware Store
Blue	...	Waldo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Trevor Matthews	...	Jack Brooks

Directed by
Jon Knautz

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Ainslie		screenplay
John Ainslie		story
Jon Knautz		screenplay
Jon Knautz		story
Trevor Matthews		story
Patrick White		story

Produced by
Neil Bregman	....	producer
Trevor Matthews	....	producer
Patrick White	....	producer

Original Music by
Ryan Shore

Cinematography by
Joshua Allen

Film Editing by
Matthew Brulotte

Casting by
Don Carroll
Sara Kay
Jenny Lewis

Production Design by
Jason MacIsaac

Set Decoration by
Naaron Fijalkowski

Costume Design by
Sarah Armstrong

Makeup Department
Molly Adey	....	key hair stylist
Patrick Baxter	....	makeup lab technician
Brandi Boulet	....	key makeup artist
Allan Cooke	....	creature effects
Allan Cooke	....	key special makeup effects
Anna Finlayson	....	assistant makeup artist
Reagan Forsythe	....	daily makeup artist
Kerry Price	....	assistant hair stylist
Jacqueline Robertson Cull	....	hairpiece maker
David Scott	....	special makeup effects artist
Anthony Veilleux	....	additional sculptor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
J. Michael Dawson	....	first assistant director
Rebecca Hu	....	second assistant director
Ryan Lee	....	third assistant director
Sean Parker	....	trainee assistant director

Art Department
Shawn Buffington	....	set dresser
Tim Cordes	....	assistant property master
Greg Goldsack	....	property master
Steve Sanger	....	assistant set decorator trainee
Philip Wood	....	art department coordinator

Sound Department
Michael Baskerville	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steve Copley	....	foley mixer
David Evans	....	supervising sound editor
Chris Inwood	....	boom operator
John Loranger	....	first assistant sound editor
Chris Newton	....	sound mixer
Adam Raley	....	re-recording mix assistant
Paul Shubat	....	sound re-recording mixer
John Sievert	....	foley artist
Randy Wilson	....	foley mixer

Special Effects by
Kevin Carter	....	special effects contact lenses
Allan Cooke	....	special effects assistant
Steve Sanger	....	special effects assistant
Steven Sanger	....	special effects assistant
David Scott	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Ann-Marie Blommaert	....	visual effects project manager
Dan Brittain	....	digital compositor
Kyle Brydges	....	effects assistant
John Fukushima	....	lead compositor
Jeremy Price	....	visual effects
Marcus Rait	....	physical effects supervisor
Noel Wright	....	compositor

Stunts
Andrew Butcher	....	stunt performer
Kristyn Butcher	....	stunt double
Sandra Floyd	....	stunt double
Melinda Gilhen	....	stunt double
Nathalie Girard	....	stunt double
Don Gough	....	stunt performer
Howard Green	....	stunt performer
Howard Green	....	stunt performer
Brent Jones	....	stunt performer
Annie-Claude Lapierre	....	stunt performer
John Ross	....	stunt coordinator
Aaron Thompson	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Michael Battistone	....	electrician
Ambrose J. Buffington	....	grip
Albert Camicioli	....	still photographer
Angela Chao	....	second assistant camera
Vanessa Ireson	....	first assistant camera
Krista Lane	....	electrician
Jason Luke	....	second assistant camera
Matt Marek	....	Steadicam operator
Matt Marek	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Hugh McJanet	....	gaffer
Rich Pryce	....	generator operator
Eduardo Sarmiento	....	best boy electric
Mark Zanin	....	camera trainee

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Melanie McNeill	....	daily costumer
Megan Oppenheimer	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Jim Fleming	....	digital film colorist
Ryan Kuba	....	digital intermediate coordinator Technicolor Creative Services
Chris Mayo	....	conforming editor: HD

Music Department
Peter Fuchs	....	scoring mixer
David Hayman	....	music supervisor
Ryan Shore	....	conductor
Ryan Shore	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Shawn Buffington	....	production assistant
Laura French	....	production assistant
Melinda Gilhen	....	production coordinator
Jason Harper	....	production assistant
Katharine Jane Reid	....	script supervisor
Ian Smith	....	location manager
John Wade	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Brookstreet Pictures
• Sound Venture Productions

Distributors

• Epic Pictures Group (2008) (worldwide) (all media)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinestar (2008) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Kinosmith (2008) (Canada) (theatrical)
• 21st Century Pictures (2008) (Australia) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Carisma (2008) (Poland) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Television (2008) (Romania) (TV)
• Transformer (2008) (Japan) (all media)

Special Effects

• Form & Dynamics

Other Companies

• EverStudios  movie posters
• Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra  music performed by

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and gore, and for language.

Runtime:

85 min | Argentina:90 min (Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre Film Festival)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Australia:MA | Australia:MA (2008) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB)

Filming Locations:

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Brookstreet Pictures

Trivia:

No CGI was used in this film for any of the effects.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The sign on the desk of Dr. Silverstein, Jack Brooks' shrink, misspells "counselor" as "councilor". (Despite various international spellings, a "councilor" is still someone who works for the council, and a "counselor" is someone who counsels.)

Movie Connections:

Followed by Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer II (2010)

Mad, Mad Monster Party!

The ambitions of director Jon Knautz and his entire cast & crew were obviously limited, but nevertheless admirable. All they ever intended to do was bring homage to the glorious horror decade of the 80's and make a nonsensical movie with clichéd themes, stereotypical characters and over-the-top gooey make-up effects reminiscent to the movies the young filmmakers grew up with, like "The Evil Dead" and "Demons". I saw this film at the Belgian Fantasy Film Festival, were it fulfilled the role of ideal midnight movie crowd-pleaser. "Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" offers plenty of splatter, absurdly crude humor, identifiable anti-hero characters, silly story lines and – last not least – Robert Englund himself in another terrific supportive B-role. Jack Brooks is an ordinary twenty-something man, working as a plumber during the day and attending chemistry classes in the evening in order to reach a more valuable certificate. He suffers from one major problem, though. Ever since he helplessly witnessed his family getting butchered by a forest monster as a child, Jack can't control his anger and regularly suffers from aggressive outbursts. When his teacher, Professor Crowley, gradually transforms into a monstrous entity after a plumbing job gone awry, Jack comes to realize the monster slaying business is exactly the type of anger management he needed. "Monster Slayer" is pretty weak in the plotting department, as you can see, but this widely gets compensated by the enthusiast spirit and determination of everybody involved in the production. The film starts off a little slow and hesitant, but once Prof Crowley starts undergoing his transformation, there's no more stopping the camp and cheese! You can clearly notice how genre veteran Robert Englund enjoyed helping out the young crew and the make-up department seemingly just received a carte-blanche. The monster designs and demonic grimaces are delightfully cheesy and gross, just like they were in the 1980's, and the film constantly remains comical and light-headed in spite of the gory bloodshed. Trevor Matthews is terrific as the reluctant Bruce "Ash" Campbell typed horror Savior and he receives good support from various other young and (still) unknown players. "Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" is a totally unpretentious and entertaining throwback to B-cinema, and even though it'll never be regarded as a classic, it's warmly recommended viewing for all fans of the genre.