THE MONSTER WITHIN (2025)

3 stars

Seven Tales. Digital. 2nd March

The film opens well with a woman gagged and tied up in a basement. Crying for help. She manages to get up and tries to use a handy axe to cut the ropes – then we hear the sound of gurgling and growling from a monster as we see its talon like hands. She is attacked and killed by this creature.

In an isolated farm Garrett (Edward Jack Cole) goes about his daily tasks – cross cut with flashes of the beastie and its victims.

He is in therapy. He explains he has things that rely on him. Well you would if you had a killer beast hidden away in a trunk… he sits in a park alone, watching as people go past. Searching for the next target to feed the horror he cares for…

The farm he now runs was passed down to him – his great great grandfather purchased the land from a group of American Indians. Which probably wasn’t the best move. He recalls the dark times from his childhood after his father had been given the estate. There are rules for those that inherit – which involves kidnapping girls (as it doesn’t like males) for the thing that resides in the trunk…

Originally called INHERITANCE – the new title makes more sense. I guess THE MONSTER WITHIN has a dual meaning, with Garrett tussling with the facts of what has been passed down to him, and what it means he has to do, and there literally being a monster in his house, as it were. Can he get rid of this burden?

This is an interesting variation on the serial killer – though due to budgetary considerations much of the violence is just off screen. Directed by Dino Long, it has a strong, sometimes overpowering, musical score by Eamon Long, who was also the Director of Photography and Editor. The scenes with the therapist try to explore what is going on with Garrett, but do drag the narrative and are choppily edited, with slightly staccato acting and delivery which undermine the effectiveness of scenes.

The ending is somewhat abrupt – then it has a coda.

Steve Kirkham