User Reviews

Monsturd is set in Butte County, California where convicted serial killer Jack Schmidt (Brad Dosland) has just escaped from 'Hardell Maximum Security Prison', cut to 'FBI Field Office Sacremento' where agent Susan Hannigan (Beth West) is told to fly out to Butte County & work with Sheriff Tom Duncan (Paul Weiner) in the apprehension of Schmidt. Meanwhile evil genetic 'Dutech' scientist Dr. Stern (Dan Burr) has disposed of his latest failed experiment down the County's sewer system so when Schmidt hides in the sewers & accidentally falls into a vat of this chemical waste it comes as no surprise that he transforms, his genes & the poo in the sewers are all mixed together & mutated by the chemical which creates the Monsturd, a creature made totally out of human poo. Soon after a spate of incidents are reported in which people are killed on their toilets alerts the Sheriff & together with Susan quickly figure out what's going on. They join forces to destroy the Monsturd although their task isn't help by the towns annual Chilli Cook Off which will force people to use the toilet & literally become sitting ducks(!), will the Monsturd be stopped in time...

Written, directed & starring Rick Popko & Dan West Monsturd is a unique film, probably. Whether you like Monsturd will depend on your sense of humour I would guess, if you like juvenile tasteless toilet humour Monsturd is for you, if not then it most certainly isn't & it's as simple & straight forward as that. Personally I have that childish mentality & immature sense of humour which meant that I thought Monsturd was really funny in parts as there are plenty of poo jokes & double entendres, from being set in Butte County to someone trying to trap the Monsturd using peanuts, corn & farting noises as bait along with people dressed in diapers as armour & devising a plan to unleash a million flies onto the Monsturd so they will eat him! Yes folks this is quality & highly intellectual stuff all the way! Monsturd moves along at a nice pace & at only 80 odd minutes long it doesn't outstay it's welcome & thankfully never takes itself seriously. As a whole the film is very silly & doesn't have much of a story, the character's are basic as is the dialogue which is littered with swearing but sometimes you need to hold your hands up & say even though a film has no real artistic or social merit it sure as hell is funny & entertaining & I'd say Monsturd fits that bill perfectly. I liked it, so sue me.

Directors Popko & West give themselves all the best lines as the two bumbling deputies & considering the budget this had I thought they did a pretty decent job overall. In one way I was disappointed that the film was actually more restrained than I would have liked, they really should have piled on the gross humour, fart gags & poo jokes, while they are here there not as offencive as you might think. The only gore is when some mutilated body parts are discovered complete with wriggling maggot's & worms. The Monsturd itself looks rather silly & a bit too, erm, solid if you know what I mean. Apparently the original title for this was Number 2 Part 1 which I think is quite funny in itself, toilet humour don't you just love it?

With a supposed budget of about $3,000 the filmmakers did absolute wonders & to it's credit it is at least competent, the locations are good & it looks alright. The acting isn't up to much but I've seen a lot worse in far bigger budget films.

Monsturd definitely isn't a film for everyone, of that there is no doubt but I found it perfectly good, childish, funny, gross out entertainment that brought a smile to my face on more than a few occasions. I simply have to mention the closing theme song as it's absolutely hilarious & worth an extra star on it's own, here's a quick sample...

'I'm here to warn you although it must seem absurd, to be aware of a giant Monsturd...' 'When the s*it goes down he may be in your town, don't get caught with your pants down...' 'Don't be a fool don't drop the kids at the pool, oh yeah he's one cruel stool...' 'Number two he does what dodo's do...' Number two he smells like poo...' 'Silent but deadly you'd better beware, he might just be in your underwear...'

Total class, what more needs to be said? The best killer poo film ever, period.

A different set of critical criteria must be used when discussing a movie like 2003's "Monsturd," as opposed to, say, "Bonnie and Clyde" or "Wild Strawberries." Rather than seeking out subtle religious symbolism, impeccable acting, complex mise en scene or probing examinations of man's place in the universe, the issue boils down to one all-important question: Is the movie fun? Happily, in the case of "Monsturd," the answer is a decided yes. In it, the viewer meets escaped serial killer Jack Schmitt, who falls into a mess of experimental waste dumped down the sewer by the evil corporation Dutech and transforms into an 8'-high, lumbering (and to quote what is perhaps the picture's most amusing line) "fecal humanoid." And this sentient dejecta's propensity to attack the citizens of Butte County, CA through their toilets becomes even more problematic with the arrival of the area's annual chili cookoff! Anyway, this film (if one can even call it a film, having been shot straight to video) features higher production values than you might be expecting, and indeed looks a lot better than it deserves. Some of the gross-out scenes are fairly effective, and you will probably not feel like scarfing down chocolate pudding for many days after watching them. Naturally, the picture sports much in the way of toilet humor, some of it lame, much of it pretty funny (such as the sight of our heroes gearing up to do battle with the Monsturd by donning diaper helmets and priming their Super Soakers with anti-diarrhea medication...law and ordure!). The acting is so very amateurish that it is quite a hoot; too bad they couldn't get actresses Alison Doody and Merrin Dungey to star in this thing...and Italian filmmaker Pupi Avati to direct, for that matter! So yes, on the criterion of fun, "Monsturd" does satisfy. And for those who are interested, I've got the perfect title for a possible sequel. Are you ready? "Humanure"!

Serial killer Jack Schmitt (beefy Brad Dosland) escapes from prison and seeks refuge in the city sewer system. After being exposed to dangerous toxic chemicals dumped in the sewer, Schmitt gets turned into a large lethal hulking humanoid turd monster who embarks on a murderous rampage. It's up to boozy Sheriff Duncan (likable Paul Weiner) and feisty fed Agent Hannigan (a winningly perky performance by Beth West) to figure out a way to stop the foul fecal fiend before it turns the annual chili cook-off into a grisly bloodbath. Writers/directors Dan West and Rick Popko gleefully wallow in the expected lowbrow toilet bowl humor with infectiously merry and smutty aplomb: Besides the inevitable jokes about corn and peanuts and plenty of poo-poo puns in the dialogue (sample line: "You got to be s**tin' me!"), we've also got a charming, lovely and tasteful gag about excessive puking, a stoner hippie ventriloquist dummy, a spot-on "South Park" sideswipe, and in-joke character names like Dr. Corman. The cast play their parts with praiseworthy enthusiasm: Weiner and West make for engaging leads, with nice support from Dan Burr as ruthless mad scientist Dr. Stern, Rick Popko as the bumbling Deputy Rick, Dan West as the equally incompetent Deputy Dan, Dan Ellis as the helpful Dr. Waters, Hannah Stangel as cute little girl storyteller Muchkin, and Mark Pirro as a police sketch artist. The disgusting towering slimy brown excremental beast looks pretty gnarly. The impressively slick cinematography makes nifty use of wipes and dissolves. Marshall Crutcher's ominously rumbling over-dramatic score likewise hits the bull's eye. The catchy and witty ending credits theme song is absolutely priceless. Subtle and sophisticated this admittedly silly flick sure ain't, but overall it's a total gut-busting riot just the same.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable movie inasmuch as it never takes itself seriously.

It's full of sight gags, burlesque and double entendre throughout. This is truly a send-up of all B-horror movies.

I read about the film makers and it appears they wanted to make a film something like "Jack Frost," but with a "character" that was 180 degrees apart from the sanitary Jack.

***SPOILERS***

Don't miss the bit with the ventriloquist dummy and take note of the name of the serial killer.

Well done and entertaining. A "don't-miss" for any aficionado of satire.

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*

There's no hope for me. I saw the video box cover of "Monsturd" and leapt at it. There was a slimy hand coming out of the sewer reaching for a pair of legs. I couldn't rent it fast enough. Not only did I rent this movie, I was drooling at the mere prospect of seeing what a monster made of feces could do.

So a guy escapes from prison, falls into the sewer and dies. His DNA combines with the waste to make him the Monsturd. What can one really say about a movie with a feces monster? I think the title says it all. I can't hate this movie since it never once took itself seriously. Yet it's still pretty bad. But if you rent a movie called "Monsturd", you're going to get what you deserve.

On the plus side, there were a few gross-out scenes. Maggots and puking. These two elements will always make the stomach a little queasy. But on the negative side, "Monsturd" was not that funny. The acting is about what you'd expect from a movie like this. Meaning it wasn't that good. But I think the most helpful thing I can tell you about this movie is that it's called "Monsturd". If that title excites you, I say go for it.

One last thought, I found myself strangely attracted to the thin woman who tells her husband to clean the toilet. I think it was the sound of her voice combined with the way she was threatening him with the knife that turned me on. She was more attractive than the lead FBI agent. At least I got something nice out of "Monsturd".

The filmmakers of Monsturd got one thing right: they came up with a good title for their movie. A title like this one brings back memories of the puns Troma studios gave to many of its films. Just reading the DVD cover of Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, among others, will result in a chuckle. The real challenge the movie faces is sustaining itself beyond that guaranteed first laugh. It takes good writing or self-unaware delusion to do this successfully. You have to build on the main idea of your campy movie by placing it within some social or historical context.

The plot is largely irrelevant as the story wasn't thought out to be anything more than a punch line for poop jokes. A serial killer escapes from prison and flees into the sewers where he is killed by police. His body falls into chemical runoff and he becomes a killer feces man. The filmmakers try to use this setup to parody various horror films, including Jaws, but none of them work. One of the police officers tells the mayor of Butte County (get it) to cancel this year's chili festival. The Monsturd, despite being played by a costumed actor, is able to move through the sewer system and attack people on the pot. This theoretical excremental rampage could have been funny, if the creature weren't destroyed right as the festival begins.

The movie isn't nearly as funny as it needs to be, given that title. The crew was too assured that what they were making was clearly humorous. They are in on the jokes before we ever are. In a few scenes, the actors visibly withhold laughs. The title character's situation is a convenient way around writing any dialog that could be quotable. There is no way the creature could ever be put in a comical situation because it doesn't exist anywhere outside of the minds of the filmmakers. With so many one-liners running out of each character, you'd think these people had never watched any of the most recent worst mainstream movies.

Not Recommended