I’m sure all the legendary horror authors, like Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stoker and Stephen King, were asked this question at one time or another – “Where do you get your story ideas from?” The simple, if not sometimes obnoxious, question is actually pretty poignant in the case of F.C. Rabbath’s A Brilliant Monster. The question leads the way to further psychological prodding and begs an important question. Are all the great horror authors just a little bit crazy? What monsters are literally and metaphorically lurking in the attic? Did something happen to them in their childhood to spark the darkness in their imagination? All of these questions are explored in A Brilliant Monster and it all starts with a young woman, a woman scorned – to be honest, going to the police station to report the murders and mysteries surrounding her latest ex, a name-worthy but yet to be famous horror author. What follows is a surprising horror-drama and cop-narrative that reads like Little Shop of Horrors meets Misery.
A Brilliant Monster is written, directed, edited and executively produced by F.C. Rabbath with co-writer Adam Bertocca and producers Ramsey White, Joshua Ayers, Jessica Roszko and Dennis Friebe. Based on the novel of the same name, the film stars Dennis Friebe, Joy Kigin, Nick Leali, Alea Figueroa, Jason Fusco, David Raizer, Bill Kelly, Susan Morgan, Hayley Haas, Mark Marple and Dina Najjar. As a cohesive unit, I give the cast and crew a lot of credit for their work here. All of the actors are good looking, but bring a lot more to the table than good looks. Each performer does a good job at hiding a darker version of themselves behind smiles and small talk. Because of these subtle cues and quirks, A Brilliant Monster is able to build a small level of suspense and creepiness that grows with the sleuthing and plot development. From behind the camera, I really loved the style and cinematography of this movie and I can certainly appreciate the experimentation when it comes to picture effects and lighting. My only critique would be to keep an eye out for slightly out of focus shots.
I was slightly more critical of Rabbath’s previous movie, Watch Over Us, for being too slow and not horror enough. A Brilliant Monster is slow at some points and isn’t in your face horror, but the fantastic narrative present within the feature film was strong enough to hold my attention. And I think it’ll hold yours, too. More psychologically unnerving than gory and terrifying, A Brilliant Monster was an interesting autobiography for an up-and-coming serial killer, and it has a surprise ending I definitely didn’t see coming! Part horror-drama and part crime-drama, A Brilliant Monster would be a worthy part of any independent distributor’s DVD catalogue. If anything, it’s a good subject piece that’s best viewed with a group of smarty-pants’es in hopes of analyzing it piece by piece from all angles. I can enjoy a movie that makes you think just as much as the next guy… and the hidden villain in this film gave it a little extra oomph to help me smile going into the ending. Positive ending yields positive results. Final Score: 6.5 out of 10.
