Directed & Written by: Abe Forsythe
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Josh Gad, Alexander England
Distributed by: Altitude Film Entertainment
Age Rating: 15 (BBFC)
Run time: 94 mins (1hr 34mins)
Release date: 10th February 2020
Dave is a washed up musician, who is now going through a rough break up with his long term girlfriend. With no where else to go, Dave ends up crashing at his sisters’. Faced with either a choice to help out or get out, Dave drops his young nephew Felix to school the next day. In order to get the attention of Felix’s Kindergarten teacher, Dave offers his assistance with helping to chaperone the upcoming field trip. With a childrens entertainer from the States also trying to make a move on Miss Caroline, the sudden Zombie outbreak isn’t making things any easier.
This was such an entertaining watch from beginning to end. Cheesy as hell, but still completely re-watchable. I see it as a mix between Shaun of the Dead and Kindergarten Cop. Both parts comedy, a little romance, the struggle to survive and good visuals. This is definitely aimed at adults and is probably a perfect fit for those parents that have had to listen to Frozen songs non stop for the last number of years as the voice behind the iconic Olaf (Josh Gad) plays the alcoholic Teddy McGiggle. This is also going to provide a great laugh to those that have worked in either playschools or teaching. It’s an amazing skill to have to pick yourself up, create a white lie and keep the horrifying reality hidden from the young children. I mean who else would have thought to stand in front of children, completely covered in the blood of zombies you have just killed, and yet pass it off as a jam fight?! I had to pause this film after that scene just until I was able to stop laughing.
Dave is such a sad excuse of a boyfriend, so I hold absolutely no sympathy for the guy when his ex moves on. Even though it had been years since his band broke up, he hasn’t moved on with his life, dreams or even making a living. So when he sees the charming Miss Caroline, he tries to woo her with his music. Thankfully through the course of protecting the kids and singing a tribute song to her, Dave starts to show another side of himself. Miss Caroline however is not entirely the sweet and innocent teacher that we would all presume. She ran away as a teenager and followed a band to Australia, just so she might have a chance in meeting the lead singer. Now in a new country, she creates a career in childcare, but make sure to keep well away from her when she has a shovel in hand! Now my favorite character in this film is definitely the young Felix, played by Diesel La Torraca. He plays a child that suffers from dozens of allergies and in the midst of surviving a zombie outbreak, he has a severe allergic reaction. He is also incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to tractors and even manages to drive one himself, thus saving his desperate Uncle before he gets eaten by the zombie horde. I hope this kid has a long and successful career, because he gave a stellar performance!
Zombie films have been severely over done in the last decade, with a few exceptions being Shaun of the Dead, Train to Busan and One Cut of the Dead. Now I can add Little Monsters to that list, as it really was a fun film to watch. It’s not meant to be a full on horror, it’s not even meant to be taken seriously, but is a great movie to just throw on in the background as you’re working away or playing about on the phone.
Little Monsters was directed by Australian director Abe Forsythe, who just late last year was confirmed to be directing the next installment in the Robocop reboot. As for the stars of the film, Miss Caroline was played by Lupita Nyong’o. You would more than likely recognise her from the Black Panther film where she played T’Challa’s love interest. She has had such an amazing career thus far, with roles in 12 Years A Slave, the last three Star Wars films and Us. Next up we have Dave, who was played by Aussie actor Alexander England. He has worked from theatre to TV and Film, having also starred in Alien Covenant back in 2017 alongside Michael Fassbender. And lastly we have Teddy McGiggles, as played by the multi talented Josh Gad! With a large portfolio, many people would now associate him with the animated snowman that is Olaf from Disney’s Frozen! In Little Monsters, his character has some immense issues as he confesses how he has slept with many of the mothers that come to his children’s show, as well as him being a complete alcoholic. All of these performances add up to a great film, the zombies even managed to get in on the comedic action as well.
A huge thanks to Fetch Publicity for providing me with the screener copy for this release. You can buy Little Monsters on BluRay and DVD from the 10th February, as well as a digital download on the same day.
Overall: 8/10
