• Release year: 2024
• Director: Axel Casas.
• Producers: Axel Casas, Gaston Haag and Antonio Rosa Lobo.
• Screenplay by: Axel Casas and Gaston Haag.
• Cinematography by: Ernesto Báez.

Shotgun Commentary: awesome first 15 minutes… that’s pretty much it

Review

Pandilla Monstruo (which translates as Monster Gang) was presented by its creators in La Semana de Cine Fantástico y de Terror in San Sebastián. Their description of the film, loosely translated, was “it’s a piece of shit made by imbeciles”, and… that it is. For better or worse, their description is one of the most accurate ever heard at a presentation of a movie.

Decaying humour

The beginning of the feature is quite strong. In pure Spanish fashion, all the characters act in the most ridiculous, nonsensical way possible while maintaining a ludicrous conversation in which no interjection is connected to the one before or after it. This chaos reaches such extremes, and so fast, that you will very likely be crying of laughter within the first five minutes. Regrettably, this does not do any favours for the rest of the footage that, in comparison, seems dull and tedious.

The main attraction of Pandilla Monstruo is the humour. It is, first and foremost, a comedy in which the audience can only hope to have at least half the fun that the cast had while shooting it. Whether or not you achieve that feat is up to your humour standards, just… don’t set them up too high, and don’t be misled by the first few minutes. The big slump takes place at the beginning of their second day in the forest. From that point on, the line of ridicule that separates funny from annoying becomes blurry.

Rough writing

Still, the feature almost manages to compensate for the dragged on jokes and clichéd conflicts by changing course drastically. From a silly comedy to a mockumentary about survival to pure forest horror, the film’s evolution is utterly delightful. Sadly, the content is not as appealing as the genre evolution. While the narrative makes sense and there is some tension to it, the movie never quite manages to recuperate from the slump during the last bits of comedy. Not even with the final act does it manage to attract the attention as the first few minutes did.

This decrease of quality is mostly due to writing. The cast all play their parts perfectly, but the characters and events are dry as dust. There are whole sequences that bring nothing to the story other than the dreadful sensation that you are wasting precious minutes of your life. Tons of jokes are based on repetition and lengthening the awkward silences, which, in some cases, works perfectly. However, when you use the same strategy twice every five minutes, it gets quite irritating.

Chaotic character creation

As for the characters, they are all pretty much the same. The exception being Javier Botet’s character, TV presenter and producer of the film about monsters that the protagonists have to make. Botet is barely on camera, but the little time he is, the content is absolutely spectacular. Both for comedy and horror, he is the perfect character for this story.

Furthermore, he is the only character that won’t drain your life force and will to live at any point of the story. A feat that one would expect from the director of the film, Axel Casas, but no such luck. His character, along with that of his best friend, played by Ronquete, are the most wearisome, unoriginal duo. You know those characters in horror films who only complain until they are appeased by their “best friend”? The ones that leave you wondering why the two of them tolerate each other, much less have a friendship? Yeah, that’s them.

All in all, Pandilla Monstruo could’ve been an awesome short film, but decided to live long enough to become the villain of its own existence. The beginning and the end are quite fun. Great enough to watch everything that goes on in-between? That’s up to your sense of humour, but this writer’s recommendation is leave it after the job interview… maybe after the first day in the forest if you want to give it a solid chance.

Advice to take from this movie:

• Everything is better with a cute little dog-rat on screen.
• Sometimes less is more.
• If your partner goes missing in a cave, CALL THE POLICE.

What’s your take? Have you watched Pandilla Monstruo? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀