As kids, we were fearful of monsters lurking in our bedrooms, whether under the bed or in the closet. We realize just how dumb this fear is as we get older, eventually getting over it. In 2001, Pixar tried showing us what the monsters living in our closets were doing when we weren’t sleeping. That movie was Monsters, Inc., and it showed us that not all monsters are nasty. However, years before Sully and Mike Wazowski warmed our hearts, writer/director Bob Dahlin tapped into that fear. Dahlin started the industry with the 1973 short film Norman Nurdelpick’s Suspension: A Tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. After that, he worked as an assistant director on movies like Damien: Omen II, And Justice For All, and Popeye. In 1983, Dahlin directed his only feature film, Monster In The Closet, though it wouldn’t see a release until 1986.
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Rating
Synopsis
In a quiet college town near San Francisco, a series of murders has the townsfolk in hysterics. Obituary writer Richard Clark (Donald Grant) is assigned to report on the recent deaths and figure out what’s happening. He meets local science teacher Diane Bennett (Denise DuBarry) and her intelligent son nicknamed ‘Professor’ (Paul Walker). Soon enough, they discover what’s responsible for the murders: a hideous monster (Kevin Peter Hall) who lives in people’s closets. Local eccentric Dr. Pennyworth (Henry Gibson) tries reasoning with the beast and gets clawed to death. General Turnbull (Donald Moffat) and his forces try to destroy the monster, but none of their weapons are successful. With seemingly no options left, our heroes have to fend for themselves against the closet-dwelling monster. But is the monster murderous, or is he misunderstood and possibly looking for love?
Review
Monster in the Closet is one of those movies whose idea is more entertaining than the movie itself. This movie isn’t what I’d call a lost Troma classic, but that’s not to say it’s all terrible. The filmmakers wanted to make a spoof of 50s monster movies, though not many jokes land. It doesn’t help either that there are several dead spots, and it takes a while for things to get going. A few gags were pretty funny, particularly a montage of people from all over the world trashing their closets. Another memorable one involves the love interest Diane in a trance whenever Richard’s glasses fall off. One thing that makes this film stand out is the cast of notable character actors, which is staggering. You’ve got appearances from Henry Gibson, Claude Akins, Stella Stevens, Howard Duff, Donald Moffat, Paul Dooley, and John Carradine.
Another positive I can give this movie is the titular monster, which has a uniquely goofy design. Not only is its mouth constantly open, but it lets out a scream that repeats every time it’s on-screen. It even has a more petite mouth inside of its mouth, similar to the Xenomorph from Alien. I also like how there’s no explanation for what the monster is or where it came from. As I said before, tons of filler scenes drag the movie down until the monster shows up. It’s very similar to 1982’s Nightbeast, though that at least made up for it with tons of blood and gore. I’d recommend the former between the two, though this would still make for a fun bad movie night. Overall, Monster in the Closet doesn’t entirely deliver on the laughs and scares, but it has its moments.
Rent Monster in the Closet on Amazon Prime: https://amzn.to/3D92tyw
