Never in my life did I dream that I would one day grow up to write reviews for movies and DVDs. Going a step further, I certainly never imagined I would write a review about a movie starring a giant, murderous pile of poop. But here I am, doing both. I‘m going to sit here and tell you a little about a movie called… oh, can I even write this title… ”Monsturd.” Hey, that wasn’t so bad. Let me try it again. ”Monsturd.” Well, there you have it. So what can I say about a movie called ”Monsturd?” I guess I could say it was ‘crappy.’ I could even say it ‘stunk.’ The only problem is, though those descriptions would be funny, they aren’t really correct. The movie was neither crappy, nor did it stink. It was actually quite funny. Shot on a budget of around $3,000, ”Monsturd” is somewhat of an homage to those great horror films of the 1950s.

In case you might be wondering what in the world it is about, I’ll fill you in. It seems that an escaped convict by the name of Jack Schmitt dies in Butte County’s sewer system. (Are we catching the irony of the names folks?) He is brought back to life when an experiment goes awry spilling toxic materials into the sewers. Of course, as anyone knows when you are exposed to toxic materials and resurrected, there are bound to be changes. In this case, Schmitt comes back as some lethal number two. Before you can say, “Don’t leave the lid up, honey,” Schmitt is popping up out of toilets to commit crimes. And it just gets worse from there.

When I first heard about ”Monsturd”, I just kind of rolled my eyes and thought to myself, “Hooboy, what kind of low-budget stinker is this gonna be?” As it turns out, the creative team of Dan West and Rick Popko actually put together an excruciatingly funny film. ”Monsturd” looks like a low budget movie (well, of course it does… it is!) but its one of those low-budget movies that I look forward to seeing. It was obvious that a lot of time and effort were put into making this movie as funny as possible, and the hard work paid off. When I wasn’t rolling my eyes at the sheer absurdity of the movie, I was laughing my ‘butt’ off at it.

There were a lot of scenes that were reminiscent of those older movies I mentioned before. Even the acting felt as though it came right out of films like “Robot Monster.” There was the same earnestness as the actors played their parts as seriously as a movie like this could allow. I really couldn’t tell if the actors were really bad or just pretending to be. Either way, it made the movie all the funnier.

The Elite DVD release of ”Monsturd” offers up several extra features that are every bit as good as the movie itself. The commentary features directors/writers/producers/editors West and Popko, along with actors Beth West (Agent Hannigan) and Dan Burr (Professor Stern). It’s here that we learn all of the ‘secrets’ of the movie. It’s almost as hysterical as the movie it self. It reminded me of some of the low budget student films I’ve worked on before. Stories of filming in locations during lunch, filling roles with family members, and using the directors in a myriad of ‘extras’ roles brought back a lot of funny memories. The commentary is very conversational and at times a bit self-deprecating on the part of the directors (writers/producers/editors).

There is also a 20-plus minute behind the scenes featurette, which is made up mostly of takes that weren’t used, or times when the camera continued to roll between shots. Here you also learn the horror that is wearing a giant piece of poop costume. I can attest to how uncomfortably hot those costumes can be (not that I ever wore a giant piece of poop costume per se). What was evident throughout the featurette was that the cast and crew, in spite of hot temperatures or being covered in disgusting poo-like materials, were having a hell of a time.

I know this may be obvious, but I have to warn you that ”Monsturd” is NOT for everyone. Some people might have problems dealing with what seems like the unethical treatment of poop. But from what I understand, no poop was actually harmed during the making of this film. There are also those who might be offended by the fact that poop is presented as being violently murderous and may be tempted to picket this film. I’m not quite that PC and understand that this film does not try to say all poop is bad, only people who have been turned into poop by toxic chemicals.

Directed by: Dan West and Rick Popko
Starring: Brad Dosland, Paul Weiner, Beth West, Dan Burr, Dan West, Rick Popko
Extras: Trailer, Commentary Track, Behind the Scenes Footage
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Elite Entertainment
Release Date: Available
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R
Website
Website

We'll give Monsturd a B.