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Quote:

Zombies are the middle children of the otherworldly family. Vampires are the oldest brother who gets to have a room in the attic, all tripped out with a disco ball and shag carpet. Werewolves are the youngest, the babies, always getting pinched and told they're cute. With all that attention stolen away from the middle child zombie, no wonder she shuffles off grumbling, "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha."

- Kevin James Breaux

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Film Review: MONOLITH (1993)



The ‘80s and ‘90s were filled with films featuring mismatched cop partners and an alien threat – The Hidden (1987) and I Come in Peace (1990) immediately spring to mind, but these were just two of many.  The Bill Paxton starring Monolith (1993) is yet another one which is not as much a cult film as the previously mentioned films. 

In this film, Paxton is rogue cop Tucker who’s Captain (played by Louis Gossett Jr. – also very familiar with this genre) has saddled him up with Terri Flynn (Lindsay Frost) who has the exact opposite style as him.  After a scientist kills a small boy, they are put on the case to discover the truth but a secret government agency lead by Villano (John Hurt) intercedes and stops them in their tracks.  It seems that the small boy is part of a top secret government experiment of which Villano will not allow anyone to get in his way.  What follows is a chase throughout the city for an alien that can switch bodies at will and time is running out as this alien has an end goal that threatens to kill everyone that gets in its way.

Now this film is every bit the typical buddy-cop film that made Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour, Beverly Hills Cop and The Heat such enduring films.  What this film lacks is a strong story.  Paxton and Frost actually make for a very good mismatched pair but the body swapping alien story has aged the film horribly.  It also doesn’t help that the screenplay written by Stephen Lister and Eric Poppen has also aged horribly making the film come off as a cheap TV movie.

Overall this is a pretty forgettable film that may be more fondly remembered by those who actually saw it when it was originally released (such as myself) but this is not a film to seek out if you’ve never seen nor heard of it.

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