JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER (Jon Knautz) Rating: NNN
Here’s a post-Grindhouse way-back playback of the old creature features that once haunted the local drive-in.
Trevor Matthews stars as Jack, a young plumber with anger-management issues that stem from a traumatic childhood run-in with an Orc-like cretin. Mayhem ensues when Jack’s night school professor (a zany Robert Englund) swallows an ancient demon heart and unleashes evil à la Jim Henson’s house of critters.
The Ottawa-native filmmaker’s enthusiasm for the retro genre shines through the campy material. The characters are patiently developed with enough rib-tickling set-ups that by the time Jack meets his Jabba-the-Hutt-like foe, we’re craving some long-overdue blood-splattering. 90 min.
