Monster in the Closet

This was sort of a cute movie, nothing too great.

It starts off with a pre-credits sequence of people getting dragged into their closets, or walking into their closets, only to be attacked by something. We don't see the attack, since the camera takes a side view of the open closet door, and we hear screaming and cartoonish monster eating noises, as clothing is tossed out of the closet. John Carradine has a small role as one of these people, and blind man violently smashing his cane around his apartment looking for his guide dog (who the monster hung on the closet door).

We then meet a reporter who looks a lot like Superman's alter-ego Clark Kent, complete with big black-rimmed Clark Kent eyeglasses. He's named Richard Clark. He got his job at the paper through nepotism, and only does obituaries, but her wants something more. The lead reporter "Scoop" gives him a three-week old story about the people dying in their closets as a laugh.

Clark befriends a young boy at the police station while waiting to talk to the chief there. The boy is a bespectacled small version of himself, perhaps. He's doing some kind of experiment recording all different kinds of sounds, while his mother - a teacher at the local college, where some of the deaths occurred - talks to the chief, explaining how the bite marks found on the victims are somewhat consistent with snake bites. Clark angers the bespectacled mother by having let the boy have a chocolate bar. Everyone, including the mother, calls the boy "The Professor."

Clark also meets an Albert Einstein-looking Nobel Priza-winning professor at the college, and gives him a claw he found at one of the crime scenes. We also see that the mother becomes speechlessly, motionlessly smitten with Clark every time he takes his glasses off.

They soon see the monster, who starts coming out of closets. There are elements of "Alien" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" to the monster and their attempts to communicate with it.

This movie could be appropriate for children, although be forewarned that there is a brief topless scene. A bit surprising for a PG-rated movie, but not altogether without precedent. Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985) had a lot more. The scene it occurs in is one early in the movie, and comically spoofs the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho.

I recently watched the Troma Films classic Monster in the Closet (1986) on Tubi. The story follows a killer on the loose who seems to be abducting people-and even dogs-from their closets. A reporter, a professor, and a science student team up to uncover who (or what) is behind these bizarre killings. Could it be a misunderstood closet monster?

Directed by Bob Dahlin in his only directorial project, the film stars Denise DuBarry (Do It or Die), Claude Akins (Battle for Planet of the Apes), Henry Gibson (The Blues Brothers), Donald Moffat (The Thing), Paul Walker (The Fast and the Furious), and Fergie (Black Eyed Peas).

Monster in the Closet is another Troma Films horror comedy that manages to execute its horror elements fairly well. The opening narration is hilarious, and the setup is engaging. The monster's costume design is tremendous-I only wish it had been better utilized to create a truly formidable villain. There's the anticipated horror nudity, including a fun shower scene, and it was entertaining to see a young Paul Walker and Fergie in action.

In conclusion, while Monster in the Closet isn't a great film overall, it has enough horror elements to keep genre enthusiasts interested. I'd score it a 5/10 and recommend it only if you have the right expectations.

Troma aren't exactly well known for high quality horror films, and this one fits the bill pretty well in the quality stakes; but it's actually more childish than the usual gory Troma output. The film is something of a spoof of the monster movie genre and, as the title suggests, focuses on the childhood fear of a monster in the closet. The film kicks off with a few mysterious murders and it's not long before the horrible closet monster is revealed. The monster itself is an extremely camp creation and is sure to leave most audience members in stitches - not usually the desired effect for a monster but the film is obviously intended to be tongue in cheek and the monster is actually a very original creation. I really wasn't expecting anything at all decent from this film, but in fairness to it; it's actually quite decent. There's nothing particularly clever about it; though the idea of the monster 'recharging' in closets is nice in that it seems to be a ham-fisted way of explaining the whole closet monster idea. The characters and plot line surrounding the monster are interesting and entertaining and Monster in the Closet is at least a decent way to waste ninety minutes or so.

In San Francisco, when several locals are found murdered in their closets, the rookie journalist Richard Clark (Donald Grant) is assigned to investigate the case. He stumbles upon the scientist Prof. Diane Bennett (Denise DuBarry) and her son "Professor" Bennett (Paul Walker) at the police station and befriends them. Soon they learn that a monster is responsible for the deaths and they team up with Diane´s chief Dr. Pennyworth (Henry Gibson) and Father Finnegan (Howard Duff) expecting to destroy the monster and save the world.

"Monster in the Closet" is a brainless classic trash-cult by Troma. The production follows the usual cheese Troma´s style and there are parodies to at least "The Exorcist", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Alien", "The War of the Worlds" and "The Howling" among other films. In addition, it is funny to see the debut of Paul Walker and an early work of Fergie and the cameo of John Carradine. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Monstro do Armário" ("Monster in the Closet")

Watching Monster In A Closet I'd say the film hit about 60% of the time with gags it employed in this film. But I warn you had better have seen a lot of classic science fiction about monsters coming to earth or being discovered here already or you won't get half of what is shown.

I think about half the budget must have been spent on getting some name guest stars to do their thing and support the two less than charismatic leads Donald Grant and Denise Dubarry. But when you get folks like Claude Akins as the redneck sheriff, Henry Gibson as an eccentric scientist, Stella Stevens as a woman in a shower, Jesse White as a hardboiled newspaper editor, Howard Duff as a rather vacuous priest, and John Carradine who is one of the first victims this becomes an item to take a look at.

I really liked what Howard Duff did with the priest. He must have watched Alec Guinness did with his vicar character in Kind Hearts And Coronets.

You even get to see young Paul Walker make his screen debut as a genius kid everyone calls the Professor.

You'll recognize so many moments from some classic monster films, I dare not tell you.