''The Monster Project'' is a 2017 American found footage

supernatural horror Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defi ...

film directed by Victor Mathieu from a screenplay written by Mathieu, Corbin Billings and Shariya Lynn. The film stars

Justin Bruening Justin Bruening (born September 24, 1979) is an American actor and former fashion model. He was discovered at a McDonald's in Escondido, California, and within a week, he was shooting photos with Bruce Weber. In 2003, his acting career began w ...

, Murielle Zuker, Jamal Evans,

Yvonne Zima Yvonne Zima (born January 16, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Daisy Carter on ''The Young and the Restless''. Early life Zima was born in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, the daughter of Dennis and Marie. Her surname means ...

, Steven Flores, Shiori Ideta, James Storm, Susan Stangl, and Toby Hemingway. It follows a documentary film crew who interview three people claiming to be "real life" monsters and must fight for their lives when their interviewees transform into a

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

, a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

, and a

skinwalker In Navajo culture, a skin-walker () is a type of Black magic, harmful Witch (Navajo), witch who has the ability to Shapeshifting, turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal. The term is never used for healers. The yee naaldlooshii, ...

, respectively. ''The Monster Project'' was theatrically released in the United States on August 18, 2017 by

Epic Pictures Group Epic Pictures Group is an American independent film and television studio engaged in the development, financing, production and distribution of film and television. Epic Pictures produces, finances, and distributes approximately twenty-thirty in ...

. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Up-and-coming

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

Devon makes fake videos about monster appearances. For his next project, he wants to interviewing ''real'' monsters and places an advertisement on

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussi ...

. Along with his cameraman Jamal, Devon finds three participants: police officer Steven, who claims to be a

;

tattoo artist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

Shayla, who claims to be a

; and young Asian student Shiori, who claims to be

possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...

by a

. Devon hires his ex-girlfriend Murielle and Jamal's childhood friend Bryan, who is recovering from

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

, to assist with the documentary. The group rent an abandoned house from old couple Richard and Martha to conduct the interviews, despite Richard's warning that the property was used for satanic rituals in the past. After installing their equipment, Devon shows the participants some artifacts linked to each monster's mythology to use if necessary. He reveals they are recording on the night of a

lunar eclipse A lunar eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, ...

. As the interviews progress, Shayla reveals that Bryan is secretly using drugs, sparking an argument among the team. When the eclipse occurs, Steven transforms into a skinwalker and attacks the team. They lock him in a room, but Jamal is injured in the process. Shiori is possessed by the demon and the team is forced to flee towards the attic, where they are attacked by Shayla in her vampiric form. Murielle is bitten in the neck and Jamal fatally impales Shayla with a stake through the heart. The team learn that Shiori has supernaturally locked all the doors and windows, and Steven is roaming the house to attack them. They hide in the basement, where Bryan finds a way out, but is stopped by a goat skull-masked figure in front of him. Shiori appears and attacks Bryan before she is restrained and an

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

is performed. When the demon temporarily possesses Murielle, he reveals his name is

Baphomet Baphomet is a figure incorporated across various occult and Western esotericism, Western esoteric traditions. During Trials of the Knights Templar, trials starting in 1307, the Knights Templar were accused of heresy for worshipping Baphomet as ...

and returns to Shiori's body until Bryan stabs her in the head with a

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

, killing her. Steven breaks into the basement and Jamal, whose wound has worsened, sacrifices himself while Devon, Bryan, and Murielle flee. Devon is separated from Bryan and Murielle, who lock themselves in a room. Murielle begins to vomit blood due to Shayla's bite and gradually transforms into a vampire. She attacks Bryan, who kills her with a stake through the head. Bryan manages to escape the house but Steven pursues him to an abandoned cabin nearby. He discovers several strange symbols and monitors that are recording everything that happened in the house. Steven attacks again, but Bryan fatally impales him with a

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

he found. Sudennly, Devon, now possessed by Baphomet, knocks Bryan unconscious and reveals that he orchestrated the events to summon the Antichrist. The goat skull-masked figure is revealed as Richard, who is a member of a demonic sect along with Martha. The corpses of Shayla, Steven, Shiori, Jamal, and Murielle are brought to a pentagram, where Martha slices Bryan's neck and uses his blood for the ritual. A horned and winged shadow appears and roars loudly, knocking over the camera as the recording stops. Bryan is revealed to be a vampire, having been bitten by Murielle before.

Cast

as Devon * Toby Hemingway as Bryan *Murielle Zuker as Murielle *Jamal Quezaire as Jamal *

as Shayla / Vampire *Steven Flores as Steven / Skinwalker *Shiori Ideta as Shiori / Demon * Jim Storm as Richard *Susan Stangl as Martha

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 50% based on 6 reviews and an average score of 5/10.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Monster Project, The 2017 science fiction horror films American science fiction horror films American supernatural horror films American monster movies Films scored by Pinar Toprak Found footage films 2010s English-language films 2010s supernatural horror films 2010s monster movies 2010s American films Films about spirit possession Baphomet English-language science fiction horror films