Horror Movie Review: Monster in the Closet (1986)

Billed as a horror comedy, Monster in the Closet lacks both. However, it is a fun and silly homage to 50’s style b-horror/sci-fi.

In the small town of Chestnut Hills, California something nasty is killing off the locals. A monster that lives inside their closets.

At the offices of the Daily Globe, reporter Richard Clark (Donald Grant) is given the job of investigating the deaths. He’s been desperate for a chance to prove himself so heads off to the town of Chestnut Hills to find answers!

There he meets local biologist, Diane (Denise DuBarry) who confides in him that she thinks whatever has been killing people is some kind of monster. As the pair investigate, they grow closer but the death toll continues to mount. Leading to a national emergency being declared. The truth about what lurks in the closet is out and it seems as though nobody can stop it.

What a wild ride, Monster in the Closet is. It’s impressively entertaining and writer/director Bob Dahlin can be commended for working within the limitations of the budget. Which was clearly quite small when you see the rubbery creature in all its glory.

That’s not what you’ll remember about this movie though. No, the silliness of the plot, the wild opening and absolutely crazy finale is what you’ll remember.

That being said, it has got some pretty big flaws. The most obvious being the poor humour and even worse dialogue. The cast do the best they can with the latter but it’s pretty hopeless at times. Whereas the former, the humour, falls so flat because Monster in the Closet has one joke and runs it into the ground. Being 90-odd minutes long doesn’t help matters either.

As a homage, it works fine but if you have no understanding of just what is parodying at times, a lot of what the movie does will leave you feeling cold. It’s better then most would expect but it’s not a film that will hold up with multiple viewings.