I pride myself on trying to be honest with you folks. That said, I had spent far too much time trying to figure out just what to say in this introduction for Chris Ethridge’s Attack of the Morningside Monster. I had thought of talking about how Buffy fans would be pleased to see Nicholas Brendon aka Xander in this film, alongside Scream Queen Tiffany Shepis. I’d also thought of talking about how small town whodunits that focus on everyone knowing everyone, and how practically anyone could be the killer can be kind of fun when done right. Or, I could do what I just did and ramble on and come up with an introduction by accident. Enjoy.

In the small town of Morningside, New Jersey, a series of brutal murders of the town’s undesirables has local law enforcement stumped. Bodies are found eviscerated in a ritualistic fashion, with a strange symbol tagged nearby. Compounding things are the close relationships amongst the residents of the town, making the killer even more difficult to find. Things start hitting close to home when Morningside sheriff Tom Haulk (Robert Pralgo) discovers shady dealings by a close friend (Nicholas Brendon), and after one of his friends has a close call with the killer, Tom’s investigation takes a disturbing turn.

For starters, I give writer Jayson Palmer credit for going the route of focusing on the relationships that exist in a small town, while mixing in the self-reflection of days gone by. I know that it sounds like of pretentious for a slasher, but it does attempt to separate the film from the rest of the low-budget, by-the-numbers crowd. It adds more depth to things when you have characters delving into that “grey area” (as in the case of Nicholas Brendon’s character) in an attempt to get by. This particular focus on the story does threaten to bog down the pacing of the film, and does give it an uneven feel.

The acting is pretty good for a film like this. Robert Pralgo is engaging and solid as the lead, while Tiffany Shepis provides a bit of comic relief but also has a tough attitude that keeps up with Pralgo. It’s a shame that she wasn’t used as much as she could’ve been, however. Nicholas Brendon also does well, mixing in a variety of emotions, though he does feel a bit like one of those “special appearance” castings that indie directors will pull to give their film a bit more recognition. Mike Stanley plays the town’s drug dealer Clyde precariously close to being over-the-top (especially with the constant scowl), but thankfully doesn’t go overboard.

The film’s indie roots unfortunately really reveal themselves when it comes to the killer. While it’s one thing to be decked out in a black cape and hood, it’s another to be wearing what from far away looks like a sequined luchador mask with bad teeth. The costume isn’t particularly frightening, even if the whole thing was intended to have a tribal motif. Also, while the gore is kind of expected to be unspectacular given the budget, it’s still disappointing when the effects aren’t particularly convincing. Also, with the killer’s focus on removing the “undesirables” of the town, it’s hard to feel sympathy for many of them, particularly when the script doesn’t develop them beyond the single note.

Despite it’s best intentions, Attack Of The Morningside Monster unfortunately doesn’t do enough to separate itself from the rest of the low-budget slashers that show up on direct-to-video. There are some postitives, such as the attempt at differentiating the story from other low budget slashers and the mostly excellent cast, the awkward focus on character relationships and single-sided characters for victims drags it back down. It’s a fire-and-forget type of film, but it tries to do more. Ethridge and company do appear to have the potential for good things in the future, and they may well do better in future productions.

Video/Audio:

The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer looks pretty good for your low-budget serial killer flick. Detail is adequate, with solid colour reproduction and minimum compression artifacts. Darker scenes obviously tend to bring out more noise than the more lit scenes, with details and black levels taking a bit of a hit, but that’s to be expected on a film like this.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is consistent with the quality of the video, as is the alternate Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Dialogue is clear and balanced well with the rest of the soundtrack, with no distortion. There are instances of fluctuating volume, but it’s not horrible. I will say that whoever did the subtitles for this disc needs a proofreader, as we get a few typos in here.

Extras:

Aside from the teaser trailer and theatrical trailer for the film, we get an Audio Commentary with Director Chris Ethridge, Writer Jayson Palmer and Producer Michael Harper. The trio discuss details on the origins of the project, as well as the actual production such as casting, locations and other tidbits of trivia. Overall, it does it’s job of giving a nice chunk of information. There are times where the commentary devolves into describing what’s on the screen, but it’s not too bad.