Short Film: Monsters Anonymous

This short film, directed by Jeremy London, was released in 2016 and comes in at around the 20-minute mark. It is a veritable Monster mash with all the favourites; Dracula (Brian O'Halloran), the Wolfman (Brent Phillip Henry, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter), Dusty – the Mummy (Christopher Hall), Frank (Daniel Levy) a (deliberately) misnamed Frankenstein’s Monster and his Bride (Sheenan Cole).

As well as the classics as listed we also get brief appearances by the Devil (Jason Robbins), the Blair Witch (Juliet Reeves London, also Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter) and a horde of zombies.

Brian O'Halloran as Dracula

For the majority of the film, however, we are at the Kavorkian Rehabilitation and Permanent Pain Relief Centre where the monsters are receiving group therapy. We actually see Dracula first, getting a warm glass of blood. As things go on, we get the undeniable impression that Dracula and the Wolfman do not get on. The Underworld movies are mentioned – though Dracula calls them unrealistic.

wolfman, Frank and Dracula

The crux of the matter is that the monsters are in therapy as they just don’t seem to be scary any more. Dracula pinpoints the malaise with the coming of Anne Rice’s books but, as you would expect, sparkling gets mentioned. On the other hand, as the Bride of Frankenstein points out, they are now legends in their own right and that can’t be taken away from them.

zombies

The makeup for this is rather well done and the actors are clearly having fun – though ultimately there is little story, just a round of jokes and an observation on the changing face of horror films. Incidentally, it becomes clear that Dusty is an energy vampire – saying at one point that the last soul he absorbed was that of a redhead. There is a section worked through the end credits that treads ground also explored in the Monster Club about the monstrous nature of humanity.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK