Use of Tropes: Monster Pool Chapter 4

The Monster Pool series has been interesting. I previously looked at the original Monster Pool and Monster Pool the Second Chapter both as Honourable Mentions and watched the third in the series, which doesn’t appear here due to lack of a vampiric connection.

This is the fourth in the series and the stories centre around technology. The anthology was released in 2018 and, like the others, stitches pre-existing shorts together. The section we are interested in was called Ghost Houndz and was directed by Randy Smith.

In it we meet the eponymous Ghost Houndz, a paranormal investigation team who live stream their investigations. Hosted by Luther (Joel Elliott, Monster Pool the Second Chapter) and newcomer Bridget (Allison Harris, also Monster Pool the Second Chapter) they are locked in an abandoned chemical factory. However, within minutes of beginning the broadcast, tech expert Alex (April Campbell, also Monster Pool the Second Chapter), has been killed by something. The hosts, along with sound engineer Mike (Leslie Cserepy) and camera operator Zoey (Victoria Luloff, also Monster Pool the Second Chapter), run off into the factory.

mutant boy

They eventually see their attacker – a mutant boy (Ricky Elston, also Monster Pool the Second Chapter), according to the credits called Junior. If he is a mutant, however, why feature it here? Well, as the post's title suggests, they are playing with tropes. Though a child, he has a maw of sharp teeth and long talons. The pale skin seems chemically burned in places, perhaps, but his eyes are black and either they have become too accustomed to the dark inside the factory or they are nocturnal as a good beam of light is able to trap him – freezing him in place. As you watch it you recognise these as common tropes to the vampire genre, with the light impact a variant.

mama

Junior has drawn pictures, typical of any child, and as he dies (from a gunshot, as the resourceful Zoey has brought a gun with her) he whispers Mama (Nicholas Fournier). Mama is after the crew now perhaps for revenge but perhaps, also, if she has one child their might be more… One assumes that their actions are both territorial and through a need for food. This was quite a fun little film, the ghost hunter trope is a little tired but adding in a physical foe made it fun and the short length ensures it didn’t outstay its welcome. I’m listing it under the wider film it was added into and will link to the Amazon VoD of that but will also embed the short itself from YouTube.

The anthology’s imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK