Films: Monsterland (2016), Monsterland 2 (2019)

Alias: Brian the parasite, the evil rat, Marie Sommers, the vampire, the Deep Ones, giant mutant jellyfish, the Old One, Brace Face, Peter the werewolf, the Wormbug, the Flea

Type: Mutant (jellyfish), Mystical (the rest)

Location: Lake/Civilized area/Eldritch location/Ocean/Haunted home/Forest

Height/Weight: Ranges from that of average rats to that of small houses.

Affiliation: Neutral (Marie, jellyfish, Brace Face, Peter), Evil (the rest)

Summary: Anthology films are always a finicky thing to get right. You have tasked yourself with organizing a bunch of short tales that wrap up as soon as they are finished, but with such finite time, you can only take those concepts so far. In this case...well, if you ever wondered what would happen if someone with the same budget as many of the previous micro-budgeted filmmakers made their own version of "Creepshow", here's your answer...times two.

History: In the first film, it is established that the person watching the stories is in an abandoned movie theater as he tries to hide from a world dominated by monsters of all shapes and sizes. The things he sees (and the unrelated stuff in the sequel) include a snarky parasite that feasts on brains, a malevolent lab rat tormenting a family, a beleaguered housewife taking the role of a sleep paralysis demon, a man being genderbent (it was a different time) and haunted by eldritch terrors, some jellyfish being mutated into carnivorous beach-going giants, a shark-toothed cannibal teen forced to wear a metal muzzle, a reluctant werewolf, another mouthy yet more insectoid parasite hoping to eat people and unleash his kids, and a serial killer who stalks babies. It's...well, it's nothing if not something.

Notable Kills: Nothing special.

Final Fate: Almost none of the monsters here are stopped by the end of it all. In almost every story, they get what they want, or just continue to do their thing. Even in the end of the first film, the theatergoer cannot escape, as the place was in fact the home of a Lovecraftian terror and a vampire attacks him. The sequel beings don't get off that easy though, with Peter dying as himself and the Wormbug watching his kids get killed before their conception just in time, to name a few. But for the most part, humanity is not on top.

Powers/Abilities: These beasts' powers range from possession to downright manipulation of all reality (the Deep Ones do this).

Weakness: Anything conventional.

Scariness Factor: 3-We do have some occasional stand-outs in terms of realism and horror, with Brian and the Deep Ones being particular stand-outs. The Old One at the end of the first film isn't too shabby either, as the stop-motion only highlights how unexpected and unsightly it is. But most of the other monsters fall completely flat, even the mighty jellyfish due to their awful CGI. Either way, this whole thing was made on a shoestring budget, and that's okay...for the most part.

Trivia: -Many of the shorts were the result of Indiegogo funds.

-The jellyfish in this film actually resemble jelly blubbers, a species that's not all that big, and as the name implies, it looks rather chubby. It is one of the most common jellyfish seen on the Eastern Australian coast.