Monster Hunter 2003 Horror Movie Review

My original title for this review was: With all due respect to the late, great David Carradine this is one of the worst movies that I’ve ever seen, but that seemed longer than the rope he used to.. . Anyway, if you think that’s tasteless wait until you watch the movie. It’s ultra violent, ultra gross, and Carradine is so over the top it’s painful. Carradine’s half brother Michael Bowen stars as a postman who goes postal. His girlfriend is pregnant and the thought of being a dad makes him more unstable than he already is. He’s been killing families at night and leaving their severed heads (with the proper postage) in their mailboxes. The cops are confused as to how to stop him so they bring in a Monster Hunter (Carradine). The joke is supposed to be that the expert is crazier than the killer. The body count rises as the film builds to the inevitable showdown between the two psychos. It takes the done to death approach of a documentary film crew following the cops around and interviewing everyone in the killer’s life. As a result we are treated to interviews with the cops, a criminal psychologist (a hilarious Bob Balaban), the killer’s disgusting mother and redneck cousins, and a couple of other unsavory characters. The only thing worth seeing is Carradine. Whether performing an exorcism or jumping off cars with a shotgun that he replaces with stakes he proves that his one of a kind wackiness will be missed. This film was released straight to DVD shortly after ‘Kill Bill’ hit theaters so it’s no surprise that the only praise to be found on the case comes from Quentin Tarantino who boldly declares “It’s great”. I wouldn’t go that far but one scene in particular has me wondering. Late in the film Carradine sits naked in front of a religious shrine he’s constructed and flagellates himself with a whip. Are we witnessing some fine method acting here or what? The movie sucks but the DVD has an awesome commentary track with Carradine, Bowen, and the director. It’s great to listen to David provide amusing and nonsensical tidbits while Bowen and the director take themselves so seriously convinced that they’ve created a work of art.