The turn towards the horror genre with exploitation elements that Giddens Ko begun with “The Tenants Downstairs” proved a great choice, with “Mon Mon Mon Monsters” cementing his prowess in the genre, by highlighting his vivid imagination in script-writing and his directorial abilities in the best fashion.
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Lin Shu-wei is the definition of the nerd. He is shy, weak, a permanent victim of the class's bullies, has no friends, and always gets the best grades. The story begins with him being accused of stealing the class's register money, and the leader of the bullies, Tuan Ren-hao, humiliating him even more, to the joy of the rest of his gang, Liao Kuo-feng, Yeh Wei-chu, and Wu Si-hua, Tuan's girlfriend, who where the actual perpetrators. Lin, having no alternative, turns to Mrs Lee, their homeroom teacher, who, however, does not show any particular care for his plight, instead forcing him to admit that he is guilty. Even more surprising is his punishment, as Mrs Lee “sentences” him to spend some hours assisting in an elderly home, along with his “torturers”.
During their visit there, the students stumble upon a duo of female human-eating monsters, and after a succession of equally extreme occurrences, end up kidnapping the younger one, imprisoning it in their hideout, an abandoned facility that was formerly used for the maintenance of a pool. And just like that, a game of torture begins, which, however, soon becomes something even more dangerous, as the creature's sister is on their heels. At the same time, Lin begins to enjoy the company of his former torturers.
Giddens Ko directs a movie that combines supernatural terror with surrealism in the best fashion, through a narrative that unfolds just like a nightmare. Through this unusual but quite entertaining approach, he also manages to present a number of extreme but quite realistic social, psychological, and philosophical comments. The role of teachers, bullying and the general circumstances in the school environment are the most obvious ones, but as the story progresses, human nature and particularly the way people can turn into monsters and the theme of crime and punishment take over.
Another very interesting element is Ko's implementation of slapstick humor, which, quite frequently, borders on “blasphemous” irony, as in the case of Mrs. Lee's obsession with Buddhism.
In this setting, the characters frequently function as caricatures, with Kent Tsai as Tuan and Carolyn Chen as Mrs. Lee being the main representatives, performing in perfect resonance with the film's overall aesthetics. Deng Yu-kai is equally convincing, but in a whole other motif and in a significantly more difficult role that demands from him to transform from a nerd to a bully, with the aspect being one of the movie's biggest traits.
The film, however, is a horror/exploitation one, and Ko did not omit including the respective elements, including man-eating vampires, the torturing of the younger monster and the assault of the older moving in that specific path, while the movie, after a point, becomes soaked in blood.
Even in these scenes though, the artistry is evident, with DP Patrick Chou presenting an excellent work, both in the framing and the coloring of the production. Furthermore, the combination of Li Nien-hsu's editing and Chris Hou's music (reminds much of Linkin Park) occasionally allowing the movie to function as an extreme music video, and element that adds to the entertainment it offers. The technical aspect finds its apogee in the watermelon scene, in an impressive parallel.
“Mon Mon Mon Monsters” is an excellent film, as it combines entertainment, context, originality and implementation of the highest degree, while the finale will definitely remain in the memory of every viewer.
