Beretta (Nelli Scarlet), Snowball (Kate Watts) and Blondie (Karli Madden) are three hired killers who hole up in a beachside community in an effort to keep a low profile. Unbeknownst to them, however, they've landed themselves in an almost abandoned small town with a dark secret. Joseph (Norman Yemm) is a local sea baron and one of the town's only remaining residents. A seemingly senile old man who has spent recent years warning his granddaughter Hannah (Kyrie Capri) to not go anywhere near the water, a warning she's openly respected given her awareness that her parents died years earlier in these very waters.

Beretta, Snowball and Blondie aren't quite as easily convinced, however, and the three quickly join another local in cavorting in the deceptively idyllic waters despite impassioned warnings from Joseph.

Big mistake.

El Monstro Del Mar! kicked off its successful festival run at the 2010 Austin Film Festival, where it got significant attention for its appealingly retro vibe and B-movie appearance that brings to mind Russ Meyer flicks and a vast majority of the recent efforts to pay homage to the old low-budget, B-movie wonders (especially of the 70's).

All the wild partying by our terrible trio plus a repressed Hannah leads to awakening of the beast deep within the belly of this beachside town ... in this case, it's a literal beast that, per Joseph's report, some 15 years ago wiped out pretty much the entire town including Hannah's parents and has now been awakened once again.

Written and directed by Stuart Simpson (Demonsamongus), El Monstro Del Mar! is most successful in its bookend set-up action sequences. The first sequence is a terrifically bloody sequence in which are murderous madams go whupass on everyone in their path, while the film ends, of course, with a major showdown between beast and broads.

The acting here isn't particularly strong, though what B-movie really features fantastic acting? El Monstro Del Mar! is a B-movie in every sense of the word, and the film is most successful when it's really grooving with the low-budget vibe. Simpson also does the film's camera work, and it's the camera work and Nick Kocsis' special effects that really makes this a film worth watching. Simpson's script, on the other hand, is filled to the brim with corny, cheesy dialogue and a mid-section that doesn't maintain interest.

B-movie fans and fans of low-budget horror will want to give this film a chance, however, and now you've got the chance thanks to its pick-up for distribution by Vicious Circle Films, the distrib arm for Breaking Glass Pictures. The film hits the shelves of February 28th, 2012 and has a wealth of awesome extras worth the price of the DVD alone.

For more information on El Monstro Del Mar!, visit the Breaking Glass Pictures website and you can also still catch the film's own website to get all the goods on the film.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic