If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

The first must-see film of the year.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

There's another review of this short claiming it is some kind of Scientology propaganda. It's a troll post. A brilliant homage to the days of VHS Horror films. Eccentric inventor Vincent Dooly has created the titular Monster Machine and invited a friend to witness his genius in action. They spend a fateful evening experiencing what the Monster Machine has to offer. This is serialized in three parts on YouTube. It's a short so there's not much point in delving any further into the plot. It's a hoot. If you have a love of horror films and zombie films in particular you should check this out. The director and star has made several shorts on YouTube and has a particular brand of humor, you'll know quickly enough if it's something you'll find funny.

This extremely fun short was a very simple and straightforward kind of romp that's all about two horror movie loving nerds, one of whom happens to be a bit of a mad scientist type who has invented a rather miraculous machine that has the ability to conjure out of thin air real life versions of whatever monster happens to star in the tape or DVD put into the slot of the crazy contraption. Anyway they're fooling around with it, playing pot-shots with various kinds of zombies from very well know 'cult' horror movies for sport, and they download the Linea Quigly zombie from "Return of the Living Dead" but choose not to shoot her cos they find her hot, and then she's tied up and sitting on the couch with them, which was absurd and hilarious, and everything's going just swell until their bloodlust for zombie-slaying gets a little out of hand and the machine overloads and creates a whole mob of zombies at once, and right at the end when they think the dangerous game's finally over, some genuine horrors that they weren't expecting pick that moment to drop in! And who the hell needs a twenty minute story to go anywhere when you've got a plot-device as awesomely cool as that one? I thought it was a truly inspired idea for a short film, and they really do squeeze the maximum amount of retro coolness out of it. I loved the bit when the guys start debating what exactly it is that makes a zombie a zombie, pretty fun and interesting topic! I also loved all the makeup effects of the zombies and how each of them had the specific look and vibe of the movie or TV show they originated from. All the little musical nods to famous horror movies were also a lovely touch, if not a little obvious.. And the acting from the guys was kinda shaky and pretty cheesy, but it certainly worked for the tone and they were the right kind of actors for this story. Another very minor annoyance was that there was a little too much emphasis on zombies, but that was thankfully remedied in the loony closing where I wasn't quite sure what the hell was going on, where none other than spider-head from "The Thing", the spider-gremlin from "Gremlins 2, and Pumpkinhead all appear, and the way that was done I found quite clever and interesting as they were all somehow taken straight from scenes in their respective movies and incorporated into this. And the effect looked really good and convincing to me, like if you'd never seen any of those movies before you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference and that they weren't meant to be there. I found this short quite a unique blast to watch, and there was a lot of love for those scary movies that was put into it. And while there's no earthly reason why you should, trust me when I say that "Monster Machine" is a little fantasy of horror movie buffs come to life, and one that deftly toggles between heartfelt nostalgia and madcap splatter horror comedy, and both sides of the coin are equally enjoyable in my book. Loved it, it was a helluva lot of fun, and it made me wanna kick back and relive some of the old macabre classics... Bring on the next VHS!!!