‘Fly the deadly skies’
Sky Monster is a 2023 British sci-fi horror film about a magnetic force that pulls a small plane into the Bermuda Triangle; now a group of female friends find themselves stalked by a tentacled beast… in the clouds.
Produced and directed by ““Tyler-James”” (The Loch Ness Horror; Dinosaur Prison; Crocodile Swarm; Monsternado; Deadly Waters) from a screenplay written by Tom Jolliffe (War of the Worlds: The Attack; The Area 51 Incident; Wrath of Van Helsing; Reign of Chaos; Jurassic Island; The Leprechaun’s Curse; Ouija Hosts; The Legend of Jack and Jill; Witches of Amityville Academy; Scarecrow’s Revenge).
The Jagged Edge Productions movie stars Betsy-Blue English (The Unearthly), Sarah T. Cohen (Pterodactyl; Jurassic Island; Hellkat; Cupid), May Kelly (Alien Invasion; Pterodactyl; The Killing Tree), Sarah Alexandra Marks (Minacious; Monster Portal; Croc!), Stephen Aaron-Sipple, Matthew Baunsgard (Freddy’s Fridays; Alien Invasion; The Area 51 Incident), Evangelina Burton, Ryan Davies, Jack Ilco, Peter Jeffries, Daniel Jordan and Chrissie Wunna (Snake Hotel; Pterodactyl; Dinosaur Hotel 2).
Review:
The artwork for Sky Monster will doubtless entice fans of schlocky horror and the premise – a tentacled Kraken-like beast attacking a small plane – certainly has promise. Unfortunately, prolific scripter Tom Jolliffe’s potentially camp scenario (with lines such as “Turbulence doesn’t have tentcles, Vince”) is undermined by woefully inadequate special effects. The oft-seen model plane is simply hilarious and the CGI for tentacled attacks within the plane is abysmal. This endeavour cried out for a bigger budget and combined with lacklustre performances from a bemused cast of Jagged Edge Productions regulars playing rich bimbos it fails to engage. Even the usually reliable Sarah T. Cohen struggles with her predictable character arc and her conversion from nervous prude into a beast-battling heroine is wholly unconvincing.
Time and time again, its been proven that movie monster fans can accept all manner of knowingly daft concepts. And a flying kraken is a wonderful idea despite the puzzling aspect as to how the beast’s tentacles manage to intrude into a supposedly airtight aircraft. However, when Sky Monster initially attempts to convince us that we are in Miami when it’s stunningly obvious it’s England (the plane even bears a Union Jack flag!) and some, just some, of the cast adopt cod-American accents whilst others blithely disregard the film’s opening stateside setting it just grates and instantly takes us out of the movie.
At just 75 minutes, Sky Monster is, at least, mercifully short and it doesn’t take long before the silliness begins. It’s certainly worth a look/laugh but it could have been so much better.
Adrian J Smith, MOVIES & MANIA
Release:
Sky Monster was released worldwide by ITN Distribution. It is currently available to watch free online on Freevee and Tubi.
Trailer:
Cast and characters:
Betsy-Blue English … Cindy; May Kelly … Lola; Evangelina Burton … Adriana (as Eva Burton); Sarah T. Cohen … Becca; Sarah Alexandra Marks … Yvonne; Ryan Davies … Mike (as Ryan Davis); Matthew Baunsgard … Roland (as Matthew Baunsguard); Daniel Jordan … Don; Chrissie Wunna … Karen; Jack Ilco … Vince; Peter Jeffries … Benny; Stephen Aaron-Sipple … Karl; Scott Wandal … Kilmer
Technical specs:
1 hour 15 minutes
Also directed by “Tyler-James”:
DINOSAUR PRISON (2023) Reviews of British monster movie – free to watch on YouTube!
