Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Monster in the Closet’

Written by Scott Edwards

Let’s get real here for just a minute, everyone has a little fear of the dark. Since the day we are born and the light hits our eyes, we feel safe because we can see our loved ones surrounding us, but when the lights go off, we have no idea what is there, giving us fear that our loved ones are gone, and we are vulnerable to attack from something that we cannot see. This is a common fear and the reason why there are so many night lights out there. There is nothing to be ashamed of if you're afraid of the dark, looking under your bed or checking the closet before you go to sleep, gives you reassurance that the boogeyman or whatever is not there so you can enjoy a good night's rest.

Young reporter Richard Clark is looking for something new to do at the paper since he has been put on the obituaries for some time now. Asking his boss for a better assignment, lead reporter Scoop pushes his way into the meeting and finds an old story about people being killed in closets from a couple of weeks ago and urges the boss to give the story to the young gun. Not knowing all of the details, this is the assignment that Richard has been looking forward to and he is ready to make his mark at the paper. 

Arriving in Chestnut Hills, Richard waits to talk to the police chief and finds a young boy who seems to be interested in all of the sounds going on around him. Letting young ‘Professor’ Bennett record him buying a candy bar, Richard finds out that he is the son of a close-minded Professor, Diane Bennett. Hearing that the professor has strange ideas about what is killing the people of the town, Richard is invited to see one of the crime scenes where the Closet killer has recently struck. Not finding anything out of the ordinary at that crime scene, another opportunity opens up across the street as another man is killed. Seeing the carnage in the closet, Richard finds what appears to be a claw on the floor and knows that it must have something to do with what just happened.

Only knowing a few people in town, Richard takes the claw to Diane to investigate and finds out that Doctor Pennyworth is more than happy to check it out. The old doctor is happy to see his young protégé taking interest like this and Diane invites Richard to dinner at her house. While young ‘Professor’ Bennett wants nothing more than to show Richard the project he is working on, the two hear screaming out in the street as the Closet Killer has struck again. With the sheriff and all of his men on scene, they will not let this psycho get away again and surround the house. The monster complies with all of the orders that the sheriff lays out, however there is nothing that can stop it and now it is roaming free in the closets of a three-block quarantine zone that the military set up. Going house to house to find the monster is the plan, but Doctor Pennyworth is able to discover an attractant for the monster that might be more beneficial since the study of such a beast would mean volumes to the scientific community. 

If you are looking for a horror movie that is a little hokey and a lot of fun, look no further. This is one of the things I like about older Troma Entertainment movies, in that they were willing to bring a low budget horror movie to light, without taking it too far. I love the monster in the movie and when searching for a closet, it must find the right one, or it will continue to move on. With some fun characters and some names, you know now, but may not have back then when the movie came out, it is great to see how careers were built. The key takeaway that I get from this story, is that if there is a monster in the closet, don’t open the door and if it keeps showing up in your closet, you might have to take the next step and not have a closet at all. Stay Scared.

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