Kids
are more likely to survive horror movies, because they are more apt to believe in
monsters and therefore take the necessary survival precautions. Three young
residents of a blighted urban housing project are a perfect case in point. They
know a shape-shifting demon is preying on children, because they see it with
their own eyes in Little Monsters,
the latest episode of Two Sentence Horror
Stories, directed by Tayarisha Poe, which premieres tonight on the CW.
After
her mother’s death, May and her widowed father move into the project, where the
sheer volume of missing children flyers posted is distressingly suspicious.
Khalil and Marcus quickly clue her in. They claim a demonic shape-shifter with
a black tongue and talon-like nails regularly abducts local children, for its
culinary pleasure. She is willing to believe, because she has already seen it
herself.
Ordinarily,
Khalil and Marcus just focus on survival, since all the adults around them lack
the imagination and intuition to give credence to their claims. However, when
one of the three is taken, the other two launch a rescue mission.
Horror
fans could consider Little Monsters to
be a strictly serious 2019 updating on The
Monster Squad concept, completely drained of camp and nostalgia. The young
trio is quite telegenic, but there is nothing precious, immature or cutesy
about their work on-screen. In fact, their fear feels very real. Melinda Mo is
especially impressive portraying May, a little girl who is still processing her
grief while facing an uncanny peril. She is pretty devastating, but she also
develops some plucky chemistry with Mikelle Wright-Matos, as Khalil.
Honestly,
Little Monsters would possibly rank
as the best episode of the entire season, were it not for some dubious special
effects. In retrospect, the climax probably could and should have been tweaked
a bit, without taking anything away from what creator-screenwriter Vera Miao
was getting at.
Regardless,
horror fans will appreciate the creepiness of the monster and the
resourcefulness of the three monster-fighters. Yet, there is depth to this
episode non-genre fans should also respect. Highly recommended, Little Monsters airs tonight (9/12) on
the CW, as part of the current season of Two
Sentence Horror Stories.
