Monsters

Writer-director Gareth Edwards didn’t have a lot of money to make his alien-invasion movie, and it’s easy to tell. The aliens barely appear, and when they do, they look like the children of Sesame Street’s Snuffleupagus and a giant octopus. Still, he creates some nice tension and scary moments as two Americans try to make it back to the country from an “infected zone” in Mexico. There are a couple of nighttime attack scenes that generate some genuine terror. Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able perform well in the main roles, making you care what happens to them. I’m curious to see what Edwards could do with a real budget, because this movie is pretty good, all things considered.