I Am Monsters! (2023)
Directed by: Nicholas Vince
I AM MONSTERS!
Directed by Nicholas Vince
Nicholas Vince isn’t a household name, but at FrightFest, he’s royalty. You may not know him, but if you’re a seasoned horror fan, you’ll have seen him in Hellraiser, Nightbreed, and numerous other oddities (I’m particularly fond of Book of Monsters). I am Monsters! adapts his autobiographical one-person show of the same name, which charts his life and career. He has such stories to tell you. Taking the form of a stage show, in which he comes on complete with a magician’s waistcoat and exquisite painting props, it’s an unguarded, frequently moving performance that invites viewers to reflect on the meaning of monsters. From his often difficult childhood, where he underwent surgery and bullying, to his long-term friendship with Clive Barker, this adaptation showcases his considerable talents as a storyteller and actor. Having had the privilege of interviewing Nicholas before, I knew he cared deeply about his craft. And as he delivers some thematically relevant and impressive (if indulgently long) monologues from Phantom of the Opera and Dracula, it made me yearn to see him take leading roles more often.
Admittedly, how much you get from I am Monsters! will depend on your interest in him, the Hellraiser franchise, and the realities of growing up gay in the 70s and 80s – something he says he was “rubbish” at. Hence the lack of star rating – how do you qualify such a niche project? But I got heaps from it. There’s a lot of social commentary here, and Vince perfectly walks the line between the personal and the political. And while there’s room to expand on how he works his feelings into his acting techniques, possibly at the expense of some of the long, if evocative, section on his underbite, there’s a profoundly moving coming-of-age story here. It’s the tale of how a young boy felt his most natural with a script and found acceptance in the monstrous. Bits like his reflecting on how Greek mythology is full of ‘arsehole’ heroes and brilliant beasts get to the heart of why we all love the genre so much. The bits about horror as a celebration of difference also made me proud to call myself a fan. To paraphrase Vince, we are monsters because we are human. The society around him said he was weird, but the films he watched and has been in said that was okay. I expect licensing issues, as we don’t get the obligatory montage of images from Vince’s work, and the range of clips is scant. Still, he’s a pro, and, along with some visual flourishes and an atmospheric soundtrack, his delivery evokes time and setting vividly.
The loose structure consists of five acts, ala the theatrical tradition. Sometimes the throughline drops as he goes between organising it chronologically and by themes, making the piece seem like a series of thoughts rather than a coherent narrative. But in a way, this ebb and flow adds to the warm atmosphere and resembles how he’d tell it to you in real life. Nicholas (having seen this, I now feel I know him well enough to use his first name) also doesn’t depict himself as an angel, particularly toward the end. Were the connection between him and the audience not there, then this could have been a sour note to go out on. But with the buildup, it’s a compelling reminder that there’s a little monster in us all. And we should embrace and nurture that part of us rather than join the mob. On a related point, while the presentation is good at evoking the stage show, the audience noise is so distractingly quiet that I wondered why they were (presumably) added at all. There are enough inserts to break the illusion that I found them unnecessary, but the more significant issue is that their cricket pitch reactions do Vince a disservice. After all, he puts on quite a show. Oh, and plaudits to Mitch Bain for the ethereal carnival score – I saw it a week ago and am still humming the closing theme.
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