If you haven’t seen Monster Roll yet, do yourself a favor- turn the volume up, put it in full screen, and enjoy 6 minutes of the freshest short about sushi you’ve ever seen. Monster Roll is a proof of concept short film which pits the knife skills of sushi chefs against behemoths from the deep abysses of the sea.
The short, written and directed by Dan Blank, Erich Lochner and Matt Miller, oozes with originality and passion. The short takes its cues from over-the-top classics such as Ghostbusters and Gremlins that were the staples of the creators childhoods1, and the wry mix of dark comedy and tongue in cheek seriousness is refreshing in this day and age of formulaic blockbuster films. We can only hope that if the short gets turned into a feature length film that the creators are able to give it depth and meaningful, multi-dimensional characters, but the worst case scenario is sushi chefs and sumo wrestlers fighting epic battles against the type of creatures that must haunt scuba divers worst nightmares.
There’s no way an idea so crazy could be anything but a labor of love, probably concocted over delicious rolls and perhaps (quite) a few drinks. It’s great to see people trying to create something that they would love to go to themselves, rather than making a movie purely with profit in their hearts. Best quote of the short? “Big knife, big fish”.
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