Beat the Beast

release year: 2014
genre: monster mayhem
viewing setting: home streaming 7/2/26

synopsis: Workers at a remote construction site are menaced by giant underground monsters.

impressions: This was a Chinese production, which wouldn't have been a problem except that Amazon streaming decided not to make subtitles available for the second half of the movie - which meant we could only guess what people were saying. But this is basically the story of a couple dozen guys (and a couple of women and a child) who are trapped in this half-built place with only limited supplies, their will to live, and some heavy construction equipment. The monsters are CGI but look decent; they reminded me of the burrowing monsters from Tremors but much larger. There is also an evil corporate boss couple so that some of the humans can be bad guys. Overall, it was entertaining and tried something I'd not yet seen before (bulldozers and steamshovels being used against giant monsters.)

acting: I don't even know what the characters' names were. The father and son stood out, as did the older female cook and the hot-air-balloon-riding live streamer. The best character was the tough, bald, bearded worker - he showed no fear when it came time to attack the much larger menaces.

final word: Fairly entertaining, worth seeing once.

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