PRESENTS

MONSTER DESIGN - Rather strong design, if only it wasn't distorted with FX
MONSTER INTERACTION - Took a bit to get in, but the latter half of the film the interaction heightened.
MONSTER ORIGINALITY - Could bridge the gap from vampire to werewolf but interesting to look at!
MONSTER FEAR FACTOR - Minor jumps, major confusing reasoning, and some solid creepy fingees.

PRACTICAL EFFECTS - Loved some of the early knife work and the full body creature suit.
CGI ANIMATION - Woah did this get distracting. I was really bummed about the reckless use when showing the monster.
FX MAKEUP - I'm giving substantial pointage to the monster's make-up itself. However, lost points for so questionable crow guts.

STORY - Many questions unanswered and ultimately made me question "why," in the first place
CHARACTERS - Not too heavy handed in the teen angst but also not hugely in depth. I bought the relationships.
DIALOGUE - didn't distract but didn't blow me away.

I would love to give this movie high marks for the monster itself. I found some of the spine moments and the overall anthropomorphic features to be visually appealing. However, I was rather devastated when we at last see the creature in full, a filter or distortion on the monster fully ruined the charm. What would have turned this movie into a much more enjoyable experience for me would be the story. When I find myself asking "ok, but WHY is this happening," I think there are major holes in the writing. There was a fair amount of nudity in this film that I didn't feel was overplayed or just for the sake of putting body on screen. Many of the shots (as both Niko and Jake explained poignantly) lived in a world similar to CSI. Found footage, out of focus play, and zooming in and out with what felt like not a lot of intention also hurt the score for me. Lastly, the atmosphere of this film lived nicely in doldrums and sadness which I actually found rather well displayed. This is a solid film for anyone who doesn't quite care why we are in this place or with these characters, but also a solid film if you are in the need to see a few minutes of a fun creature.