Bereavement - In den Händen des Bösen

"Brought home a boy from the valley. He's young enough to learn the business my way."

This recent entry in the "small town psychopathic serial killer" genre isn't exactly a game-changer and it doesn't try to be that scary, but it is a tense, nasty affair that will probably appeal to some horror fans. 

We've got out deranged killer that preys on young women, a young boy he kidnaps to "assist" him, and a new arrival from out of town (Alexandra Dadarrio) that enjoys taking long runs alone that just happen to pass by a sinister looking and isolated rundown meat-packing plant. If you're guessing that's a recipe for blood, brutality and death, then you're right.

Bereavement is fine for what it is, but I doubt I'll be compelled to watch it more than once. There's nothing really exceptional about it, though some of the outdoor cinematography is beautiful, there's a concentrated effort to give depth and a back-story to most of the main characters, and Alexandra is undoubtedly nice eye candy (if there was an Academy Award for filling out a halter top, she'd have it in the bag). The bottom line, though, is that this is such a thoroughly bleak movie that it's almost too realistically grim and hopeless to find entertainment in. That's not necessarily a "flaw", but it's definitely something some viewers will respond less favorably to than others. 

Oh, and I don't think I've heard this much screaming in a film in quite a while. Have your ears prepared to be assaulted.

Where to start.... Well I read the reviews and as always went in with an open mind since I frequently like films with bad reviews (I obviously ignored the amazing reviews from cast and crew)

I was expecting a B-Movie slasher I guess. What I got was a film trying to punch far too much above it's weight. It wanted to be taken seriously but when the leading lady has obviously been picked for her ample bosoms and permanently larger than life nipples over her acting it just ain't gonna happen!

Then there's the blood.... Lots of it obviously but could they really not get the colour right? I think the effects dept must have popped to Asda for some cheap ketchup. Very poor effort.

I think F- Movie sums it up really. AVOID.

SPOILER: In 1989, the boy Martin Bristol (Spencer List) has congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), a rare neural disorder, in which the patient does not feel pain, heat or cold. He is abducted by the deranged serial-killer Graham Sutter (Brett Rickaby) and brought to the Sutter Meat & Poultry, an abandoned meat-packing plant in Minersville, Pennsylvania, where Graham slaughters young women that he kidnaps.

Five years later, the stubborn seventeen year-old teenager Allison Miller (Alexandra Daddario) loses her parents and moves to the house of her uncle Jonathan Miller (Michael Biehn) that is located near to the decrepit plant. Jonathan, his wife Karen (Kathryn Meisle) and their little daughter Wendy (Peyton List) welcome Allison, but the teenager does not give much attention to her new family. Allison likes to run alone on the road and she passes by the meat-packing plant and then she meets the mechanic William "Billy" (Nolan Gerard Funk) and has a crush on him. Jonathan advises Allison to avoid running near the old factory and Billy, who is a problematic teenager. Allison does not listen to her uncle and brings tragedy to the Miller family.

"Bereavement" is a bleak, brutal and gruesome slasher film with a brainless heroine by Stevan Mena. The storyline is cruel with children and most of the directors of horror movies avoid this approach to make the film more commercial. Allison is the key character, but she is too stupid to make the movie work. Her attitude toward her guardians is awkward for an orphan without resources. She is an athlete with big breasts that runs without brassiere, which is unusual. But he worst is to follow an unknown boy through the underground and gruesome basement of an abandoned building seeing jars with blood and weird chains (imagine the smell) without any fear of being raped or attacked by a stranger. Last but not the least, this unpleasant movie is recommended for very specific audiences only. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Did ANY of you prior reviewers realize this movie doesn't need an explanation because it IS an explanation? This movie is a prequel for the movie Malevolence. And a good one. The acting wasn't top billing actors (take a look at the budget), but it wasn't the worst I've seen by far. Not sure how anyone could say there's no plot. It won't replace my favorite horror movie, but I did enjoy it. Either watch Malevolence first, or watch it knowing what it is. I can see how confusing and open ended it would seem not knowing that, especially since, as far as I saw, IMDb didn't bother to mention it, either.

This movie does a great job telling the background story of how Martin became the psychopath he was in Malevolence. There were still surprises along the way. It would be nice for it to be more obvious what this movie is, because it really is not a stand alone movie like some other prequels and sequels are.

Kudos to writer/director Stevan Mena for making Bereavement, his prequel to the impressive Malevolence, such a downbeat, mean-spirited and bloody little psycho flick, and also for casting delicious Alexandra Daddario in the lead, an actress who deservedly finds a place in my 'Big Breasted Babe In A Small Vest' Horror Hall of Fame. No such praise, however for Mena's woeful script, which is both incredibly clichéd at times and deeply flawed, making the film frustratingly mediocre as a whole.

First and foremost, why did Mena have his serial killer drive around in a truck that reveals his identity on the side? Loitering outside schools, driving slowly down suburban streets, and prowling round parking lots for victims are the kind of thing best done in an unmarked vehicle (or so I am lead to believe—ahem!); nut-job Sutter has his name painted on the door of his distinctive rusty heap and would surely have been the prime suspect for any local disappearance. Amazingly, though, he continues to abduct and kill with no interference from the police. And then there's the little matter of Sutter's lair, a dilapidated meat packing factory which sits next to a main highway and yet has never aroused the suspicion of anyone passing by, despite screams clearly being audible from the road; incredibly, the place even has power and a fully functional furnace!!!

Considering the sheer stupidity of this basic set-up, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to learn that the characters act as though they have sawdust for brains. Track star Alison (Daddario) has obviously never seen a horror film in her life, since she is happy to continue exploring the creepy meat factory even after finding pools of blood and a scrapbook full of newspaper cuttings about missing local women. Alison's boyfriend William suffers the ultimate price for displaying a similar lack of self preservation, as does a waitress who makes so much noise while attempting to escape from Sutter that it's not long before she's hanging from a meat-hook. Hell, it's almost as though people actually want to be killed by this guy.

Unfortunately, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the idiocy on display in this film, with moments that will make you want to scream at the screen in frustration coming thick and fast, right up to the bleak and bloody finale that could have been avoided if only someone had just displayed a little common sense.