Bereavement - In den Händen des Bösen

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.

'BEREAVEMENT': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Director Steven Mena wrote, directed, produced and did the music for this horror prequel to the cult slasher film that got him his start 'MALEVOLENCE'. This film shows the origins of the main villain of 'MALEVOLENCE', as a child, when he himself was abducted by a psychopath and held captive in a farmhouse, where he was forced to not only witness but take part in the madman's brutal killings. The filmmaker says this film was intended to be more of a psychological character study horror film than the more routine slasher film that the original was. I don't see a difference; in my opinion this is a pretty standard B horror film. I haven't seen the original to compare it to but this one is mediocre at best.

The film begins with it's central character Martin Bristol (Spencer List) swinging alone on a swing in his front yard when he's kidnapped by a man named Graham Sutter (Brett Rickaby). It's explained that Martin has no physical feelings in his body, by his mother right before he's taken, so the killer continues to cut and abuse him, as he feels no pain, while also making him bare witness to the killings of other innocent victims he kidnaps. He's held captive in a farmhouse for quite some time while the movie changes focus to a family in the same town where a young woman named Allison (Alexandra Daddario) comes to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents die. Her uncle Jonathan (Michale Biehn, one of my old favorite actors) made a promise to his brother that he'd watch over her if anything happened to him. While dealing with her new situation Allison meets a young man in the area named William (Nolan Gerard Funk) who she develops feelings for. Of course her path eventually crosses with that of the killer and the young boy and things get complicated.

I've read that the original cut was 3 hours long and Mena wanted the film to be an epic horror film. Even at 103 minutes the movie could have used some better editing and I think a longer cut would be excruciatingly dull and unnecessary. The film as it is is barely worth it's time to watch. It does have a nice 80's feel to it though and fans of gore will definitely get what they're looking for. I also love seeing Michael Biehn in anything (especially the sci-fi/horror genres) so getting to see him in action again was a treat in itself (he is underused though). As a whole I'd say the film is pretty average, nothing more and nothing less, just you're average routine horror film; which is not of course how the filmmaker describes it but that's what it is.

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It's been a few days now since I watched "Bereavement", and the more I contemplate about it, the more I have to reckon that it was a unique viewing experience for me! It's a really good horror movie, and simultaneously it's a very bad horror movie. Usually you spot a couple of strong aspects in an overall bad film, or you find a few things disappointing in an overall good film, but "Bereavement" is quite different. The good aspects are truly great, whereas the bad aspects are incredibly bad and, in the end, I can't decide what to think of it! Therefore, and for the first time in IMDb history, I'll be writing a schizophrenic/Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde review!

Dr. Jekyll says: "Bereavement" is a downright fantastic experience that you simply must watch in case you're a seeker of genuine and unhinged horror! For the first time in decades, we are faced with an atmosphere that is authentically grim and petrifying, and a screenplay that is vile, shocking and completely devoid of taboos or political correctness. Stevan Mena is the guy who finally dared to write a film about subjects that really scare people! Sick individuals prowling around in their eerie old cars and abducting defenseless young children, endlessly exposing fragile & undeveloped young minds to extreme violence, honest and good-hearted people getting slaughtered in front of their loved ones without reason, etc. "Bereavement" is one of the bleakest and nihilistically primitive stories ever and even the most experienced horror fanatics with strong stomachs and steel nerves are likely to be astounded by the brutality of this film. The remote locations (like the ramshackle meat & poultry abattoir) and set-pieces (like Sutter's van) are shivering and the total absence of comic relief makes the tense ambiance even more unbearable. The killings are relentlessly mean-spirited and there is a lot of graphic and uncompromising gore on display. It's always excellent to see Michael Biehn in a thriller/horror film, and his performance is reliably forceful as usual. Young heroine Alexandra Daddario is a stunning beauty with one of the brightest pairs of blue eyes I have ever seen, but with a breast size like hers, I would advise her to wear a sport bra when jogging. You're going to get back problems, girl!

Mr. Hyde says: how far does writer/director Stevan Mena expect us to push our suspension of disbelief? The screenplay of "Bereavement" is utterly ridicule and implausible. I reckon there aren't any policemen in Pennsylvania, because the least inconspicuous child abductor/serial killer in history can carelessly remain at large for a period of at least five years! This guy slowly drives near schools and playgrounds with an eye-catching pervert van that even has his actual name written in bright white letters on the side. Stranger danger, anyone? Five years later, he's still driving the same damn piece of wreckage, even though you can clearly read in newspaper clipping that an old black van got spotted at the house where the quiet kid was kidnapped. His liar, a narrowly demolished family company abattoir, also isn't exactly a secure hideout. It's located right next to the main road, and practically all the widows are broken, so at some point, please tell me that someone must heard the screams of tortured girls or smelled the stench of rotting corpses? Apparently, nobody in this godforsaken hole bothers to call the authorities or search for missing persons, like the waitress, and even cool dudes like Michael Biehn make dumb decisions. The teenage girl (and also her boyfriend) is the dumbest of the bunch, since she solely ventures into the cellars and corridors of a nasty slaughterhouse that is full of blood puddles, body parts and torture devices. Without once looking over her shoulder! Oh well, what do you expect from a chick with a D-cup size who doesn't wear a sports bra when she goes jogging? I could raise several more examples to point out the characters' stupidity, but the message is clear: the script of "Bereavement" is an insult to the intellect of every self-respecting horror fan!

Eventually, Dr. Jekyll narrowly wins the mental battle (hence the 6/10 rating) because I still principally respect the fact that Stevan Mena has the courage to bring a cruel and unrelenting fright-story.

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

When you go to a horror movie, you expect one basic thing: to be scared. This movie does not deliver.

Not only does it not deliver in the "scare me" department, but the scenes are so utterly ridiculous, the acting so insanely over the top, and the direction so pitifully bad that I had to walk out at the 3/4 mark of the film. It's just really bad on all levels. It's so bad that it's not even worth watching just to see how bad it is.

I can forgive a lot when I go to movies these day (they do seem to be going down hill), but this one is not worth watching for any amount of money. And if it were free, I'd rather watch Madea's Big Happy Family.