Bender

This is another fine release from High Fliers Films, a company I only discovered recently with the release of 'The Cleansing (2019)'. I am delighted to find there are many films under their banner, and a lot of them are horror stories.

This is another modestly budgeted chiller, based on the real life Bender family of the 1870s, the first known serial killer family. Director and co-writer John Alexander orchestrates events in a restrained manner, never in a hurry to tell their story. If you are prepared for a mainly unspectacular, intelligent slow-burner, this will not disappoint. That isn't to say there aren't moments that won't make you jump - the fate of one of the local doctor's patients, and the doctor's own eventual fate, for example, are handled deftly. Shocking moments in an overall ambience of distinctly calmed oddness.

There's an unspecific but unsettling nature about the directorial choices here too - lingering just too long on a smile, highlighting the rugged features of a character contrasted against a wide blue sky, introducing the grocery store as a lone silhouette, the omnipresent but barely perceptible buzzing of flies - that further communicates the sense of dislocation and unease as further disappearances occur in Fairweather.

Just don't eat the pork.

This film is classified as horror, and, as a story of the notorious Bender "family" (who probably were not a true family at all), it would be assumed to be one - however, in reality, it is primarily a quiet psychological drama with some metaphysical elements, and a touch of the macabre. There is a small element of the core story of the Benders within - a group of apparently related people (who definitely are a family in the film version) open an inn in the American Wild West during late XIX century, and proceed to entrap and murder lonely travellers who stop by in the night - but it is very far away from the known facts of the true events, and the film should be treated as something of a very loose fantasy, peripherally inspired by history.

It is, in fact, quite involving, slow and - rather unusually, considering the subject - sometimes almost peaceful in its tone.

The film has the feeling of a local project, and I suspect that it was conceived, born and filmed in Kansas, by people personally interested in what may be the darkest story of the region (or at least was one, until a certain Dennis Rader appeared there...); I would certainly not mind its full score being released.

Too bad they brought little of the truth to what is a fascinating true story. They made a sadly horrific history's retelling boring and mundane. Only two Benders spoke English and I get that could complicate the story telling but why change the age of the brother when it's been almost proven without a doubt Kate was in fact John Benders wife and not his sister. The backfill of assuming the Benders interrelationship was ridiculous and nonsense. Supposedly Kate did readings and touted a gift, but I am sure why they had to play Kate's gift as real and furthermore so strangely creepy. Watchable but I suggest any viewer research the true story of this family.

The true story behind this has such potential, but this movie fell flat.

I gave it two starts because not once did they use shaky-cam, good for that at least.

The acting/actors were very bad. It's so odd to see so many films with poor actors because here in SoCal there are a tremendous amount of talented unknowns.

If you know the true story regarding the Bender family you understand what I mean that a movie on them could be pretty large if done correctly.

At most this movie is only good for background noise while cleaning or cooking, nothing more.

Hitchcock Style!!! The horror that it's a true story is enough.