The Beacon

After reading the two reviews here, I was hopeful this would be good. Unfortunately, what I was subjected to was a bunch of clichés and a film that got progressively worse.

First, a little synopsis. A couple move in to an apartment building in order to put the traumatic loss of their child behind them and get their life back on track. Instead, their lives spiral out of control as strange events keep happening.

I've often wondered why the always reliable Teri Polo was always confined to supporting roles. Now I know. Polo stars as Bryn, who can't get over feelings of loss and guilt and she telegraphs and amplifies pretty much every emotion of her character. She's... regrettably bad. The direction and writing by Michael Stokes sure does not help but really, it's inexcusable.

David Rees Snell (a.k.a. that wooden actor who played the quiet of the four detectives in "The Shield) is her co-lead as the husband. Again, a cliché character of the husband courageously trying prevent his couple from sinking and repressing his emotions in the process (probably better that way, as the actor wouldn't be able to show any).

Oh, there's also the cliché sister. She's a hot babe with some of the worse lines and characterization I have seen in a while. Flashing her breasts to the movers one moment, and the next reciting platitudes disguised as pearls of wisdom the next. It's really painful.

Anyways, from the moment they move in, we meet a cast of weird characters. The tenants all have their little quirks and again, the characterization is awful, particularly when the whole plot is taken into account. This movie, mark my words, will have zero replay value because of the various plot holes, many of which are caused by the awful acting on display.

Speaking of the plot, this is your fairly typical ghost story, which means nowadays plot twists that don't really make much sense. These could have made for a watchable film in the hand of a competent director but unfortunately, it's not the case here. As things escalate and the weird happenings become more common, we are subjected to some of the worse makeup effects seen since the 90s. I literally paused and wondered if I was watching a horror movie or a comedy.

There are hundreds of horror movies you should watch but Beacon is not one of them, I would think. Unless you're a hardcore fan of the genre.

Shot mostly at the Roger's Hotel in Waxahachie, Texas (30 miles south of Dallas), this scary flick successfully made me jump... a few times. I also can usually determine the outcome of a given film, but I couldn't have guessed this one at ALL!

The plot centers around a couple who are recovering from the disappearance of their son. They relocate to the Beacon Apartments, only to find that the building appears to be haunted by a young boy (around the same age of their own son who they've lost). From the moment they move in, the wife notices strange things happening around them, but the husband is quick to brush it off. Soon, he realizes that his wife may be telling the truth, after all.

Great movie if you like this genre. I saw it at a sneak peek in Dallas and am not sure about national release. Consider joining their Facebook group so you can find out how to get the film to show in your neighborhood, if interested!

This movie was sort of mediocre, but leaning towards being good actually. The story of the movie was quite alright and kind of captivating and interesting. There was a constant and good flow to the story, so you never felt bored or found the movie to be uninteresting.

As for it being a ghost movie? Well, yeah, it is, but not in the traditional sense of a ghost movie. This is sort of one step beyond that, as the ghosts assume corporeal forms, which in itself is kind of interesting to see in a ghost horror movie.

The cast in "The Beacon" was alright, and each brought their characters fairly well to life on the screen. The dialogue could have been better in certain places throughout the movie, but not together all bad though.

The sets, scenery and make-ups were nice and worked well for the movie. However, the ending, well that was a bit too much. Sort of made me laugh actually, because it was so cliché, so typical Hollywood.

Throughout the course of the movie, you are taken for some thrill rides and exposed to some really nice twists to the story as well.

In summary, "The Beacon" is not an overly scary movie, it is more of an interesting ghost movie. Watch it if you like supernatural movies, just don't expect to get scared out of your seat.

The film really did have a good creepy feel to it. It can leave the viewer feeling somewhat scared and it does get better near the end. The movie is also very suspenseful and leaves you waiting till the very end to see what the heck is going on. All the acting was pretty good, especially from Teri Polo who had the main role. Most of the story seemed to fit but certain things were placed in the film that really didn't need to be there. One scene had to do with Marnette Patterson's character near the end. Also there was about two or so minutes at the end of the movie that didn't need to be there. They couldn't of stopped at one point, but they had to take it just a little farther and to me it seemed like it almost ruined it. The film was decent but I did want more out of the scare factor.

(2009) The Haunting At the Beacon/ The Beacon HORROR

I saw this movie as "The Haunting At the Beacon" and not as "The Beacon" written and directed by Michael Stokes starring Teri Polo as Bryn, living with her husband Paul (David Rees Snell) as they're going through a tragic loss of their biological son, and happen to move into a hotel that is haunted. Straight-to-rental, and although it has it's moments, it's all been done before except that this version has a mediocre acting, plot holes and a premised that's been done a hundred times. And the budget restraints prevent this movie to be believable.