Bereavement (2010)

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.

This is a dark & nasty horror movie with child torture & murder at it's core - quite tough viewing at times. I felt the female lead was a bit too dim at times & the film at 103 minutes is a little on the long side but for fans of American rural, psycho horror it's well worth checking out - providing you can stomach the kiddie torture porn stuff.

A little boy is abducted from his home by a crazy guy in a creepy van. It's not just any normal boy but one that suffers from a condition that causes him to not feel any physical pain.Five years later, we find the boy in some dark cellar witnessing girls being tortured and killed. The kidnapper is trying to train him. The boy should be suited for this work since presumably his condition should make him fearless. He appears to be anything but fearless.Meanwhile, the lovely Allison arrives from Chicago to live with her uncle, aunt and little cousin. Her parents died from an accident and the uncle promised the dad to take care of her if anything happened to him. She's of course not at all happy to end up somewhere out in the country in Pennsylvania. She runs into some kid with an alcoholic dad in a wheelchair. They become closer but the uncle is trying to keep them apart. On her morning runs she sees a boy in an abandoned building. It's a former meat-packaging plant. One day she decides to follow him into the building and she's taken by the crazy guy.The uncle and boyfriend go looking for her but run into the crazy guy. He, by the way, has conversations with and visions about someone with a cow skull who presumably makes demands of the crazy guy and to appease him he kills and tortures all these girls over the years. There's also some pseudo-religious talk of redemption and the such. Allison's fate will provide a neat little twist.Bereavement is a competently made horror flick that benefits from the acting skills of the entire cast and the beauty of Daddario. It has some original ideas but it doesn't do enough with them. The worst part of the movie was how dark most of it was filmed. Of course the key parts have to take place at night, how could it possibly be otherwise? And the killings take place in a cellar with no light and the crazy guy doesn't seem to be in the least troubled by the fact that he can't see anything. And neither can we. If you're going to bother doing a torture horror flick, why the sudden reluctance to show the bloody parts? The killer is also a bit too crazy and little is explained about him. Of course he keeps a book with newspaper clippings of his work. It's time for younger filmmakers to dispose of all this lame predictable stuff. More emphasis should have been placed on the development of the boy as well and his relationship with the crazy guy.

I'm not really sure if I enjoyed this movie or not. There were defiantly parts that I enjoyed a lot, but there were also parts that I disliked a lot. So many things about this movie annoyed me. The victims, the constant screaming, the 'hero's' poor acting, the poor acting by the murderer and the talking to his dead father, the stupid police at the end. But there were brief moments that had depth to them. The shot of Martin looking out of the factory at the end, Billy's father at the end waiting for Billy to return. The lack of expression or emotion by Martin, no matter what was happening at the time. The blood and gore. What really got me was why Martin turned at the end. He had shown no interest in the murders and appeared more than uncomfortable about what was happening when the murders occurred, plus he allowed himself to be rescued and seemed to want to be rescued, but then he kills the girl who rescues him and then his 'teacher'. Although i didn't enjoy this movie as much as i thought i would I still plan on watching Malevolence, as I'm interested to see where the director takes Martins character.