Stevan Mena's BEREAVEMENT (2011) Review
Sunday, August 21, 2011 AC/ IgorsLab
Stevan Mena's BEREAVEMENT (2011) Review
I have been waiting for this film to come out for quite some time now. I missed my chance of seeing it at the New York Horror Film Festival last year and have been kicking myself since then. I first came to hear about the film because an actor I have liked since childhood was in it, Michael Biehn. Then there was the controversy over the poster and that peaked my interest even more. Well I got my hands on a copy of the film thanks to the good people at Anchor Bay, and man, what a film.
In the film, a psychotic killer (Brett Rickaby) abducts a boy (Spencer List) to teach him how to become a killer and take over for him when he is gone. Five years later we have a teenage girl (Alexandra Daddario) who loses her parents and comes to this small town to live with her Uncle (Michael Biehn). The teenager was a track star at her old school. One day she goes for a run and spots the young boy in a window. Their paths cross later in the film and we are treated to some very cool twists and turns.
The film starts off right from the start with an abduction and killing. The thought of a child being abducted is terrifying enough, but to have a psycho use the child to learn and take over for him is really terrifying. Movies like this, in my opinion, as opposed to films like FRIDAY THE 13th are more terrifying because of the fact this could take place especially in small towns. The psychos name is Graham Sutter and I call him a psycho because he thinks he is being spoken to by demons and that he is carrying out their plans. Here is where the movie gets you because there are scenes to suggest there are, in fact, demons or is all this just playing in his head.
His issues can be from the fact that he grew up with a mean father and he was brought up working in the family’s slaughter house, which is now abandoned and where he brings his victims to be slaughtered. The slaughter house is a great setting in the film. It is dark, cluttered and off the main road so no one can hear his victims scream.
His relationship with the boy is not like father and son, but more like teacher and student, or master and slave works better. The boy is locked up in a wooden cage like a prisoner at night and is so shell-shocked that he never speaks. The boy (whose name is Martin) does not want to partake in the killing, but is forced to watch as Graham performs these horrible acts of violence on the victims. Also, all the victims Graham abducts are pretty young girls, but he doesn’t really do anything to them other than kill them. The boy tries to escape from this nightmare, but can never get far before Graham re-captures him.
The two other main characters in the film are Jonathan Miller (Michael Biehn) and Allison (Alexandra Daddario). After Allison’s parents were killed, she moved in with her Uncle Jonathan. The two try to set up boundaries, but Allison takes a liking to a local boy, who himself has had tragedy happen in his life and has been tagged a trouble maker in the town. Jonathan does not want his niece to see the boy and that is where the tension begins between the two. Also, at her old school she was a track star and she likes to run a lot. On one of her runs, she spots the Martin in a window, but doesn’t think anything about it. It is the second time around when she spots him again where the movie really take off, bringing the story to a freaking awesome finish.
The four actors I have mentioned do an incredible job keeping us engaged in the film. Brett Rickaby’s performance as the psycho killer was just amazing. He was so believable I was glad it was only a film. Spencer List (Martin) is very creepy in the film for being a victim, left to watch countless victims have their life’s taken from them in front of him. Alexandra Daddario is just as good in her role and she is such a good looking girl you can’t take your eyes off of her. Last but not least is Michael Biehn one of the reasons I wanted to see this film and he did not disappoint. He is as solid as he was in any other of his films and I hope to see him in more horror type films down the road.
Also I want to give Steve Mena props for being able to build up his characters in a way that was not boring. He gave me, the movie viewer, what I was looking for: a strong story, plenty of violence, characters I was interested in and best of all, twists and turns with an awesome ending that will go down as one of the better endings to a horror film. He definitely topped himself from his first film MALEVOLENCE. BEREAVEMENT is a serves as a prequel to MALEVOLENCE. Mena also directed the film and did a great job with that as well. There were some shots that were so good they are still embedded in my head.
I could spoil this movie for you, but I think you guys should really check it out. It has everything a horror fan would want in a film and is a second film that in my opinion supersedes the first. If you really want spoilers you can contact me and if I get enough e-mails I will hide it in the review and tell you where to look.
The DVD itself is loaded with features like audio commentary, deleted scenes, theatrical trailer, tv spots, the making of BEREAVEMENT, on set video, still montage and even the screenplay.Pick up this film when it comes out on DVD and Blu-ray on August 30th.
Reader Comments (1)
You are incorrect... "Bereavement" was shot by cinematographer Marco Cappetta.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0135524/
Please correct your article. Thank you.