Bereavement (Malevolence prequel) (V)
| release date | August 30 2011 |
| studio | Anchor Bay |
| director | Stevan Mena |
| writer | Stevan Mena |
| starring | Michael Biehn, Brett Rickaby, Martin Bristol, Kathryn Meisle, John Savage, Nolan Funk, Alexandra Daddario |
| site | bereavementmovie.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
0 Comments
Distractingly mediocre…
To start off, the acting isn’t horrifying, it just doesn’t work. All the actors seemed a little too emotional and the portrayal of that emotion seemed more fit for a Lifetime movie. The killer and the child were both pretty awful too. The kid looks like he’s always trying not to smile and the killer is beyond annoying from his whiny voice, to his skittish mannerisms. Sadly, he probably talks the most.
Another huge problem I had with the movie is the story, or lack thereof. There is no huge problem or challenge any of the “good guys” have to face, and there is nothing going on with our killer either. The boy is the only one I could consider a lead character because he is the only one who goes through a transformation (obviously, into the killer in Malevolence). The rest of the cast just has a cute little slice of uninteresting drama that they fail to really communicate to the audience. By the time people start dying, I really didn’t care. In fact, a more important character died and I totally forgot the person was dead until the movie ended. Speaking of death, almost all deaths in the film lose impact immediately because the character was NEVER introduced. There are a few early conversations between hostages that makes it seem that they were once an actual character, but got left on the editing room floor.
Another few buzz-kills are the lighting, cinematography and sound. The lighting, while very retro and stylish, is way too harsh and distracting, making every set look like….a set. Even the on-location places didn’t flow because of this. The cinematography is really, really good, but sadly whoever operated the camera must have been prone to seizures. Seriously, almost every beautiful shot was ruined by jerky camera movements. They may as well have skipped expensive 35mm and shot digitally. The sound quality from the actors was good most of the time, but on several occasions it was downright poor (sounded like someone was talking with a space helmet on at one point). One last thing that bugged me was the sound design. While some scenes had some great sound effects that really intensified the violence, some scenes seemed rushed and were even missing sounds.
Finally some good stuff: The violence was mostly awesome. The effects were good, although only a few times do we get to see anything on screen. Nothing is very inventive (other than an agonizing use of a meat hook) but it still managed to catch my interest. The finale is also better than the rest of the film, but still wasn’t enough to save it from falling flat on its face.
I hate to trash the movie because despite all the problems, it would still make a decent RENTAL. I wasn’t pissed I wasted 5 hours of my life driving to see it- I just got kinda bored. Just don’t go in expecting Halloween unless of course you mean the remake.
What a fresh new horror film. The music, camera angles, set decoration are all magnificent. You have to remember that this is a small budget film. $2 million instead of the $50 million films you are used to seeing. With this said, it is done so well for it’s budget that in some points you would not even know this. I have been a fan of horror films my whole life and although nothing will ever stand up to the original ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ or ‘Halloween’ this comes close. Just as in ‘Halloween’, the music has a large impact on the film. Mena does a fantastic job at created chills with a beat of music. If you get a chance to see this film, GO!
Bereavement is the prequel to Malevolence.
I have been waiting a long time for this to come out and wasn’t disappointed.
It was beautifully shot and the lighting was great.The acting was above par ,Alexandra Daddario is not only beautiful but an amazing actress and Michael Biehn has long been a favorite actor of mine since his debut in the 1981 slasher film “The Fan”.
It wasn’t over the top gory but it was quite bloody and there were a couple of scenes that will leave a gore hound like myself satisfied.
If you saw Malevolence you will know exactly whats going on and even if you didn’t see it it won’t take long to figure it out.It has a rich look to it not a cheap or low budget feel at all.
There were so many scenes that might have gone somewhat unnoticed that dealt with loss,loss being a huge part of the story in all area’s.The last scene with John Savage was a very powerful scene and an important one as well.It’s rare that a film is heart tugging yet filled with such real horror as well.The thing that’s so scary about this is there really are people that are as mentally unstable as Graham Sutter but you might never know unless you could look into his mind.Bereavement leads us to no other conclusion except ‘nurture over nature’ when it comes to molding a child’s heart and mind.
This has to be the most unsettling, brutally violent, dread filled, atmospherically raw and a independent movie with as much doom and cold sweat terror since the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The acting is a little bit above average for a low profile and budget horror movie but the person who standed out for me was the stunning female lead Alexandra Daddario who plays Allison with her hauntingly beautiful eyes as well as the sad, troubled, scary and unbalanced figure and serial killer Graham Sutter played effectively by Brett Rickaby but the most tragic and terrifying figure of them all is Martin play hauntingly by Spencer List and I thing Martin is the new face of fear for horror films kind of like a new Michael Myers or Leatherface in the making. The filming was fantastic and set the mood perfectly and builds to the tension and suspense as well as the simple but effective music and this film will get under your skin and shock and upset you in more ways than one and you feel and root for the characters thanks to delicate developement and backstory and if you’ve seen Malevolence you’ll love it and appreciate it even more so and be happy that this prequel is superier to it. The ending will make your jaw drop to the floor with shock and will stay with you long after it’s over and it’s one of the most messed up endings I’ve ever seen and a perfect element for a solid horror/thriller and this movie oozes of guts and emotions and dedication and treats its fans with respect and gives them what they want which is rare these days. Overall it gives such an old school horror vibe of less is more effectiveness that I believe it might be the most truly terrifying horror’thriller of the year and the most promising second chapter to a hopeful series in the genre because based on the cold, heart breaking stunner of an ending it better continue and if you like your slashers brutal with a great build up I highly recommend Bereavement! 7.5 out of 10
A fine enough story sabotaged by mediocore acting and erect nipples.
I’ll get this right out of the way: any woman with enormous jugs will wear a bra any time she leaves her house. The main character in Bereavement, however, does not. She spends the entire 3rd act running from misterkillerman, her pendulous breasts almost slapping her in the face and her nipples sticking out from her tight, white top like it’s everybodies business. For a film to blatantly RELY on this to draw an audience like this film does, is just sad and desperate.
Now that’s off my breast, er, chest, Bereavement isn’t a terrible movie, though it’s not a good one either. The acting is as painful as the brutal kills, essentially numbing the violence so it ultimately has minimal impact on the viewer. Acting is the difference between a disturbingly brutal film (Martyrs) and tortureporn/splatter. This is splatter. No doubt about that. Don’t go expecting anything more.
Bereavement seems to be a movie that doesn’t know what it wants to be. It’s gory and silly enough to be a splatter but takes itself way too seriously to be fun, but can’t be taken seriously because the acting is SyFy grade and the violence is tension-free.
Bereavement has Rental written all over it.
Bereavement struggles with pacing and has a result the first half of the film feels a tad lukewarm and disjointed..thankfully it all builds to a satisfying final 30 or minutes or so were the tension is maintained rather well and the film elevates itself well above the marginally entertaining fair that preceded it. Worth a rent.
First off, I just wanted to point out that the review a couple underneath mine includes the word “sabotage” and “erect nipples” in the same sentence, which I didn’t even know was possible. I haven’t seen the film that this is a prequel to, so maybe there were a few conceptual ideas that were fully realized in that original movie. Fine enough story, but the glimpses of supernatural were only glimpses and I wished there was more. Why are there demon things with cow skull heads? We might never know. More information here:
http://thewolfmancometh.com/2011/09/04/bereavement-2010/
wow i just watched this film and it was lame no build up no tension we already know the plot and the story and you gave it to us in Malevolence, makes me wonder about some of the other reviews about this flick were you paid to say it was good and try to give it hype? i was not,look you want to know the truth about this movie it sucked all you need to do is watch Malevolence its every thing this movie was and more you want the truth i just gave it to you lets not lie to other people who read this
An enjoyable prequel for Malevolence fans you have to ignore the seemingly un-ending supply of supply of victims from a small town. That and few other classic stupid horror victim scenes which kind of gives the film a retro horror feel nothing more than a boring night in film
for what it is.. it really is a good film.. if your looking for big budget and gore then look elsewhere but if you want a well made film with a pretty good ending then this is for you.. not a masterpiece by any means but its good stuff.
An enjoyable, if not fantastic horror film. I really enjoyed this, though I neither thought it was as amazing as some or as lame as some. The best scenes were with the killer. Okay, okay. The family had some of the damn dumbest moves I’ve seen in a while (uh, hello. does no one know what 911 means?) but overall I enjoyed it and it certainly is better than the horrible “Saw 17′s” or “Final Destination 32′s” that seem to be all over the place. Never saw “Malevolence” but not sure I need to after seeing this.
rental worthy.
nothing terribly innovative.
but, if you like horror, and i am assuming you do if you are reading this, then it’s worth the experience.
“Bereavement” is a major improvement over “Malevolence”: it’s darker, grittier and way more compelling. The story of how the completely insane Graham Sutter (an incredible Brett Rickaby) turns the insensitive boy Martin Bristol (amazing newcomer Spencer List) into a cold-blooded killer is told in a fascinating and intriguing way, thanks to Steven Mena’s striking script and tight direction.
The powerful cinematography is mesmerizing and all the creepy images of bleak landscapes and abandones buildings are unsettling an overwhelming at the same time. The cast is great, the characters are all highly believable (especially the gorgeous Alexandra Daddario), the soundtrack is astonishingly intense and often gave me goosebumps, and it’s packed with extremely suspenseful moments (the girl from the diner), nail-biting scenes (Allison in the basement) and some shocking, brutal and unpredictable violence (knife through hand, girl in the oven).
A highly impressive and visually stuning little masterpiece. I can’t hardly wait for Part 3!
http://www.horrormoviediary.net
A darker, Scarier and a huge improvement over Malevolence. Bereavement is a great horror film directed by the same director who directed Malevolence. This prequel to Malevolence seriously did a better job than Malevolence. I seriously enjoyed this movie and it was really good it was darker, grittier and scarier than Malevolence although I plan to watch Malevolence because I haven’t watched it yet and I saw this one first. There are lots of great things about this movie. What’s great about Bereavement is that the film has a really nice plot about the serial killer Martin Bristoll from malevolence this movie explains various backstories of him when he was a child before he turned into a psycho in Malevolence. What’s great about Bereavement is that the film has lots of different and dark themes. Like Malevolence in which the themes of that movie is more on psychological madness. Bereavement’s themes are different and darker and the themes of this film is more on child abuse and monstrous behavior with a dark attitude in which it makes the movie even better. What I also like about Bereavement is that the movie also has the violence of nature which rises the tension of the film. Plus the movie also has a really dark and grungy atmosphere and it really fits well to the movie. I also enjoyed the characters in the film as well since the movie centers more on Martin Bristoll and Graham Sutter the other characters are also good so far in the movie. What I also like about Bereavement is that the antagonist in the film Sutter Graham seriously freaked me out and he is a great antagonist in this movie and I like the idea that he later on goes insane with his violent nature that causes him to go berserk in which he instantly screams and shouts and taunts a lot in the later on parts of the movie whenever he’s talking to the devil and it really rises the tension of the film and it makes it even better so far and the actor who portrayed Sutter Graham is really good with his performance in the movie so far. I also enjoy Martin Bristoll he was really scary and creepy in the movie as well and I like the idea that Martin Bristoll was different in the opening scene until he changed in the later on parts of the movie. In the opening scene he was just a lonely, innocent and mute child until in the later on parts he turns into a psycho when his kidnapper Sutter Graham performs various activities in which he teaches Martin Bristoll on how to become a serial killer like killing women and other things as well. While the concept of the film is great what I also like about Bereavement is that the film also has a strong amount of graphic and gory violence on every scene and the violence in the film is seriously unsettling, brutal, unnerving, graphic and most of all gory as well. All of the kills here are seriously disturbing and each of the kills are seriously hard to watch in the movie I mean the opening Kill scene is seriously unsettling and intense and the other kills are great as well. I personally enjoyed all of the kills in this movie so far the scene where the girl from the diner gets burned alive in the oven by Sutter Graham is seriously intense and unnerving even the later on kills as well were intense and gory as well plus the knife in the hand scene where Sutter Graham was going insane and he stabbed Martin’s hand with a knife that scene seriously got me a lot and I think that’s the most intense scene in the movie so far. Now the acting is great the performances from the casts seriously did a good job with their performances in the movie so far. Michael Biehn was great with his performance as Allison’s uncle and the beautiful Alexandra Daddario seriously did a good job with her performance in the movie so far and Alexandra Daddario was so beautiful and gorgeous in the movie as well since she did a good job with her acting as well in the movie she looks beautiful as well so far in the movie and she was great with her performance so far. Director Stevan Mena seriously did a good job with his directing on Bereavement since he was good it his directing on Malevolence he did a better job this time with Bereavement and I’m really proud of him so far. Overall Bereavement gets a 10/10 good job Mr. Mena you made me proud when you directed this movie so far.
The Ultimate Movie Review! – http://tss5078.blogspot.com – @tss5078 – I was really looking forward to this prequel to 2004′s Malevolent, but was sadly disappointed. The premise of the movie is great and right up my alley. A twisted gore fest about a serial killer who abducts a child, in the hope of making him his predecessor. Sounds good, but in actuality, it was very slow and extremely predictable. I kept hearing about how scary and messed up this film was, did they watch what I just watched? There are a few bright spots here, mainly the cast, which was terrific, and the end of the film, which while predictable, was still really cool to see. Spencer List stars as Martin, the serial killer in waiting. At the ripe old age of 13, this kid has become a B-Horror star! He’s this cute, quiet, innocent looking kid, and before you know it he’s killed you. He has this way about him, in these types of movies that make it seem real, and he is truly scary. The cast was great, the last twenty minutes was cool to watch, but really there’s not much else here.