Bereavement (2010)

Disappointment for a huge fan!

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Martin Bristol brilliantly portrayed by (Spencer List), a young boy with congenital analgesia, is kidnapped by psychotic and deranged Graham Sutter (Brett Rickaby) . Over the next five years, Graham brutally butchers several young women, forcing Martin to watch. Throughout the film, Graham talks and argues with the skull of a bull hung on the farmhouse wall. This compelling story delves into the mind of a madman and the torture the young boy not only witnesses but has to endure. The casting could not have been more appropriate as on a $2million dollar budget the film was well paced and edge of your seat style. The editing and cinematography were perfectly wound together. This will for sure be a great cult classic in terms of psychological thrillers. A solid 6 almost 7 for me out of 10.

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.

Not much going on throughout the movie... or I simply stopped paying attention. Alexandra Daddario is a beautiful actress with quite a few big movie roles under her belt; however, in this movie her character wasn't very bright and would progressively become more and more annoying (with the way she acts, she should've been dead 40 minutes in). The protagonist, Allison, pretty much becomes that one girl who is always going to be endangered no matter who comes to save her or how many times she escapes because of a villain known as MR. BAD PLOT... and I guess her own stupidity. How does she react when the killer or something bad appears? "Ahhhhh!" or she starts to cry. Next time try not to be so loud when your goal is to survive in a horror flick (SPOILER: Allison doesn't get another chance to redeem herself RIP). I swear I saw her going for a run early on in the movie, so why isn't she running now? (Rule #1 of horror 101: RUN RUN RUN!) As for the villain, he's... well, he's kind of lacking as he doesn't have a strong presence (he's not scary). The killer also didn't have a real advantage over any of the other characters, so I'm not sure why none of them were able to fight him off (seriously, it's just one guy). The guy seemed slightly below average in size (body mass), why is he overpowering everyone with such ease (1 jab knocks a girl out cold). The supporting cast didn't really add much substance to the narrative either and I didn't really care when or how they bit the dust. Another major character in the film is a boy named Martin who is kidnapped by our killer and latter becomes his successor in the movie Malevolent. This makes Bereavement a prequel that tries to explain why Martin turns into a murderer but fails to explain why this actually happens. How does the kid somehow inherit the killers traits? How does seeing a goat-head-thing translate to him gaining the mindset of a killer? Why was his transformation so quick (he did a complete 180)? These questions are never really answered, it just kinda happens because... you know... PLOT. The story failed to convey a smooth viewing experience, in fact, it was pretty bland and just seemed to drag on from start to finish (a bit slow for my taste). Overall the story deserves a 1.5 star, but the girl is quite the looker *cough* with massive assets *cough* and her aunt and uncle seemed like really cool people so I added another 3.5 stars.

So, after watching Malevolence. I watched this prequel which in this film, follow the events of how Martin Bristol became a killer & where he learnt the twisted techniques in committing these acts!The film wasn't a disappointment! It was gory! It was intense & lives up to it's 18 certificate! The stabbing scene near the end with Allison proved that! The torture scenes were a far better improvement! The death scenes overall were intense & bloody! Just how I like them to be!I also liked how this film shows what became of Martin & how a boy with no feelings became a killer! I also liked the references to Psycho & Texas Chainsaw massacre & how they pay homage to them!Overall a 10/10! This was ace!