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Released by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Released on: 8/30/2011
Director: Stevan Mena
Cast: Michael Biehn, Alexandra Daddario, Brett Rickaby, Spencer List
Year: 2010
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The Movie:
A small town in rural Pennsylvania is home to a particularly nasty and undoubtedly insane murderer by the name of Graham Sutter (Brett Rickaby). The former slaughterhouse professional is looking for someone to teach the ways of the blade to and finds his pupil sitting on a swing set, minding his own business. Little Martin, who has a disease which renders him impervious to pain, is easily swept away from right out from under his mother's nose and spends the next five years living in squalor and under the maniacal care of his abductor. Sutter teaches Martin all he that knows about slaughtering animals as his own father taught him. The thing is, the animals are young women that Sutter kidnaps and torments in the isolation of his family's run down and closed meatpacking facility.
Allison, played by Alexandra Daddario, has just lost her parents in an accident and moves in with her Uncle Jonathan (Michael Biehn) and his family, and to a rocky start. She quickly finds romance with a townie named William (Nolan Funk), much to the chagrin of her uncle. She also quickly finds herself way to curious about the decrepit building she keeps jogging by and the little boy she thinks she sees looking back at her. No one has a clue as to what goes on in that building but she intends to find out. The price she pays for her curiosity may well end up to be more than she was willing to pay, but tough shit. You made your bed now sleep in it.
And while life outside the old meat plant continues with Allison's teen angst, raging hormones, and adjusting to existence without her parents, Sutter and his protégé proceed with their work. Sutter talks to ghosts and has violent outbursts and poor Martin (Spencer List) watches without emotion, cleaning up after his mentor. Eventually Allison gets herself into trouble, and Uncle Jonathan goes looking for her as does her newfound boy toy William. They find her, but saving her is another story.
Bereavement is a prequel to 2004's Malevolence, written and directed by the same person, Stevan Mena. You don't need to have seen the first one to follow what's going on, but it may beneficial to watch that one first. At any rate, this film is quite bloody and violent, with some very effective murder sequences helped along by some young ladies with powerful pipes. The screaming that goes on is at times brutal on the senses and deserving of some kudos. The performances, especially those by Brett Rickaby and Alexandra Daddario, are on a scale that warrants some praise. Rickaby puts on a great show as the murdering Sutter, even if it is at times a bit over-the-top. But he maintains a level of filth that you can almost smell and is the real standout in the movie. Biehn is on his game, though a meatier role would have been welcomed.
Another thing going for the movie is its look. Mena knows where to put a camera and he's not afraid to leave it in one spot for more than 5 seconds, giving the viewer a chance to soak in what's on the screen. The story takes place in Pennsylvania and was filmed there, and Mena makes good use of the landscape so there's plenty to look at. Mena also has some talent with creating some genuinely disturbing material and delivering some good creepy moments. With only three directing credits to his name, he manages to make the hairs stand up better than some directors out there with four times as many movies under their belts. And the guy wrote the music to the movie as well, which should be mentioned. He's definitely got some talent and is someone to keep eyes on.
There's a few items that may stand out to some as not overly likely, such as no one every reporting the sore thumb of a truck he drives from town to town picking up his victims. It's the kind of vehicle that will get noticed. Such things as that are easy to forgive, and don't do much damage to the film, but the downfall for Bereavement is the pace. When the attention isn't on the killer and his lunacy, the film drags. It almost seems that movie wants to be a slow cooker, which is fine, but the movie keeps switching from intense to plodding along. There's two stories going on here, one about the boy and his homicidal keeper, the other about a young woman losing her parents and being ripped out of her comfortable life and thrust into a new one. Too much time is spent on both pieces, rather than more on one story or the other, and it mucks up the movie's rhythm.
That said, the movie does throw some good punches. It also gives a throws in some unexpected events that should keep you on your toes. Unfortunately those events don't pop up until the final act of the film. Even so, Bereavement deserves some attention and is worthy of checking out.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Presented by Anchor Bay with an aspect of 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, and the DVD looks pretty damn good. A nice image with a good amount of grain, black levels that seem deep and the colors are nice on the eyes. As mentioned there's a fair amount of landscape imagery, which looks great, and even more so in contrast with the dark and grimy scenes inside the old slaughterhouse. The audio is a 5.1 track that makes the most use of rear speakers during rainy sequences and with the music. Otherwise a lot of sound seems to be coming from the front. But the audio is clear, the levels seem proper, and the subwoofer gets a decent workout.
The supplemental material is a good batch, starting with the commentary. The director does a solo job of it and he pulls it off well. Not a whole lot of silence and he shares all sorts of info, including his intentions with the psychosis of the killer and the boy. It may not fully come out in the movie, but there's a lot put into the character of Sutter and the commentary helps make his modus operandi clearer. It's a good track worth listening to for aspiring moviemakers and as a general interest piece. Next is “The Making of Bereavementâ€, which runs about 35 minutes. And there's another featurette “First Look: On the Set†at about seven minutes long. Both items give a lot of behind the scenes footage and interviews and for the most part stays away from delving into the “he's so wonderful to work with†crap. Well worth watching if you dug the picture. A couple of deleted scenes with optional commentary come next running about 11 minutes. The extras finish up with the trailer and television spot, and a five-minute photomontage with tons of pictures from the set. Oh, and if you want to read the screenplay you can access that as well.
The Final Word:
Aside from the longer-than-necessary running time, Bereavement does manage to rise above the dreck that plagues the contemporary horror genre. Mena is good at what he does, and here's to hoping he continues to get better and better. The extras are great, the disc looks and sounds fine, and Anchor Bay has done a nice job with the release.
