Bethany

source: Bethany

Being a self comfessed #1 fan of Shannen Doherty my opinion may be biased but I do love her turn as the "Mommy Dearest" type in this cold atmospheric horror film. We follow Claire as she struggles to overcome her haunting past with a mother who we see many sides to making it all the more interesting. Learning the secrets hidden between the walls of her childhood home. Great use of effects and flashbacks to help jar the audience's perception of reality withca compelling and unique storyline.

This film doesn't have a story. What's it about? Exactly. There was no story, plot or even anything to this. A couple move into a house, that the woman once lived in as a child. She hallucinates. Husband knows about her past and mental illness, and she's allowed to be close to big sharp knives. Stupid. Stupid. There are annoying flashbacks into her past. Husband is always perplexed and sly faced. The therapist is described as "cool and modern" by husband but the therapist is a bigot. He never removes his cloth cap, which is rude. The spirit friend she had as a child is called Bethany and still lives there only now its more hostile and tries to kill her. I didn't wait anymore until the end, it was slow, rubbish, close up shots of faces are so annoying, and there is no story. It's only what the main character hallucinates.

Claire (Anna Harr/Stefanie Estes) has an imaginary friend who lives in the wall. Her mother (Shannen Doherty) is obsessed with beauty and constantly enters Claire into pageants that Mom makes sure she wins. She inherits the home and moves in with her husband Aaron (Zack Ward). Claire starts to imagine things as it appears her once friend Bethany is now attempting to harm her. Claire appears to us as being crazy. The explanation starts at about 70 minutes into the film. We were given horrible clues. The sound track was not good and Stefanie Estes turned a mediocre performance into something camp with her final cry scene. The film could have been a lot better with a sensible clue, soundtrack, and lead character. Guide: F-word. Brief underwater nudity.

Although it starts out slow paced, it gets better as it moves along. A few scenes throughout, made lasting impressions with me. I'm still thinking about it two days after I watched it and I can't say that about a lot of movies. Loved the gloomy aesthetics and of course, the Bethany makeup was incredible! I will watch this one again!

Having inherited her former house, a woman and her husband move in where she is immediately assaulted by the ghosts of her tormented past with her mother which begins to affect her relationship with those around her forcing them to help her find a way to get past her inner demons. This here was quite the enjoyable haunted house effort. One of the finer points involved with this one is the intensely intricate and involved backstory that has a lot to like here. The complicated relationship with the mother, with her incessant belief in pageant work above all other forms of contact or interaction, forcing her to practice and prepare all the while turning everything around her into a potential way to keep her moving forward in her career which gives this a strong and healthy backstory that goes a long way to making this one engaging. The flashbacks to them going through the motions of preparing for the next pageant with them practicing the piano or applying makeup gives this one a healthy starting point for the later horror-based scenes to spring from strongly, as the hallucinations that emerge from these scenes such as the ghostly mother playing alongside her or the hair that she pulls out of her body while brushing herself are insanely creepy scenes. Other big horror scenes, from the freakout at the dinner table to the figure she sees around the house after getting out of the shower means this one has a very strong series of scenes that really play up the atmosphere within the house. That this one plays more as a psychological breakdown more than a traditional ghost story with these scenes is where this one really gets interesting as it moves along into the gripping psychologically-gripping final half where the full exploits of those around her give this a rather strong tone that keeps this one in truly dark realms. The revelations that occur here are quite striking and really move this into rather intense areas with the truth about her history and what's inside the house to the great scenes with them inside the walls of the house to finally put this to rest with some tense ideas. That this provides some creepy action inside the darkened corridors deep inside the house alongside the fine revelations of the past makes this one a really strong and potent ending that scores nicely. As well as some really nice realistic-looking gore when it needs to, these here really make this one fun enough to hold out over the few minor problems featured here. The main issue is the slow-burn pace that really takes a while to get going, as the lack of action and turning everything around into being her fault means this one does take awhile to become enjoyable. That this one is more psychological rather than overt in its hauntings means that very few of these actually scare which does go against the theme it's built upon. However, these aren't as bad as the more impactful positives. Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence and Brief Nudity.

'Bethany' is James Cullen Bressack's most recent film and is a return to his much-favoured horror genre. 'Bethany' is definitely his best film to date, although I really enjoyed 'Pernicious' too. It's story of a woman returning to her childhood home, which stirs up memories of maternal abuse and fear. The full story of her past unfolds throughout and is not until the end that we find out the truth. The film has a very claustrophobic feel and we can really get a feel of the tension and pressure that the lead character feels. The only drawback for me was that it is a bit dialogue-heavy in places and some of the genuinely good scares are kept for the final act. However, it is definitely worth a watch.

This was an interesting little gem of a horror film. The acting was great, it was decently edited, and overall I would say that it was a pretty well crafted flick. While I am sure that it was shot on a very low budget based on how many of the shots were tightly framed on actors this actually helped play into the psychological elements, as other reviewers pointed out, gave it a claustrophobic feeling. The low budget didn't seem too noticeable when it came to the visual effects as well. What practical effects were utilized were highly effective and actually made me squirm a few times, while its CG effects looked relatively seamless. While sort of a minor thing to point out I really did appreciate its effort in crafting the main characters, particularly Claire. I've watched many low/micro- budget horror films over the years and you'd be surprised at how many of them fail to even accomplish something as basic as this. My issues with the film lie largely in its structure and plotting. being a slow burn, one would expect it to unravel at a certain pace, but there were moments where the film dragged to an excruciating crawl, or without warning sped up way too rapidly, as well as scenes that would have been better placed much earlier in the film. I don't want to give any spoilers or dive too far into the plot because this is a film that works better the less you know going into it, but when its payoff was unveiled It didn't really work for me.The exposition was rushed out in an unnatural way, and logistically it didn't make too much sense. instead of resolving issues it just created more. Also the score was really bad in some parts. There is a scene that clearly lifts the main theme from Tony Scott's True Romance and makes a few minor tweaks to make it different enough but it completely took me out of the film for the entirety of that scene. I don't think a film should solely be judged by its ending which is why I would still recommend this. It has some truly effective scenes, and does work as a psychological horror film for the most part. Overall, I was impressed, this feels like a stepping stone towards something better, and I look forward to James Cullen Bressack's next effort.

I've seen interviews with the writer/director and my hat is ff to him. He seems like very mature and passionate filmmaker who appreciates constructive criticism brought to his work. My respect to you sir! I thought the camera work and lighting had some nice touches, creative and moody. The film didn't get sucked into the ocean of other films with jump scares every 2 minutes. This film went the creative route, though the "child living in the walls" thing and whispering off screen is a tad cliche. This film needlessly bogs itself down in complexity, where I honestly didn't know what the threat was. The film was busy spinning many plates; the memories of her abusive mother, this bethany person who haunts her, the strange visions she keeps having, her self inflicted paranoid injuries. I kept saying to the screen in front of me "make up your mind, film. Choose one!" Its trying to go in too many directions, it ended up that none of them provided a scare factor, I was just confused the whole time rather than frightened....BUT, having said that, by the end of the 3rd act I had all the necessary information that should of been setup in the first act, built in the second and payed off in the 3rd. In the film the payoff is the setup, thus all the confusion. For me the film kicked into gear about an hour or so into the film, when her husband believes his wife and the presence of Bethany. Though this script needed obvious work, I'm aware from interviews with the director that he is given insane deadlines to write a feature film before principle photography begins, so this could be the case here. The plot points in the third act where we learn what happened to her twin sister, how she was tortured and abandoned....thats the setup to the film aka the first act, what is this doing in the 3rd act?? Its not some big reveal, as I mentioned its essential context that could be used to set the stakes and provide some depth to the character and organic motivation for her moving home again, because there really isn't one here. And a final question, Tom Green playing a psychiatrist?:)....really?

'Bethany' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing, if not exactly novel, idea and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive. Found the film to be pretty weak with a lot more wrong than right. 'Bethany' is not great, or good, has a fair share of problems (fairly big ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There are however a few decent, even good, qualities in 'Bethany', at least it wasn't intelligence insulting or inept (unlike some films seen recently) though the potential was never lived up to. Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric, likewise with the very nice way it's shot. The music is suitably spooky and quirky and doesn't distract at all from the atmosphere, while not exactly enhancing it. 'Bethany' started off fairly spookily and the ending intrigues. However, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained. The more 'Bethany' progressed, the duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary it got, and too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. Acting is not good, though Zack Ward fares serviceably and it was interesting to see Ellen Gerstell, best known for voice acting, in a role. Stefania Estes is a lifeless lead though, while Shannon Doherty looks tired and disengaged and Tom Green playing it straight didn't turn out refreshing or surprising, instead it felt odd and without much personality. Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace is uneven, dragging in a lot of the second half and never is it exciting. Found the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness and the lack of tension and suspense. In conclusion, pretty weak but not unwatchable. 3/10 Bethany Cox