Writer/Director Steven Mena’s prequel to his own 2004 movie Malevolence is a grim affair. In a current genre climate that sees a general audience PG-13 geared flaccid horror thrills Bereavement is a gory break from the norm. It’s far from perfect. However the plot offers enough surprises to redeem it from any shortcomings.
Six-year-old Martin Bristol (Spencer List) is minding his own business sitting on a swing. Indoors his mother is having a conversation that lets us the viewer know that her son has a condition called CIPA (congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis) and that this means that he doesn’t recognise sensations of pain. No sooner has this little piece of exposition delivered than Martin is silently abducted by serial killer Graham Sutter (Brett Rickaby).
Sutter is intrigued that he can cut the boy and that the boy exhibits no pain or fear. He takes Martin under his wing to learn his craft of kidnapping, torturing and killing young women. This means Martin silently watches the brutal acts and takes on board Sutter’s fear of the bull skull hung of the wall of his farmhouse.
Five years on and seventeen-year-old Allison, (Alexandra Daddario) has moved from Chicago to live with Uncle Jonathan (Michael Biehn) following the demise of both parents in a car accident. She’s not exactly happy to have moved and there are the standard trials towards bonding with her Uncle, Aunty and cousin. Allison takes to jogging a lot. Her running takes her by the dilapidated Sutter Meat & Poultry plant where she glimpses young Martin peaking from the shattered windows of the former slaughterhouse. Her curiosity spiked by the young lad ends up taking her life onto a more dramatic course.
Reviewing a prequel to a movie you haven’t seen is an interesting call and it’s to the maker’s credit that Bereavement holds up as a standalone story. At no point did I feel that I was missing anything or left scratching my head over a plot point. It’s also true that watching the film will probably mean more if you have seen the original film however there’s enough here for those that haven’t seen the 2004 flick to want to check it out.
HERE Mena’s intention was to create an epic horror along the lines of Kubricks’ The Shining where the onus is more on character whereas Malevolence was designed to be more in the vein of Halloween or Friday the 13th. As well intentioned as that maybe Bereavement is still a gore-loaded slasher albeit with character development rather than the epic he intended. Perhaps his three hour cut of the movie, if released, would reveal more of the ‘epic’ nature that he was intended.
Overall the acting is generally solid with Michael Biehn proving as reliable as always and Brett Rickaby decent as looney-tunes Sutter. Alexandra Daddario tends to be more at ease screaming and running around than she does delivering a full-rounded performance lacking any oomph anytime she’s called upon to deliver a line.
Given the torture porn nature of the killings it’s inevitable that there will be a lot of screaming to accompany it. And BOY is there a LOT of screaming in this movie. In fact there is so much screaming it gets you wondering how Sutter’s colourful activities went unnoticed. In the local terrain those sounds would carry for miles especially given the shattered windows.
For example there’s a scene where Allison screams out upon hearing her Uncle outside – so if she can hear him then it figures this must work the other way around especially in the stillness of the night. Also given the amount of women that go missing there never appears to be any noticeable investigation by the local police or bulletins on the local TV or radio or indeed anyone noticing that anyone at all has disappeared over the years.
With writing, producing, scoring and probably making cups of tea for everyone on set too Steve Mena must have been worn out come the end of the shoot. So it’s not surprising to see that when it comes to his editing that it’s a little sloppy. Watch how some of the quieter moments of the film are cut together and how the character’s tend to be facing one way and then another in the next cut.
Overall though Bereavement is well constructed and refreshingly surprising in places. Whilst it’s grim it never feels like an excuse for cheap exploitation and can make for an uncomfortable watch especially when Martin starts killing, his vacant expression thoroughly unsettling. So all in all Mena’s prequel is a grisly delight from start to finish, albeit a flawed one, that isn’t afraid to pull the rug out from under your feet in respect of the plot arc. Oh and stick around for a post credit scene!