
|
Beneath the Darkness (2011)
|
|
|
Plot Summary:
"In Beneath the Darkness, Ely Vaughn (Quaid) is a pillar of the community in tiny Smithville, Texas. The town’s mortician, Ely has been revered since his days as the high school’s star quarterback. But since the tragic death of his wife two years earlier, Ely has withdrawn from his neighbors, while local teens spread stories of supernatural goings on at Ely’s mansion—which is also the funeral home. When high school friends Travis (Oller), Abby (Teegarden), Brian (Lunsford) and Danny (Werkheiser) decide to check out the rumors, they are shocked to see the supposedly grieving widower dancing with a mysterious woman behind the curtains of his bedroom window. Their curiosity aroused, the four teens wait for Ely to leave the house before breaking in to investigate. But instead of finding clues to the woman’s identity, they stumble on a grotesque, long-hidden secret. The sadistic mortician next door will now stop at nothing to literally bury his past."
|
 |
Reviewer: |
Phil Davies Brown |
@PDB82 |
| Location: | Scotland, UK |
|
|
| Reviewed:
01 March 2012
|
Rating: out of 5 |
|
Described as “a taut thriller in the style of ‘Disturbia’” in the press release, Beneath the Darkness stars Dennis Quaid as Ely Vaughan, a respected small town mortician. Amongst the local kids however, he is the subject of rumour and gossip – viewed as a sinister man who lives in a haunted house.
When four friends decide to break in for a spot of impromptu ghost hunting, they discover that Ely is a psychopath and after he kills one of their number, the group are left trying to stay alive in a town where the adults won’t believe what is right in front of them.
This was a strange film. It started out weird to the point where I wasn’t sure if I was meant to be scared or peeing myself laughing and the tone was all over the place from then on. Dennis Quaid’s performance was all over the shop too. He was for the most part an intimidating foe, sadly at other times he was a gibbering wreck – quite literally! On the plus side, the film looks nice and has a really good cast including Scream 4 star Aimee Teegarden.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Beneath the Darkness is an okay way to spend 96 minutes. It’s certainly miles better than the crappy After.Life but it adds very little to the genre.
|
|