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.
