Bystanders

While I had indeed never heard about this 2024 horror movie titled "Bystanders", of course I needed no persuasion to watch it, given my love of all things horror. Sure, I didn't know what I was in for, and thus had no expectations to the movie, so I suppose that writer Jamie Alvey and director Mary Beth McAndrews had every opportunity to entertain and impress me.

However, writer Jamie Alvey put together a very, very bland and generic script and storyline for director Mary Beth McAndrews to bring to the screen. There was very little enjoyment and entertainment to be found here, especially if you've spent years watching horror movies, then you're in for nothing grand here. "Bystanders" is the type of movie that you put on and let it run in the background, paying half attention to it, whilst doing something else.

I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. But despite of having a generic script to work with, the acting performances were fair enough.

Visually, then you're not in for anything spectacular. A shame really, because the movie would have benefitted from having great special effects to spruce up the otherwise mundane narrative.

"Bystanders" is not a movie that I would recommend horror fans to rush out and get to watch. It is suitable for a single viewing, then you'll bag, tag and forget all about it, never to return to it a second time.

My rating of "Bystanders" lands on a three out of ten stars.

Feminine rage and vindication from the minds of women will always be superior. Every moment of Bystanders has that. It doesn't miss a beat. Emotions? High. Revenge? So sweet. And the breaks in between are filled with a good amount of humor that stems from a nifty twist on behalf of our protagonists.

The feeling that I got growing up when discovering horror movies is the same feeling that I got while watching this. I still hold those horror movies close, and I'm going to hold Bystanders close.

So much appreciation goes out to director, Mary Beth McAndrews, for envisioning an organically dark and justified film from Jaime Alvey's (who also stars as Clare) story that holds so much truth as well as power.

Heck yeah, ladies!

I don't like to be negative - so I'll start with a positive: This is not the worst film I've ever seen. (That honour goes to "Smokey and the Bandit 3".)

This is, however, probably the second worst film I've ever seen.

The basic premise doesn't have the greatest of potential, but it's not the shabbiest either. With a lot more work it could've been an average run-of-the-mill horror.

The acting is terrible. I can't put all of the blame on the actors, though. With a better script, a better director, and better editing perhaps their performances wouldn't come across as poorly as they do.

The editing, though, is the worst I've ever seen. Actors are seen smirking and gesticulating to people off-camera, and sometimes speaking but with no audio. It's genuinely worse editing than you would expect to see on an average highschooler's homework project, and doesn't come close to what anyone would consider an acceptable standard.

I strongly advise avoiding watching this - unless you're actively looking for the worst film ever, for a laugh, in which case give it a look - we've got a real contender here.

Edit: I had to go back a rewatch this. This movie stuck to me not because it was good, but because it was poorly executed and it bugged me. I took away my 7 stars and put 2 because that's really what it is. I still agree with what I said before, but this is not a good movie unfortunately. It fails on a lot of levels. Maybe they will learn next time.

Best part about the film is the frat boys, especially the redhead guy. He's the only reason I managed to stick around. Plot is very basic. Lighting could have been better, it looks like it was lit if that makes sense. Film pacing is a little too fast at the beginning, immediately diving into meeting the Dexter wannabe couple. They had their moments but had very dragged on monologues. The Gray character couldn't find a middle ground of being believable. One moment he's bland the next moment he is yelling RAGE for no reason. It's slow in the middle and finally picks up when the other frat boy shows up. Best kill was the ending kill. I would have liked to hear his actual scream, if he actually did. Film overall is okay if you enjoy this type of sub genre.

The basic idea of this horror crime is good. But the execution is far from good. There's not enough music to help build the horror. A simple audio can go a long way. Besides, there's a problem with how some scenes were being dragged out for too long. My guess is without those unnecessary long scenes, this movie would've been less than an hour. I don't think that the acting is the main problem. The directing was the one ruining the movie. It's true that some of the actors couldn't act very well, but most of them are due to bad directions. I don't recommend this one, even if you're a fan of revenge themed movies.