Bystanders

While it's obvious this movie doesn't have a high budget, i enjoyed the fact that the movie doesn't show the torture porn that so many directors chose to show with women in horror movies. I love this idea of a revenge movie, and the leads did a fantastic job (as did the other cast members, because they really made it convincible to hate them). I enjoy the storyline and the clothing choices seems nice. Also Grays actor was super fine. The references were cool as well, wasn't expecting a Dexter reference. But this movie showed what every person who went through something similar wanted to do to their assaulter.

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!

Okay, so it's a good premise with a bad production value. But what makes the movie is Garrett Murphy's Gray. That dude killed his role. And I'm not just making a stupid dad pun here.

The acting is okay. The practical effects are passable, even though it's just blood. But what made the whole thing for me was watching Gray nonchallantly maul through all the stupid frat boys one by one as if he were taking drink preferences at his dinner party.

I'm definitely gonna check Garrett Murphy out in more roles, and here's hoping his roles are a lot like Gray. Cuz I think I could watch The Tales of Gray for at least four seasons.

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.

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.