The Bell Keeper

Light, watered down horror that would appeal more to Elsie and Molly generation than seasoned hardcore fans-it wouldn't look out of place on Netflix.

Like most horrors I've seen of late its a hodgepodge of other horrors with all the stock characters in place. I was reminded of the similar horror I watched on 26/9 called ' She Came From The Woods' in its young characters being picked off by a malevolent entity but that film had humour, sympathetic characters and a witty script. It knows it's target audience and sends up the genre-this comes reasonably close.

Being Halloween today I fancied something silly and forgettable-I got it here.

There are so many low budget horror films on streaming serviced these days, I don't bother reviewing the majority of them because I can't actually be bothered to watch them all the way through. At first glance, 'The Bell Keeper' seemed like it may be just another one of those that I turned off after about half an hour.

It opens with the typical horror setup: a group of friends (one of which always struck me of a young-ish Edward Furlong - if you know your 'Terminator 2' cast!) stumbles upon a dark legend, strange happenings ensue, and we're thrust into a familiar formula of haunted woods at night. The start is serviceable, with just enough suspense to keep you watching, though you may feel you've seen it all before. But surprisingly, midway through, 'The Bell Keeper' throws in a bit of a curve ball - I thought it was going one way when it actually goes another.

Instead of trudging through predictable tropes, it veers into (slightly!) fresher territory, offering an unexpectedly engaging take that may just keep you invested. This change in direction at least does a little more to make the movie stand out from the sea of horror films that struggle to maintain any originality. The film balances a new twist on its mythos with solid character moments, ultimately creating an atmosphere that is intriguing enough to finish. It may not be groundbreaking or a must-see, but it's refreshingly watchable - especially in a genre overflowing with unwatchable entries. If you're in the mood for a horror movie that tries something different, even if it doesn't always succeed, 'The Bell Keeper' is worth a watch (and, is it just me, or were the film-makers hoping this would become some sort of franchise?).

A cheap B-movie horror about some friends going out to film in the woods in search of a legendary bell. The story goes that those who ring the bell are thereafter cursed by a demon, and of course these numbskulls have to go and see for themselves what it's all about. It's business as usual for the genre, with a small cast and only middling scares, although it's surprisingly well paced which means it's more watchable than some. The biggest surprise here is a rare foray into the horror genre for former wrestling star Randy Couture, best known for THE EXPENDABLES movies; he gives the best performance here and is quite likeable.

It's kind of hard to forge a decent horror film, when the concept is to make a cheap pastiche, based on an idiotic premise.

The whole thing is effectively a mash-up of Evil Dead and Knock At The Cabin - which is an act of blasphemy in itself.

And tries way too hard to force a horror-comedy angle into the storyline...which just doesn't work.

Because it makes the whole thing seem confused about what it wants to be.

Does it want to be a comedy? Or serious horror?

One can only assume they've tried to make it the best of both worlds.

However, these two different paths mix like oil and water in this example.

With the crux of the storyline coming off extremely forced at best.

It's just not a very good film.

But I guess that's what you get when you try to emulate a hack like Shyamalan.

It's not surprising that this was made by the same director who brought us the travesty that is Snow Falls (among other awful 2023 releases).

And while it might not be as bad as that film...it's still pretty bad.

2 out of 10.

A film with four teens - 2 girls and 2 boys who are dating couples - plus Liam, who is the brother of one of the other guys. There is also a weird filling station woman, 2 dumb-ass redneck local cops, a girl looking for her missing brother and an immortal called Hank the killer.

The film begins with the two couples being typical whining females and unfunny males. They are a cringe quartet who are totally unlikable and whom you hope are killed off as soon as possible; because they just get on your nerves.

From that bad start the film goes on and on and on, but does not get any better. Its a shame really because I thought that the plot outline was good, a story that could have made a decent film. Unfortunately there was just nothing in the input given by any of the cast and, it just dragged on slowly. To me it rated as a C film and I stuck with it to the end and was very thankful when it ended.

No tension, no scary moments, no shocks and no horror...so no point to it having been made!