Behemoth

I sat down to watch the 2020 movie "Behemoth" from director Peter Szewczyk solely because it was a horror movie that I hadn't already seen before. Sure, I didn't even know what the movie was about, nor had I actually ever heard about it prior to watching it. I found the movie's cover interesting, and of course I ended up watching it.

While "Behemoth" was watchable, it was a movie whose title really made no sense in context of what the storyline was about. So I must admit that I didn't really get the meaning of the movie's title. As for the storyline, well, while it was watchable, it wasn't an outstanding movie. Now, don't get me wrong, because it is not a boring movie. It was just, however, a movie that made very little sense and was feeling more like a series of randomly shot segments put together to make a single movie. It sort of felt like writers Derrick Ligas and Peter Szewczyk set out to accomplish a bit more than they were actually capable of delivering with the movie.

The acting in the movie was actually fair enough, despite the actors and actresses having very little in terms of a proper script, storyline or characters to work with. They had a good ensemble of actors and actresses in the movie.

Visually then "Behemoth" was an interesting movie. But special effects and visual effects could only do so much for a story that was driven by a fairly bland storyline. I liked the creature design and the way that the creatures were brought to life on the screen.

Now, I wasn't a particular fan of the storyline, but the movie was definitely watchable, albeit not a memorable movie, nor a movie that I will ever be sitting down to watch a second time.

I am rating "Behemoth" a five out of ten stars.

...but could have been much, much worse, considering the supposed budget of $65,000 for a movie like this.

The story manages to be captivating enough even if it isn't completely original. The mystery element is compelling enough even if it seems simple by the end. The effects they managed to pull off on this kind of budget are beyond impressive.

The movie has its faults but the only thing that really seems to drag it downward is the acting. Our leading man is by far the worst but there isn't much acting here that I would call adequate. With some better actors this could have been a 6, maybe even a 7, but the amateur hour was nonsense. I understand that it is difficult to find the best actors on such a low budget but surely there was SOMEBODY better out there.

Anyway, this director shows promise and I look forward to seeing where he goes from here.

Sort of like a poor man's Constantine, but without the benefit of a star to carry the movie. Surprisingly slick for an indie horror. The script could have been better, and the acting was really uneven, but the pace, vfx, and bad guy made up for it. Starts slow but picks up a lot of steam by the end.

For a low budget film the cast and crew have made an entertaining and ambitious movie with some good VFX and with an emotional journey at the centre of it.

Congrats, I look forward to your next piece.

At times, this movie looks and feels like the slickest horror film you've seen all year. Amazing VFX, awesome sound design, and a cool score. But then some bad acting or crappy dialogue breaks the spell. For a no-budget horror, it mostly works, so I'd say it's worth a watch.