Beezel

The story of Beezel is told over the course of 60 years, the film broken into four acts, each taking place in a different decade. The setting is a suburban house, the basement of which is home to a hideous flesh-eating witch, whose victims are provided by the owner of the property.

The premise is a good one, and the first three segments do a great job in building the atmosphere and tension as people investigate the gloomy basement or poke their noses into dark recesses, with the threat of Beezel suddenly emerging from the shadows to rip off their head. And that one jump scare involving the care nurse and the old woman is a belter.

Unfortunately, instead of building to a suitably crazy climax, the film fizzles out in the final act, with a very disappointing ending that fails to do the rest of the film justice. It's not helped by the fact that the acting in this final part of the film isn't the best. It's a shame, because director Aaron Fradkin's handling of his film is, for the most part, very good, an impressive mix of standard storytelling and found footage, with great sound design and a wonderfully unsettling creature.

Fradkin is definitely a talent to keep an eye on, but this one fails to live up to the hype.

5.5/10, generously rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

When I rate a film "7", It means excellence. There are no "10"'s after all, and few "8"s or 9s".

Beezel, operating on a budget level, pulls off the prize: a creative, well-shot, interesting, and frightening movie that puts the big budget productions to shame.

The story is believable due to the actors, and the techniques are great.

I think more movies of this style should be made. A low -key horror film that is stylish and makes sense story-wise cannot be that rare. Yet it is.

Perhaps the film poster is inappropriate for the film, or the studio description is wrong, but the actual movie is better different than what is publicized.

It's about a witch that occupies a home for 60 years, and how the witch haunts the different generations of families who live there.

It's a bit like "Barbarian", yes, only better in that it is less over-the-top.

Enjoy!

If you approach this movie understanding it is a low budget project, and don't have expectations of high end CGI etc., it is an enjoyable 80 odd minutes. The acting is passable, if a little clumsy at times, the story is not radical, but original enough. It is roughly split into four segments, but all one story as it develops through the years. I think, of the four segments, I enjoyed the first one, with the documentary maker the most. The last segment, and the longest one, did seem to drag a little, and had the most unrelatable characters, as I really didn't care if they survived or not. The ending was disappointing, and really didn't leave me satisfied. But having said that, I did enjoy, and would definitely check out another movie from the same team.

It's a straightforward enough story enhanced by the smart direction of Aaron Fradkin and the creepy cinematography by Keelan Carothers. With one location a handful of actors and a musical score akin to Kubrick's The Shining, Fradkin and his team weave a mystery surrounding the house and the thing that lives in the basement in a manner that pulls you in and keeps you guessing.

I also need to give props for Beezel's design which was unsettling to say the least.

The only complaints I can manage is the latter half of the story isn't as interesting as the first with the movie veering into more predictable territory with the final couple which causes the well-earned energy of the opening and second act to fizzle out a bit.

What an impressive contained horror film! Not unlike Sinister or Barbarian, Beezel takes a single location and succeeds in building out an intriguing, unnerving lore, replete with a badass creature design for the witch (who, in classic Hitchockian fashion, appears only briefly- so much spookier than a ghoulie who's crammed down your throat!).

The use of found footage adds to the atmosphere (very Longlegs) without being overly used or trope-y. And like any horror movie worth it's salt, Beezel has a spine-tingling sound design that will haunt your dreams.

Grateful I don't have a basement-- I would never being going in it again!