Product Details

• Actors: Ricky Mabe, Mario Boni, Justin Bradley, Vlasta Vrana, Christopher Heyerdahl
• Directors: Robert Tinnell
• Writers: Robert Tinnell, Richard Goudreau, Roc LaFortune
• Producers: André Link, Christian Larouche, Jean-Marie Comeau, Richard Goudreau
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: April 18, 2000
• Run Time: 96 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305785252
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,836 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Believe" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

BELIEVE - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hold That Ghost!, June 14, 2000

By 

Mark D. Clark "Movie critic and comic book geek" (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Believe (DVD)

It's never easy being 14 years old, but it's especially tough for Ben Stiles. First, he can't seem to communicate with his absentee parents, diplomats who apparently live overseas. Then he gets kicked out of boarding school after pulling an imaginative but childish ghost prank on his classmates. He's forced to move in with an icy-tempered grandfather he barely knows. And finally he discovers his grandfather's estate is haunted by the eerie specter of a young woman in a red coat. Of course after the ghost prank, no one takes his claims seriously.

Ben (Ricky Mabe) is the point-of-view character of BELIEVE, a new horror film aimed at younger audiences and lensed by director Robert Tinnell, whose previous work includes horror fan favorite FRANKENSTEIN AND ME. Unlike FRANKENSTEIN AND ME, which was essentially a coming-of-age story with horror trappings, BELIEVE is designed to generate real chills - and it delivers. Even veteran horror fans should receive at least a few satisfying shivers from the picture.

As BELIEVE's story progresses, Ben quickly realizes his grandfather (Jan Rubes) isn't telling everything he knows about the mysterious figure in the red coat. Granddad goes ape when he discovers that Ben has enlisted the help of a neighbor girl (Elisha Cuthbert), who has also seen the ghost, in his quest for the truth. The girl's uncle (Ben Gazzara ) is equally upset by this development, and forbids her from seeing Ben. The teenagers realize that somehow their families' histories will unlock the secrets of the Stiles house, and maybe help their phantom finally find peace.

Imagine George Romero shooting a movie for The Wonderful World of Disney and you have some idea of the film's tone. To achieve this effect, Tinnell asked production designer Jules Ricard to decorate his sets in the style of the classic Hammer horrors. Then Tinnell shot his movie much in the mode of Mario Bava. Viewers who know Tinnell only through FRANKENSTEIN AND ME will find BELIEVE a revelation. It's far more visually cohesive than his early work and its use of color is striking. Certainly Tinnell was well served by cinematographer Pierre Jodoin, whose work is imaginative and eloquent. Composer Jerry DeVilliers Jr. sets the mood with a truly haunting score.

Tinnell, a formidable horror film scholar in addition to a gifted young filmmaker, built in several nods toward great ghost pictures of the past. Horror aficionados will appreciate the film's visual references to movies like THE UNINVITED and THE INNOCENTS. BELIEVE also quotes from THE HORROR OF DRACULA and (of all things) THE INVISIBLE GHOST. The director confesses to influences as wide-ranging as Romero's MARTIN and THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, but his capsule description of BELIEVE is "the Hardy Boys meet Wuthering Heights."

Tinnell had to bring in the picture on a $2 million budget and a 20-day shooting schedule. To his credit, BELIEVE looks like a much more expensive film. For what it's worth: BELIEVE has received glowing reviews from a number of horror publications, from stately MIDNIGHT MARQUEE to splatter-happy FANGORIA.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elisha Cuthbert Fans Will Love This Movie, July 29, 2004

By 

C. Chow (Leesburg VA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Believe (DVD)

OK, we all know why you're even considering seeing a movie this B, IT STARS ELISHA CUTHBERT WHEN SHE WAS 16!!!

So to calm your fears, yes yes dear Elisha yes you should buy this movie! Elisha looks great. We get to see her in a variety of outfits always laughing and smiling and doing something sexy.

To understand just how low budget this movie is, it wasn't made for TV, it wasn't made for children's TV, it was made for Canadian children's TV. The plot revolves around a teen boy who is kicked out of prep school to live with his spooky old grandfather in his haunted mansion. But he's in luck because Elisha is literally the girl next door. I guess we can consider this a prelude to her performance in 'The Gild Next Door.'

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Family-friendly supernatural-themed movie, great for tweens, October 28, 2010

By 

Z Hayes (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Believe (DVD)

"Believe" is the perfect family-friendly Halloween watch. It has clean language, credible acting, and enough atmosphere and suspense to keep viewers (primarily tweens) engaged. The story centers on teenager Benjamin Stiles (Ricky Mabe) who keeps getting kicked out of each private school his parents enroll him in. His parents are absentee parents, traveling the world while Ben is stuck in boarding schools, feeling unwanted and lonely. When Ben is kicked out of his current school, his parents decide to send him to live with his grandfather, Jason Stiles (Jan Rubes), a man Ben has not seen since he was five years old, and who is estranged from Ben's dad.

When Ben gets to the large Stiles estate, he finds his grandfather polite but aloof, and soon begins to see a strange woman appearing around the estate, dressed in a red coat. Ben's queries are met with disapproval and silence on the part of his grandfather, and everyone seems to behave as though nothing is amiss. It is only after Ben meets another teen, Katharine (Elisha Cuthbert) that he realizes he has not been imagining things. Katharine Winslowe also sees the ghost, and the pair try to solve the mystery of the haunting, discovering long-hidden family secrets and a tragedy that has resulted in the estrangement between two families.

I thought the story was generally well-paced (except for one story arc about getting even with the town bullies that seemed very childish to me). Other than that, the story itself is interesting, and as I mentioned, this is a movie suited more for the tween set, and can also be enjoyed as a family.