Customer Reviews

Believe [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.'

"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.

I am a big halloween fan so this movie fits in with my collection nicely. It is a good family flick.

When you mess with the dead,be prepared to pay the consequences! Ben Stiles loves to SCARE people. But he's about to get the fright of his life when the mysterious wailing ghost of Wickwire House beckons Ben and his friend Katherine(Elisha Cuthbert) into the eerie world of the supernatural Who is she?What does she want? Will he become the prime character in a real-life ghost story? As he puts his life-and his sanity-on the line to uncover the shocking truth behind the haunting, he finds himself in over his head. A hair raising thriller that will leave you breathless. A good spooky movie. Great special effects. Not cheesy. Elisha Cuthbert from Popular Mechanics for Kids played a great part. I enjoy her movies, a little hard to get in the United States. A movie you can watch over and over. Not for young children may give them bad nightmares about ghosts. Great Halloween movie. Buy this movie, you will not regret it.

Did I just watch a really long episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark on Nickelodeon? I guess that's what I get when I rent a horror movie that isn't rated R There was was nothing scary about this film at all. It mainly focused on some punk kid and his stupid pranks.They don't get to solve the mystery behind the ghost until the last 30 minutes of the film. What I also did'nt like about this movie was the kid had so much knowledge and equipment for creating pranks to scare people, that it seemed impossible. I'd like to say that there were some scenes of the movie where it was intresting, but there were'nt any! I found the whole movie very boring. I was so bored that I decided to surf the web while it was still playing .I would'nt even watch this crap if it were on television. We don't really get to see much of the real ghost. She just appears every now and then and stairs at a few people. The acting was so dumb and there were no actual effects at all.The story behind the ghost was SO stupid. I expected a lot more to it at the end, but nope. The grandfather acted like an ass and the kid was just a wuss. Overall this is one of those movies with a cool cover, but a stupid plot. Sorry to keep this review short, but I think I've already gotten my point across. Don't rent, buy, or even look at the cover of this BIG PIECE OF CRAP! Enough said!

Just taking a moment to say that of the thousands of movies I've watched in my day this holds the title for the worst ever. I'd give it less than a one star rating but such is not possible. Jeez-o-whiz, this is such a piece of doo doo. It's a horror movie with no fright factor at all, the leads' acting is so atrocious that he has less range than a putt-putt course and his primary facial expression comprises of a furrowed brow and the eternal look of confusion. These annoyances are just a tip of the hefty iceberg that make this movie straight garbage.

The only power this flick seems to possess is the uncanny ability to protract time, making an hour and a half seem like a solid, bang-your-head-against-the-wall three hours.

Treat this picture like a rabid animal: avoid at all costs, but if you do happen to stumble across it- destroy it with extreme prejudice.

Bob Tinnell has done it again! A very talented director and writer. Looking forward to more children's movies from Bob and these talented actors! Jenny

I remember watching this years ago and have been looking everywhere for a copy (I have it somewhere on VHS). Great DVD, Fast shipping! THANKS!

Found this to be a good old fashioned ghost story. Recommend it to anyone who loves a good ghost story and with a bit of a romantic twist.
No blood or violence which makes it a nice change to watch.
The acting might not be up to scratch, but if you want to sit back, chill out and watch a 'ghost' story movie, watch this one.