Customer Reviews

Beneath the Dark

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

 

 

As the movie description indicates, this is a "psychological thriller," but it is more. In short, the film tells the story of an unmarried couple that has car issues, and ends up spending the night in a dodgy, way off the beaten path hotel, only to find the lead male subject to a set of bizarre encounters. Interestingly, there is a story that runs parallel to the unmarried couple, but it intersects with the unmarried couple in a few very curious ways. While the film was very good throughout (good acting, good camera work/production values), I kept asking myself I wonder how they will tie all these seemingly different parts together. And it wasn't until almost the very end that the underlying real concept came through. Perhaps embarrassingly, I have to say that the real concept caught me a bit off guard. The official movie reference to "psychological thriller" led me to think the film was somewhat tritely working toward a recreation of many other good films (e.g., Identity), but this ended up not being the case at all. This is not to imply that the twist is unlike anything you've seen, but its good enough to give you a few minutes of pondering the situation and connecting all the threads into a cohesive whole. Again, irrespective of the underlying concept, the movie was enjoyable to watch - the acting was good, the production values high and the artistic value spot on. I'm not sure whether this is a frequent watch type of movie, so I highly encourage the reader to consider a rental before buying. However, it doesn't have to sit in your DVD player every day to merit a four star designation. Really well done!

If you're in the mood for a motel movie with plenty of scary moments like Vacancy, this may not be what you're looking for. But if you like slow-burning psychological thrillers in the vein of Twilight Zone episodes, Beneath the Dark is worth a watch.

The movie follows a young couple who make a road trip, and find themselves taking a detour at a quiet motel out in the desert. As other mysterious characters begin to reveal themselves, the dark truths hidden in one of the pair's past is revealed.

I didn't expect much from this movie, considering it went straight to video. But it was actually shot well, with a surprisingly good score. Josh Stewart (from The Collector) offers a decent performance as Paul, boyfriend to the character played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Meadow Soprano). I was also happy with the acting job by Chris Browning (Book of Eli, Let Me In), cast as the unusual motel clerk.

There are only two downsides to this film. The first is that you really have to hang in there until the last 20-30 minutes, as the story plods along. It does help build up the mystery of what's happening to the main characters, but some people may lose interest halfway through. The other con is that the film borrows a few elements from other movies. Mentioning their names would spoil Beneath the Dark's twist, so I'll simply leave it at that.

One thing that's for sure, the end has one element involving photos that I haven't seen in other movies. I had to watch the final minutes of the film a second time to really understand it, and that helped make it a great ending. Not a movie I would have bought a ticket to in theaters, but worth a rent.

Was looking for a "thriller" on Netflix that I had not seen before. Decided on this one... good plot/good twists/good acting. My husband and I really enjoyed this one!

This was a very well-done suspense thriller. Good quality production, acting, script and direction. I am a great fan of movies like "Identity" and "Vacancy," and this film did not disappoint. Excellent story, very unpredictable, builds suspense slowly but delivers plenty of scares without crossing over into horror. From what I've gathered this film was independently shot by a director named Chad Feehan with his own money, but you would never know it, it looks every bit as good if not better than most studio-released films I've seen. I'd like to see more films like this from this director. The writing and acting was really outstanding.

It would be nice to see films without little quips pushing a political agenda that don't fit with what the characters would likely say.
Immediately the film starts off with a put down of fox news, sure the character could say this but viewers with IQs above room temp can tell it's typical liberal trash speak.