Beneath the Darkness (2012)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

That's how this excellent little mystery-horror film from 2011 struck me, and I mean that in a good way.PLOT: Dennis Quaid plays a creepy mortician in a central Texas town. A group of teens decide to trespass his abode for thrills and everything goes awry.Quaid and cutie Aimee Teegarden head the cast, but it's Tony Oller who shines here as the troubled protagonist. He's very reminiscent of Robby Benson.Like I said, the story is akin to a Scooby-Doo yarn, but realistic and without the dog. Although Quaid is over-the-top and somewhat campy as the villain the rest of the cast play it straight. I was surprised by the dramatic score and a few really touching scenes.Some complain that the subplot of a dead sister and a ghost sighting goes nowhere, but it's there for a reason, just think about it.Although there's some realistic cussing there's zero raunch.BOTTOM LINE: I was pleasantly surprised by this great little film. It's classy, sometimes moving, mysterious and thrilling at the same time. What more could you ask for in a movie of this ilk? Shot in Bastrop & Smithville, Texas, the film runs 96 minutes.GRADE: A- or B+

As also mentioned from other reviewers there are similarities between Mr. Brooks and this film. If Mr. Brooks is a Crime/Drama/Mystery film, this film cannot be a horror film, because Mr. Brooks has definitely harder scenes as this one. I don't know if the makers of this movie claim that they filmed a horror movie. If yes then it is a really poor horror film and you will be disappointed as a horror movie fan. But if you watch it as a Crime/Thriller it is watchable and not a waste of time. It depends on what your expectation is. In marketing the product must be declared correctly: if you declare horror in a product, horror must be in the product.In the music business there is a genre named easy-listening, translated into the movie business I would say this film is a "easy-watching" film: not bad and not really good.

First let me say I love Dennis Quaid and just about every movie I've seen him in. This movie however totally dropped the ball. Basically, the first half of the movie had a very bizarre assortment of scenes thrown together, only half of which actually tied into the plot. Not mention the transition of the scenes also made it difficult to understand. For instance, one moment you would jump from one time to another, then you'd suddenly jump from one reality to another. Regardless, that is not my biggest complaint of this movie. The most obvious flaw comes after you get past the fluctuation of scenes that fail to follow any chronological or reasonable order. Even an amateur in filming would know the single most important part of motion picture is to have a picture. The second half of the movie was filmed in the dark and I mean IN THE DARK! I kid you not, in most action scenes you simply couldn't see anything. It was like I was suddenly given the understanding of what it was like for Ray Charles to watch a movie. After it was over, my friend turned off the TV and when I saw the blank screen, I thought we had began watching a sequel!

After watching their best friend get murdered, a group of teens struggle to expose a local mortician (Dennis Quaid) as the vicious killer and keep from becoming his next victims.I see this film has a pretty low rating and has some rather scathing reviews. Frankly, I thought it was alright -- much better than a lot of the films I see. Dennis Quaid is always a joy, and the overall concept was entertaining.If I had to make any complaint, it is that the mother character is just really, really poorly acted. I do not know her character's name, or I would specifically call out that actress. She is outdone by kids half her age, and that is just insulting.Is this the overlooked horror film of 2011? Heck no. Is it comparable to "The Shining"? Not even in the same league. But I also do not think it is as bad as made out to be by some of those who have said it is like watching paint dry.