Beneath the Dark (2010)

Undescribable Perfection

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

So, this morning I watched the 2010 Chad Feehan as writer / director film, Beneath the Dark. The synopsis sounded good, but I tried it mostly because Jamie-Lynn Sigler beneath(Sopranos, Guys With Kids) was in it. The film also stars, Josh Stewart, who has been in a number of good films and TV shows as well.Okay. The basic idea is that Paul (Stewart) and Adrienne (Sigler) are headed to a wedding. A guy from Paul's college frat is tying the knot. Growing weary on the way, and a little frisky, Paul runs the vehicle of the road. It's decided they will not push it and land a hotel room for the night.The Roy Hotel is run by Frank (Chris Browning). He's a step-and-a-half above Anthony Perkins on a creepy-meter, and the hotel is slightly more modern than the Bates Motel. Once tucked away in a room, Adrienne is still frisky (and while there is no nudity, it is quite hot), only Paul has too much on his mind and cannot perform. Frustrated he heads to the connected diner for coffee where he meets a Man (Afemo Omilami) who claims to be the Son of God.The Man certainly knows a lot about Paul, and Paul's soiled past, and aside from conversation, he tries to have Paul answer some simple questions . . . What Do You Believe In?I can't forget Frank's wife, Sandy (Angela Featherstone). She is not a happy woman. Sandy stalks the bars looking for company. Isn't hard for her to find what she wants. Not bra-less in a thin white tank-top. She shows up here and there. (And is quite sensual in a barfly kind of way). Seems her sole (or soul) purpose is to torment the loser-ness of her husband.There is always homemade cherry pie and fresh coffee. There is a jukebox–while outdated with its selection–that is always ready to play.Beneath the Dark is nothing new. Sadly, I knew the end of the story at the very beginning of the movie. There have been a flood of "identical" big-screen and direct to DVD films with the same ending over the last four years. I could name them. But if you see one — then I have ruined the ending for the rest. I hate that. Hate it. Because the story was as solid as the acting. Both I enjoyed. The dialogue was crisp enough. The filming was simple but effective.If I were to assume you saw none of the other films with the same ending — then this is an excellent movie. If not, then this is a mediocre film. Since the Beneath the Dark is from 2010 — and we are on the cusp of 2014, I am going to assume the ladder and for that, give the movie 5 out of 10 Stars.Zombie Author Phillip Tomassohttp://www.philliptomasso.com

I actually watched this movie by accident, mistaking it for "Beneath the Darkness" with Dennis Quiad. I must say that I'm glad I watched this movie. It has a dark atmosphere, and it keeps itself a mystery until the end. I was bored at times, but all things considered i had a good time with this movie, though at the end I had a feeling of deja-vu. The atmosphere reminded me of "Identity" while the plot itself was actually a lot like 2003's "Dead End", but i liked that movie much more. It succeeds to create an atmosphere full of suspense, but at the end you will be left feeling like you've already seen it all somewhere else.

The plot for this movie is not exactly new but even with me saying that it will keep you guessing for a bit.The production is great, the acting top notch, characters, direction all good.The most notable quality of this movie though is the pace, it is very slow and considered. The characters are examined in massive detail but you never really get to know them. This is how the plot is disguised so well.If you have patience and you don't mind a film that takes its time then this is definitely for you. For me it was a little slow and void of substance.

I could easily review this film if I were to include spoilers - but in avoiding giving anything away there is so little I can say that I would like to say - this movie is shrouded in MYSTERY!"Beneath The Dark" takes place at a desert motel ... a young man (Paul) and a young woman (Adrienne) who must rest, and so cannot continue their journey. So they stop at a motel that seems to welcome them. But there is something very strange about this place - watch closely, at the beginning of the film and you will see the Motel concierge, Frank, slipping a typed-note on an A4 sheet of paper into a "Gideon's Bible" and replacing it in the top drawer of a bedside chest of drawers in the room in which Paul and Adrienne are doomed to stay - "The Orchid Room". Now surely, that could not possibly be construed as a spoiler - yet I have to be so careful not to give anything away!This is the mysterious rest-stop between two worlds that you have seen in so many episodes of "The Twilight Zone" ... but where in "The Twilight Zone" the story must be told in a brief introduction, two 11-minute acts, and s final short climax or dénouement, this story takes place over one and a half hours without ads. Apart from that, it is pretty much what you have been seeing on "The Twilight Zone" since 1959, and that is a compliment! (When television was influenced and employed theatre, when television was respectable and cared about the human condition!) Without giving anything away, literally, I can say I would have given this movie more, but the concept that "law" is "truth" is a devilish lie, so I can only give it a 6 ... and if IMDb's rules would allow it, I would have given it a 6.66! What about the unparalleled intervention and interference in human affairs that is going on according to so-called "rules" and "laws" by those who put themselves in positions of so-called "authority" over us, make rules to force us to bend and submit to, and who corruptly judge us accordingly? What of the unimaginable enormity of the harm THEY do?! Perhaps that note in "The Gideon's Bible" should not have been inserted at "LEVITICUS", but at the place where it says: "Judge not and you shall not be judged!" Even wisdom turns to evil and maggots, when it is made into law as a subterfuge to rule over us from ABOVE and to deprive us of our universal, inalienable, un-God-given FREEDOM (which comes from BELOW)!!!Turn down the lights, relax, and enjoy this film, but remember to temper the message at the end of this movie with a slice of raspberry pie! For ... you about to enter ... THE TWILIGHT ZONE!!!