Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

TheLittleSongbird 'Bethany' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing, if not exactly novel, idea and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive. Found the film to be pretty weak with a lot more wrong than right. 'Bethany' is not great, or good, has a fair share of problems (fairly big ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There are however a few decent, even good, qualities in 'Bethany', at least it wasn't intelligence insulting or inept (unlike some films seen recently) though the potential was never lived up to.Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric, likewise with the very nice way it's shot. The music is suitably spooky and quirky and doesn't distract at all from the atmosphere, while not exactly enhancing it. 'Bethany' started off fairly spookily and the ending intrigues.However, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained. The more 'Bethany' progressed, the duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary it got, and too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it.Acting is not good, though Zack Ward fares serviceably and it was interesting to see Ellen Gerstell, best known for voice acting, in a role. Stefania Estes is a lifeless lead though, while Shannon Doherty looks tired and disengaged and Tom Green playing it straight didn't turn out refreshing or surprising, instead it felt odd and without much personality.Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace is uneven, dragging in a lot of the second half and never is it exciting. Found the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness and the lack of tension and suspense.In conclusion, pretty weak but not unwatchable. 3/10 Bethany Cox

hnhovitz Boring, boring, boring, predictable, boring, and then, literally down to the mask and the kid hiding in the walls because the mother is ashamed of it, a complete copycat ending of 'The Boy', another one of the biggest failures in the history of horror movies. I'm surprised there's no lawsuit happening from one crappy writer to another. Who knows. Maybe there is. I bet that deposition would be more entertaining than this was. Skip it.

thenarcolepticsloth This was an interesting little gem of a horror film. The acting was great, it was decently edited, and overall I would say that it was a pretty well crafted flick. While I am sure that it was shot on a very low budget based on how many of the shots were tightly framed on actors this actually helped play into the psychological elements, as other reviewers pointed out, gave it a claustrophobic feeling. The low budget didn't seem too noticeable when it came to the visual effects as well. What practical effects were utilized were highly effective and actually made me squirm a few times, while its CG effects looked relatively seamless. While sort of a minor thing to point out I really did appreciate its effort in crafting the main characters, particularly Claire. I've watched many low/micro- budget horror films over the years and you'd be surprised at how many of them fail to even accomplish something as basic as this. My issues with the film lie largely in its structure and plotting. being a slow burn, one would expect it to unravel at a certain pace, but there were moments where the film dragged to an excruciating crawl, or without warning sped up way too rapidly, as well as scenes that would have been better placed much earlier in the film. I don't want to give any spoilers or dive too far into the plot because this is a film that works better the less you know going into it, but when its payoff was unveiled It didn't really work for me.The exposition was rushed out in an unnatural way, and logistically it didn't make too much sense. instead of resolving issues it just created more. Also the score was really bad in some parts. There is a scene that clearly lifts the main theme from Tony Scott's True Romance and makes a few minor tweaks to make it different enough but it completely took me out of the film for the entirety of that scene. I don't think a film should solely be judged by its ending which is why I would still recommend this. It has some truly effective scenes, and does work as a psychological horror film for the most part. Overall, I was impressed, this feels like a stepping stone towards something better, and I look forward to James Cullen Bressack's next effort.

Lady Persephone Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. There were some legitimately unsettling scenes that unfolded throughout the course of the movie (particularly the fingernail scene and the sewing on of the mask). As the movie progresses, we see more glimpses of the abusive nature of Claire's mother. This psychological plot point was handled well. The pacing of the movie was good, and the ending was satisfying. The story of Bethany/Mallory unfolded nicely as well. The main actress, Stefanie Estes, did a great job. Some of the flaws of the movie: Honestly, I just didn't enjoy the acting of Zack Ward. His performance felt one dimensional and unrealistic, and I wish they had gotten someone else to play that role as Aaron was such a central character. There were also a few things that seemed out of place/disjointed. One of my smaller grievances is the fact that nobody seemed the smell the decaying body that was trapped within the house. I can forgive this a bit because it a horror and we are to suspend some disbelief. My biggest grievance would be the death of the psychiatrist. It just didn't fit, and I don't like how it was handled. Very unsatisfying. Like I said, overall I did enjoy the movie as a whole. It's definitely worth a watch if your a fan of psychological horror/haunted house horror fare.