Lauded as one of the standout features of this year’s Grimmfest, I did not expect Beezel to serve as an example of how effective a straightforward plot can be. Aaron Fradkin’s film places the viewer right in the middle of the story, giving them a classic, straightforward, horror flick that utilizes the brutal and gory aspects of the genre seen in the older films.
Within its engaging plot, which draws some mild parallels to Evil Dead and its cellar dwelling Deadites, Beezel successfully tells a rather haunting story of a house almost, but not quite, of one of the many horror houses created in the spate of horror films, without jumping the bandwagon of making the premise too complicated.
In other successful films, the writers make use of universal primal instincts that have long been maligned but are effective in keeping the audience riveted: the darkness of the unknown, the unseen threats concealed behind the walls, the borderline paranoia that something vile is truly out of view. What is not especially Beezel oddly explores the curse, the audience is drawn into a battle that is where all twelve rounds have already passed, tracing back to a New England house that looks deceptively unthreatening but is in fact so much more.
The premise of the movie is simple, but it is the manner in which it is brought to life that makes it shine. In the span of sixty years, three different families come into contact with Beezie a blind, aged, witch, who appropriately lives under the house and devours unsuspecting humans. The first story introduces us to Rob, played, creepy Bob Gallagher, who slowly sheds his sorrow of life once his family is slayed. It is only later that he learns the one responsible for this nightmare is Beezel. It incorporates him against his will and sends him out to find her more victims and prey. Right from the very beginning, the film snaps into the attention, further revealing the core of the story. The old house is full of unsettling and dark corners with the sounds of creeks giving it the persona of a character.
What makes Beezel unique compared to the others of the genre is how the movie manages to incorporate different time frames from different periods into a single storyline. As the film goes on, we meet Lucas (Nicholas Robin) together with his spouse Sarah (played by one of the co writers, Victoria Fratz) who become the new owners of the unfortunate house. Once they find the corpses of the previous victims, the story takes on a never ending heart pounding tone. Every single story of this film is like a flash back of a couple of moments of terror, connected by the plot song that the house cherishes but we always have something new to explore. The film’s reliance on simultaneous narrative arcs is clear when evaluating the coherence of the crude and vibrant scripts written by Fradkin and Fratz.
One of the weakest points of the Beezel film is its reliance on CGI. In some terrible but satisfactory way, you can feel Fradkin’s love for the old tense in the way how horrifying the deaths in the film are. Beezel herself is grotesque in nature, however her design is a combination of something that seems old and something that appears frighteningly new. One can argue that having a lot of practical effects adds realism to unnecessary supernatural occurrences, where every scene demands real danger.
The film is quite enjoyably efficient as well with a runtime of 82 minutes; however it is not hurried. Each of the story segments has sufficient space to develop progressively thus allowing the viewer to slowly build up to real scares. While the overall pacing is fast, Fradkin does not rush into character development for cheap thrills. The cast especially Gallagher and Fratz bring a human touch to a wild fantastical story.
The film’s biggest weakness is the fact that it is held back from going into too much depth about the background of the character that the movie is named after. Beezel is a very menacing character but we are still left with a great deal of queries regarding Beezel, her true identity, her origin, her motives as well as the connection with this particular house. Some may appreciate this type of ambiguity as it brings in the mystery aspect but many others may consider this an unnecessary loss of a chance to elaborate on the backstory. The scope for a prequel certainly exists to presumably elaborate on these specifics but at this moment, the lack of explanation does run a slight gap in the plot.
Yes, while the found footage aspects are effective and pay homage to the truly great parts of the likes of The Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity, their prior overuse does put Beezel in a bit of a slippery slope. All in all, it is the nice addition of the POV shots and talking to the camera but enhances the tiniest flaws in the performances of the actors. Suspended disbelief is one of the requisites to engaging found footage; it is easier to suspend belief when a real person’s demeanor from frame to frame convinces 100% of their normalcy or authenticity and not when they look “real” and are fake.
Yet for Beezel’s narrative, horror purists will please themselves. It is not concerned with originality for originality’s sake; it is not limp, but rather embraces its origins and calls for bloody, tension filled battles. A film which is all about the jump scares and offensive visuals, and yet knows that suspense is a critical component that needs to be developed. The small number of characters, the close up and tension filled atmosphere create an almost unbearable feeling of tension throughout the duration.
In a frightening world that is inhabited by complex plots and exaggerated symbols, Beezel is an interesting contrast to that approach, bringing back engaging and simpler storytelling. The film does not try to innovate with its approach, but there are sufficient well executed thrills and violence to ensure an entertaining night.
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