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Cast: Dennis Quaid, Tony Oller, Aimee Teegarden, Devon Werkheisser, Brett Cullen
Beneath the Darkness is a teen thriller in the style of Disturbia, with high school kids pitted against a psychotic villain in a community where adults refuse to see one of their own is a serial killer. The villain (Dennis Quaid) is a well-respected mortician in a town where he was once a legendary high school football star. But among the kids he is legendary for a more sinister reason - rumors that his house is haunted. The truth is more evil and much more dangerous – the town leader murdered his wife and her lover when he caught them having an affair, and now has secretly set up house with his wife’s embalmed corpse. The local hero is a flesh-and-blood monster who buries his victims alive, a sociopath who befriends adults and police while openly flaunting his murderous intentions to the teens. He will kill anyone who threatens to expose him or his now-perfect marriage.
There's not much to add story wise without spoiling the movie for those that are waiting to see it. The film is a mixed bag of good and bad, it takes it's time getting started but it picks up about a half hour in. One of the best things the film has going for it is Dennis Quaid, his character is meant to be a creepy psychopath and Mr. Quaid delivers on his performance. The rest of the young cast did a pretty good job as well considering the material they had to work with but the story is driven by Quaid's performance.
One of the biggest flaws is that the story is too uneven, there's not a even flow to the pace of the film to keep you glued to the screen like there should be. The two things that saved the film from being a total disaster was it's ending which I did enjoy and Quaid's over-the-top performance which is the main reason to see the film.
"Beneath The Darkness" isn't the worst of it's kind but I have seen better, if you like this kind of thriller then I recommend checking it out for the reasons I stated above. Just don't expect anything ground-breaking and you should at least find it entertaining.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray, both come with Special Features that include:
Behind The Scenes
Trailers
You can order the DVD HERE and the Blu-ray HERE.
"Beneath The Darkness" could of much better but it is always a pleasure to see Dennis Quaid in a film. I found that his performance alone over came the story and it's flaws. I didn't love the film but I did find it enjoyable enough to recommend.
Released by Image Entertainment
*** Out Of *****