Bereavement (2011)

41% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
33% of users liked it
(2,317 ratings)

n 1989, six year old Martin Bristoll was kidnapped from his backyard swing in Minersville Pennsylvania. Graham Sutter, a psychotic recluse, kept Martin imprisoned on his derelict pig farm, forcing him to witness and participate in unspeakable horrors. Chosen at random, his victim's screams were… More n 1989, six year old Martin Bristoll was kidnapped from his backyard swing in Minersville Pennsylvania. Graham Sutter, a psychotic recluse, kept Martin imprisoned on his derelict pig farm, forcing him to witness and participate in unspeakable horrors. Chosen at random, his victim's screams were drowned out by the rural countryside. For five years, Martin's whereabouts have remained a mystery, until 17 year old Allison Miller (Alexandra Daddario) comes to live with her Uncle, Jonathan (Michael Biehn). While exploring her new surroundings, Allison discovers things aren't quite right at the farmhouse down the road. Her curiosity disturbs a hornet's nest of evil and despair that once torn open, can never be closed. -- (C) Official Site

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 43 min.
Directed By: Stevan Mena
Written By: Stevan Mena
Genres: Horror

In Theaters: Mar 4, 2011 Limited
On DVD: Aug 30, 2011
Studio: Crimson Films

Critic Reviews

Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
Effective atmospherics don't rescue this formulaic slasher flick.
Paul Brunick, New York Times
I'd sooner touch a nine-volt battery to my tongue than sit through this film again.
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice
Bereavement -- miraculously as dull as its title -- is neither far gone enough to be funny nor well thought-out enough to be disturbing.
John Anderson, Newsday
Virtually every shot in Bereavement -- a sort of prequel to Mena's Malevolence (2005) -- is the right one; the editing, also by Mena, is first-rate.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
This is an example of what happens when a clever, proficient filmmaker falls in love with brutal trash.
Scott Weinberg, FEARnet
Evidence of a group of filmmakers who take their horror seriously.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
Palinesque, bland and increasingly silly with oodles of unintentional humor instead of what every horror fan expects: palpable scares.
Ethan Alter, NYC Film Critic
Gruesome in the moment, but your memory of it is easily wiped clean.
Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Bereavement" is cruel and unusual.
Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine
The film is so laughably Freudian it could play as a parody of certain acclaimed horror film studies such as Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Horror Film.
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
"Bereavement" isn't a bad slasher film, but after a few stabs (no pun intended) at being something more, it settles for being just a slasher film. And that's disappointing.
Maitland McDonagh, Film Journal International
In this deliberately paced horror movie, a big-city teen homes in on the darkness at the edge of a small Pennsylvania town, with grim results.
Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton, Dread Central
It truly plays like one person's nightmarish descent into a world of total madness. It gives you a feel for who Martin Bristol is and why he's so lethal. On that level the film is a complete success.
Christian Toto, What Would Toto Watch?
Bereavement is one nasty piece of work.
Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve
It's difficult to care about people who are all stupid to a fault.
Dustin Putman, DustinPutman.com
A character-centric thriller signifying Mena's progression as a filmmaker even as it doesn't quite retain the same home-grown charm and earnestness of its predecessor.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
Though Mena refers to his sadistically sliced up female brisket as therapeutic, there's a line between calming viewer fears, and titillating them. While human chopped meat served up raw making you go vegetarian, isn't exactly relished food for thought.

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Lewis C

"Brought home a boy from the valley. He's young enough to learn the business my way." This recent entry in the "small town psychopathic serial killer" genre isn't exactly a game-changer and it doesn't try to be that scary, but it is a tense, nasty… More
"Brought home a boy from the valley. He's young enough to learn the business my way." This recent entry in the "small town psychopathic serial killer" genre isn't exactly a game-changer and it doesn't try to be that scary, but it is a tense, nasty affair that will probably appeal to some horror fans. We've got out deranged killer that preys on young women, a young boy he kidnaps to "assist" him, and a new arrival from out of town (Alexandra Dadarrio) that enjoys taking long runs alone that just happen to pass by a sinister looking and isolated rundown meat-packing plant. If you're guessing that's a recipe for blood, brutality and death, then you're right. Bereavement is fine for what it is, but I doubt I'll be compelled to watch it more than once. There's nothing really exceptional about it, though some of the outdoor cinematography is beautiful, there's a concentrated effort to give depth and a back-story to most of the main characters, and Alexandra is undoubtedly nice eye candy (if there was an Academy Award for filling out a halter top, she'd have it in the bag). The bottom line, though, is that this is such a thoroughly bleak movie that it's almost too realistically grim and hopeless to find entertainment in. That's not necessarily a "flaw", but it's definitely something some viewers will respond less favorably to than others. Oh, and I don't think I've heard this much screaming in a film in quite a while. Have your ears prepared to be assaulted.
Todd S

I was really looking forward to this prequel to 2004's Malevolent, but was sadly disappointed. The premise of the movie is great and right up my alley. A twisted gore fest about a serial killer who abducts a child, in the hope of making him his predecessor. Sounds good, but in… More
I was really looking forward to this prequel to 2004's Malevolent, but was sadly disappointed. The premise of the movie is great and right up my alley. A twisted gore fest about a serial killer who abducts a child, in the hope of making him his predecessor. Sounds good, but in actuality, it was very slow and extremely predictable. I kept hearing about how scary and messed up this film was, did they watch what I just watched? There are a few bright spots here, mainly the cast, which was terrific, and the end of the film, which while predictable, was still really cool to see. Spencer List stars as Martin, the serial killer in waiting. At the ripe old age of 13, this kid has become a B-Horror star! He's this cute, quiet, innocent looking kid, and before you know it he's killed you. He has this way about him, in these types of movies that make it seem real, and he is truly scary. The cast was great, the last twenty minutes was cool to watch, but really there's not much else here.
John M

First section of a three-part trilogy which surpasses the sequel. This movie doesn't rely on cheap scares or excessive gore to grip the audience, it relies on fear and subjective scares. Pretty good prequel/slasher film!