Under the Bed

Director - Steven C. Miller (Silent Night)
Starring - Jonny Weston (John Dies in the End), Gattlin Griffith (Supernatural, Green Lantern), and Peter Holden (The Dark Knight Rises)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Format - DVD (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     Steven C. Miller is a director that has made a name for himself in the horror genre with his films The Aggression Scale, Automaton Transfusion, and his remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night which was released as just simply Silent Night.  Sadly, I have only seen Automaton Transfusion and it did not really impress me.  The film was rather dull at first and then picked up at the end making a rather decent film overall but it was not enough for me to jump on the fanboy wagon.  With Under the Bed recently released I was recommended the film to review by DoC's very own Zombie13.  So I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart to grab myself a copy.
     The film follows troubled teen Neal Hausman (Weston) who returns home after a two year hiatus. He was sent to his Aunt's to live after he burnt down most of his home to destroy a creature living under his bed.  Unfortunately, the creature lived but his mother was caught in the fire.  Now his father has remarried and his little brother is battling the beast.  The boy's father does not understand and tries to force his sex trophies to be "normal" but their bedtime problem has consumed their lives.  While at a sleepover the two boys tell their neighbors about the beast when it suddenly appears and kills them.  Neal and his brother rush back to their house where the beast follows and slaughters their father.  The beast is able to grab Neal's brother and drags him under his bed sending Neal in to save his brother and put an end to his reign of terror.
     When I first put this movie in I thought it was a waste of money. The movie was just so slow and boring.  The first half of the film had a few jump scares but offered nothing really entertaining, however, the second half of the film picks it up making this one one hell of a great film.  The acting is top notch by the entire cast.  Everyone did a great job in their roles and made their characters very believable but that is expected with a film of this caliber.  The story is something told before but in a far more darker tone.  The obvious film is Little Monsters, however, this is no Howie Mandel flick.  The film had the look and feel of an 80's kids in trouble flick just like Little Monsters, Monster Squad, and The Goonies.  However, this is a straight forward horror flick not intended for children.  Also, the 80's look and feel is not consistent throughout.  Finally, the special effects are fucking brilliant and the on screen kills were phenomenal.  Miller set out to make a film gore hounds would love and he did just that.  Sadly, you have to tread through a lot of boring film to get to it.  This also shows that CGI can never be a substitute for actual practical effects and the quicker other directors figure that out the better.  Sure, Dustin Mills Productions and Astron-6 can pull it off but others do not have the vision those two examples have.  Overall, this is a film for horror fans by a horror fan.  If you love practical effects and great kills then this movie is for you.  I highly recommend it!