The Bell Keeper

It's kind of hard to forge a decent horror film, when the concept is to make a cheap pastiche, based on an idiotic premise. The whole thing is effectively a mash-up of Evil Dead and Knock At The Cabin - which is an act of blasphemy in itself. And tries way too hard to force a horror-comedy angle into the storyline...which just doesn't work. Because it makes the whole thing seem confused about what it wants to be. Does it want to be a comedy? Or serious horror? One can only assume they've tried to make it the best of both worlds. However, these two different paths mix like oil and water in this example. With the crux of the storyline coming off extremely forced at best. It's just not a very good film. But I guess that's what you get when you try to emulate a hack like Shyamalan. It's not surprising that this was made by the same director who brought us the travesty that is Snow Falls (among other awful 2023 releases). And while it might not be as bad as that film...it's still pretty bad. 2 out of 10.

I found the movie rated 3.5 out of 10, and while it can be watched at 120% playback speed, it is not the junk that low rank implied. The story makes sense, the young adults stumbling into the story aka discovering the curse, albeit too late, also fit quite well. "A country bumpkin sorta Satanist had sacrificed virgins, until the loving father of a girl found him and dropped him dead in the middle of a ritual. The Satanist dragged to hell by demons, the father accidentally becoming an immortal in his stead. Sadly, the demons got their hands on the magic, so they could continue to run the curse: Whoever rings that bell gets possessed by a demon and goes on a killing spree." -> Not genius, but also not the worst horror story I know. So, a scary axe murderer turns out to be a demon hunter, a curse turns out to have become worse than the origin due to demonic meddling, and young adults learn the harsh truths along the way. Some of the acting is formidable, and the movie does have atmospheric moments. The action scenes aka fighting scenes are not very professional, but low budget could always mean that fans fund a better remake, if they stop moaning and start living up to the costs of real production. What I found noteworthy: The characters are a notch less cliché than usual. Their behavior fits the story, and adapts to what they learn about the incidents. Nothing great, but plenty of movies failed to deliver that. I rated it 6 stars out of 10, as I think that team would deserve a chance for a sequel or remake instead of no money incoming. Good watch for: Grimm like fairy tales turned horror, people OK with not so innovative stories, fans of curse stories with violent killings (no extreme gore). Not so good for: People with high expectations, unpaying folks demanding more than can be funded. Longhaired Satanists.

A cheap B-movie horror about some friends going out to film in the woods in search of a legendary bell. The story goes that those who ring the bell are thereafter cursed by a demon, and of course these numbskulls have to go and see for themselves what it's all about. It's business as usual for the genre, with a small cast and only middling scares, although it's surprisingly well paced which means it's more watchable than some. The biggest surprise here is a rare foray into the horror genre for former wrestling star Randy Couture, best known for THE EXPENDABLES movies; he gives the best performance here and is quite likeable.