You can hide all manner of cinematic sins with fast edits, filters, and an obnoxious soundtrack that just won’t quit, like maybe how you just made yet another garbage horror flick destined for dollar bin glory. Jason Daly employed all these tricks with his film Beware, a poorly acted piece of schlock that takes its sweet time going nowhere fast. It’s a rare occurrence when someone complains that a horror film has too much plot, but Daly’s little flick gives horribly inept actors far too much time to show the audience just how bad they are at their job. And so, the audience has to sit there and watch as lines are butchered by characters that can barely stand up on their own. Nothing distinguishes Beware from every other poorly crafted horror film you’ve ever seen, save for the fact that it has absolutely no scares and tries to hide that with really bad editing.
Here we have yet another “abused child grows up to become a murderous local legend” horror tale. How many does that make now? Even if you’re not making a slasher as an homage to the genre great’s, stealing the same idea and trying to make a film in the same vein isn’t any more original or clever. We still end up with a collection of hapless people wandering into wooded areas only to be hacked to death by an insane individual. Adding a twist at the end doesn’t work as a reprieve and elevate it from the done-to-death route you’ve taken, it actually just cements it as another clichéd piece of tripe.
What will it take for poor writers and directors to stop making horror films? It seems like it’s become the genre that offers people with no actual vision or innovation a gateway into the wonderful world of filmmaking, because our culture has decided that all a horror needs to have in order for it to be justified is slutty girls, a few “Boo!” moments with a crazed lunatic jumping out of the dark, and some poor blood and guts effects. That has become the blueprint for cheaply made horror films and every year hundreds are made and they all end up in the bargain bin. That’s exactly where Beware belongs, and undoubtedly where each copy will end up.
DVD Bonus Features
For such a poorly made movie, Jason Daly is oddly intent on showing us how he made it. Once you start watching though, the 12-minute behind-the-scenes featurette actually talks less about the creation of the film and is little more than the cast and crew talking about the characters and just very basic filmmaking elements. In the end, unsurprisingly, it’s as much a waste a time as the film itself.
This is one to avoid.
"Beware" is on sale October 18, 2011 and is not rated. Horror. Directed by Jason Daly. Written by Shawn Copenhaver, Jason Daly. Starring Vivi Pineda, Adam Leadbetter.
