Haunting at the Beacon and Feeding that Horror Itch: A Movie Review

Director/writer: Michael Stokes.

Every Halloween this reviewer needs to see a horror film everyday or every other day. Satisfying this horror fix is Michael Stokes' A Haunting at the Beacon aka The Beacon. This is a film released on DVD September 13th and starring are Teri Polo (Meet the Parents), David Rees Snell ("The Shield") and Michael Ironside. Haunting at the Beacon is perfect for this holiday of souls because the writing is tense, the characters are interesting and the climax made this reviewer look twice. It is hard not to look twice when you see Ironside snarling in icky green face paint.

Polo plays Bryn Shaw a woman dealing with grief and the loss of her son. Unfortunately, she picks a haunted apartment building to find solace. A young boy appears in a black and white photograph as a ghostly figure. Later, he sneers with devilish eyes. Then, this reviewer was jonesing for some more thrills and Stokes delivered by including a terrible street cleaner accident (oh, the horror!), a house full of spirits and a plotline involving an ancient burial site. You see, The Beacon was built on a grave site of suicide victims, who need to ease their pain by enticing more from the physical world to come over via self destruction. You want more too, right?

The late reveal and climax will be avoided here. However, Bryn does get to see her son one more time. Before she sees him she has to deal with a seductress, tempting her husband, an over protective sister and visions that would put most over the edge. Haunted elevator surfing anyone?

There is an overabundance of soap opera melodrama here e.g. infidelity, a grieving mother and a seemingly insane female protagonist. These subplots and the chilling music from John Majkut satisfied this reviewer's addiction for thrills and an overly cerebral story line. Again, the ending will be avoided, but there are a lot of late twists that shocked this horror film junkie. There seems to be a few more characters working for the dark side than you might think.

The complex story and the well drawn characters are what drew this move watcher in. Almost every character has something going on in the movie from addictions to prescription medication to husbands trying to deal with their own grief. Even the sister develops an offscreen romance with one of the neighbours at The Beacon. The film's story is complex because of all these fine details, with the film rewatchable to find the depth of Stokes' writing and attention to the finer points of filmmaking. Haunting at the Beacon will satisfy this reviewer's need for horror stories for atleast a few days, anyways.

Haunting at the Beacon would be a great film for Halloween with the film unrated but in the PG-13 area. This is still adult material though. The tension is just right and the finale is unpredictable. The mythology for the story is well researched and original. There are mild detriments including the reused and rehashed female losing her mind story line; however, this plot is not the focus of the film and merely an adjunct. Horror fans and indie horror fans, specifically, will find something to satisfy their own cravings for thrills and chills here - this most excellent of haunting months.

Writing/story/plot: 8.5 (really enjoyed the central plot and side-plots, the dialogue is also great in some scenes).
Photography/cinematography: 7 (a lot of the film is housed within one primary setting, The Beacon, not very diverse here).
Climax/ending/denouement: 8.5 (a strong point here, ends with a flurry and multiple twists, not every subplot is sorted).

Overall: 8 out of 10 (a really fun watch, lots of thrills).

*this is Michael Stokes' first time behind the lens as director.

**the DVD comes with a director/producer commentary, trailer and upcoming release trailers.

**created for $2.5 million.

The film's rarely updated fan page can be found here:

Haunting at the Beacon on Facebook

Haunting at the Beacon reviewed at DVD Sleuth:

Haunting at the Beacon Reviewed by Mike Long





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Posted in: 2011,2011 release,ghost story,ghosts,haunted house,haunted house movie review,movie review