26 | October | 2021 | Movie Reviews 101

Director: Nigel Bach

Writer: Nigel Bach (Screenplay)

Starring: Nigel Bach

Plot: Bad Ben: Benign begins right where we left off, as Tom Riley wanders out of the woods behind his home on Steelmanville Road, and must climb through the window to get inside. He is baffled by objects in the house that aren’t his, things moving on their own, and soon finds himself dealing with evil forces that cause him to rely on the help of others to try and figure out once and for all how to rid the house of evil…including the most powerful demon he has ever faced!

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Bad Ben: Benign starts as we see how Tom Riley (Bach) returns home after his latest paranormal adventure, leading him to find that his home isn’t everything he remembered, things are different, things have changed and now he is dealing with a new evil force.

Tom will need to do battle, using his own skills in the paranormal to search for a solution to make it out alive.

Thoughts on Bad Ben: Benign

Thoughts – Bad Ben Benign is the 9^th instalment in this franchise which has a cult following. This is the first one I have step into this and I am sure the people that have been supporting these films for so long are going to enjoy this. As this was the first visit to the franchise, I struggled to get much out of this film, because most of the film is just Tom walking around his home, dealing with little things like chairs moving and figures walking behind him. This isn’t scary, it isn’t remotely as good as it wants to be and ends up feeling like it isn’t even finished. This is low budget, it has created a following, but it won’t be an introduction to this franchise.

Final Thoughts – Bad Ben Benign is one for the fans of the franchise.

This is under Z because of star Zach Avery.

Director: Orson Oblowitz

Writer: Corey Deshon (Screenplay)

Starring: Angela Trimbur, Janel Parrish, Jonathan Howard, Zach Avry, Fairuza Balk, Carlo Rota

Plot: Two dysfunctional couples rent a modern luxury desert home for the weekend hoping to sort out their messed-up lives. Just as they are about to settle in for a fun night, a neighbour turns up at their front door saying she has car trouble. And that’s when the murderous trouble really starts. Because without knowing it, the four friends have landed slap-bang in the wrong violent place at precisely the wrong bloody time. Hopefully your nerves of steel will hold for one of the most stylish, atmospheric and terror-filled home invasion horrors of them all.

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Forgettable Horror

Story: Hell is Where the Home is starts when two couples Sarah (Trimbur), Estelle (Parrish), Victor (Howard) and Joseph (Avery) rent a luxury desert home for a weekend of partying and ironing out the problems they have been going through.

When the couples get a visitor (Balk) in need of help, things start to spiral out of control as both sides start arguing about what to do after an accident leaves them learning the true nature of each other. Things only get worse when more invaders arrive at the house, not looking to make friends and the race to survive is now on.

Thoughts on Hell is Where the Home is

Characters – Sarah is on this vacation with her partner to help recover from losing a child, this sees her still dealing with the problems in her head, but wanting to have a friend around to help. Estella is the best friend of Sarah, she is stuck in an abusive relationship which she is trying to find a way out off. Victor is the abusive boyfriend, he has a short temper which will see him react to anything that goes against him. Joseph is Sarah’s partner, he has made a mistake which he is filled with guilt about, forcing him to want to fix the mistakes he has made. Apart from Sarah the other three are all considered bad people with what they do to their friends and loved ones.

Performances – The performances in this film are not the most convincing, this is a mix of having bland characters that just don’t let us get behind them and becoming to plain.

Story – The story here follows two couples that are on a vacation to deal with the problems they are facing only to find themselves battling with home invaders. This is a story that does seem to not give enough time to get to know the characters in opening part and just have a home invader angle which just doesn’t get going or having any motivation behind it all. The story is mostly forgettable by the end.

Horror – The horror is from the home invasion angle, which just doesn’t seem to become as intense as it could be, it just seems to fall short on every note, rushed rather than planned.

Settings – The film uses the luxury desert house as the main setting, it again doesn’t seem to become the most interesting because it is meant to be an isolation based location.

Special Effects – The effects are basic with most being aftermath of an incident.

Scene of the Movie – Sudden trip.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The characters.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror that falls short without getting to the high points it could reach being forgettable by the end.

Overall: Disappointing Horror.