Under the Bed - DVD

Content: For over two years, Neal (Jonny Weston) has been living with his aunt after his mother died in a fire he supposedly caused. His father Terry (Peter Holden), who has since found a new wife in Angela (Musetta Vander) by his side, feels the time is right for Neal to return, if only to be there for his little brother Paulie (Gattlin Griffith). Neal has a hard time settling into his old home, plagued as he is by a secret that has plagued him since his mother's death. Neal is convinced that there is a sinister force under his bed that is trying to kill him and his family. When Neal learns that Paulie also knows about this sinister monster, he realizes that only he can protect his little brother from it. But this battle is even more dangerous than he imagines in his worst nightmares...

Under the Bed plays on one of the primal fears of children, as the horror flick tells of the evil that dwells in the nursery under the bed. This primal fear was already well served in the legendary Spielberg production Poltergeist. And now director Steven C. Miller (Aggression Scale) also wants to use it to give the audience goosebumps. He succeeds quite well in the first half of the film, his technically absolutely successful production here still puts its emphasis on quite subtle and simple creepy effects, without really showing the actual horror.

Only towards the end the viewer gets to see what is actually hidden under the bed. And due to the not-so-big budget, that's less scary than some of the dialogue in the overall very flat script. Miller tries to make up for this shortcoming in the final third with some surprisingly hefty splatter interludes. But even though this definitely increases the entertainment value for genre fans, it doesn't really add to the quality of the story.

Although Miller tries to capture the charm of 80s scary movies like the aforementioned Poltergeist, his story lacks too many interesting characters, a polished dramaturgy or any spark of logic to really convince in the end. The film has some good moments of suspense, its execution doesn't feel cheap visually, especially at the beginning, and the finale has its gory entertainment value. That's not nearly enough to make you forget all the flaws. But it is enough for viewers who do not attach much importance to logic, sophisticated dialogues and acting flights of fancy in this genre, to still be able to attest a satisfactory viewing!

Picture + Sound: Technically, the implementation of the film is on a satisfactory level. The image sharpness can convince especially in the brighter scenes even in the representation of smaller details. In the darker sequences are just in this aspect some small weaknesses detectable, which are accompanied here and there by a slight image noise. The German audio is available in both a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and a dts track. In both cases the dialogue is mixed rather centrally, while especially in the last third of the film the surround channels are also used by a few decent sound effects. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD unfortunately only has the trailer for the film and other program tips from the provider in the offer.

Conclusion: Under the Bed is a decent creepy thriller, which can comfort with a few good goosebumps moments and purposefully used splatter effects over some dramaturgical weakness. The acting performances are on a good level for such a low budget production. No real masterpiece of contemporary supernatural horror, but a quite entertaining monster movie that could offer genre fans an entertaining evening at home. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp