Things lurking under the stairs have been a horror staple for many years, playing on the common childhood fear of the dark and dingy spaces that come alive as something more in the young mind. In reality most of the time those spaces are normally just used for storage. What if there was something to it though, and a creature lived in the cupboard under the stairs, or in the basement? What if that creature was somehow tied to the house and affected the lives of all who lived in that home? This is the scenario posited by Aaron Fradkin in his new film Beezel.
Beezel follows the fortunes of a house in suburban New England which is haunted by a witch who lives in the basement. Over 60 years the witch terrorizes and murders a variety of residents, and select moments from across that time period are presented in an episodic format across time, right up until the 2010s, often told via the medium of tech from that time.
Beezel is certainly a film that has a lot going for it. While it isn’t necessarily the most original idea, the execution is really interesting. From the opening scene Beezel is portrayed as a horrifying force, and that only continues as the film progresses forward into the future. The first proper segment from the 1980s with the homeowner hiring a videographer was suitably creepy, in fact maybe echoing some of the energy of the film Creep, with the cameraman perhaps not getting quite what he thought from his job. The second segment follows a hospice nurse looking after an elderly resident in the 1990s, while the third is a couple moving into the house to sell it after inheriting it. The Weims family is a throughline for the whole piece and in that respect it works well to tie things together.
The practical effects in Beezel are very impressive. The death scenes are visceral but without having to rely on CGI and the prosthetics for Beezel herself are accomplished, but shot in a way that doesn’t overexpose the costume. The acting performances also reflect that with Bob Gallagher as Bob Weims and Victoria Fradkin as Nova particularly excelling, being effective but without overacting within a supernatural situation. The way the film is shot and edited plays to the low budget and resources is certainly one of the things that makes it work.
Beezel is not a film without it’s problems, however. The use of home video cameras evokes the idea of the “found footage” concept, but it doesn’t quite stick to that, instead swapping between those and the third person which at points feels really jarring. The episodic nature of the film also really messes with the pacing, as the tonal shifts between the three segments, despite the through line of the Weims family, makes the whole thing feel a little uneven.
There are moments in Beezel where there feel like there are echoes of other films, and in lesser hands that could have been a bad thing. However, Aaron Fradkin manages to recreate aspects of the tone achieved by the likes of Creep, Longlegs, Silence of the Lambs, Barbarian and several others, while also managing to maintain its own identity. There’s a feeling of claustrophobia and inevitability created by the house, and the way it’s portrayed that is genuinely affecting. With an ending that will likely stick with the audience, Beezel overachieves and creates a lasting impression.
Dazzler Media presents Beezel out now on Blu-ray, DVD and Download
