Under the Bed [Blu-ray]

Novice director Steven C. Miller (Silent Night) takes a stab at an R-rated contemporized approach to the classic "monster under my bed" story. I was generally pleased with Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011) and The Boogeyman (2005), so why not give this a shot?After years apart following the death of his mother, disheveled and angsty teen Neal (Jonny Weston; John Dies at the End, Taken 3) returns home to live with his father (Peter Holden; Alien Abduction) and younger brother Paulie. He had been sent away two years ago to "get well" after he burned the house down with his mother in it, defending himself from the monster residing under his bed. Now that he has returned, he learns his little brother has been tormented by the same demon every night.The notion that an otherworldly monster can magically cross into our dimension through the floor under one specific kid's bed is pretty silly. Terrifying, in fact. That it only does so in the dark while you're asleep…even scarier. There was so much potential for dark figures and painfully drawn-out tension. But for some reason I never saw or felt either. And what about the story…actually, what exactly is the story? What drives this monster and how did it get in their house? Why did it want these boys? Are there more of these monsters? Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011) and The Boogeyman (2005) made at least some effort to explain their monsters, their motivations, their origins and their behavior. But here, it just seems that this monster came with the house and its abilities and weaknesses seem to change without explanation as the movie persists. That's really all we get.Not willing to tell their parents this ridiculous story (as they haven't in years past), the two brothers unite to fight this monster. They arm themselves with flashlights, tape, wire, a power drill and duct tape. But is this monster really a threat? Neal was once psychologically tortured and sleep-deprived by this creature. But that creature had 365 opportunities a year to get the upper hand on a sleeping child and somehow never won! After Neal left, his younger brother made it 730 consecutive nights unscathed. If this monster was really in the business of eating children to survive, it clearly would have starved to death by now. It doesn't seem that menacing. A clawed hand reaching out from under the bed is scary, YES! But if it never does anything else…what's the big deal?I think the filmmakers really thought this movie was scary…..it wasn't. Despite their addition of loud music prefacing "SOMETHING SCARY" every time the camera zooms in on something (like, for example, the edge of a menacing bed skirt), I never felt convinced that anyone old enough to buy their own ticket for this movie could possibly be frightened by it. Sophomoric scare attempts include a shaking washing machine and load noises, loud noises by themselves for no apparent reason, and close-ups of Neal looking at the bed with loud noises. Noticing a trend here?THEN ALL THE SUDDEN EVERYTHING CHANGED!For over an hour we sit back and wonder why this movie isn't rated PG-13 or even just PG. Then, after years of going hungry under the bed, the monster suddenly decides to show Neal's family and the audience that it is, in fact, not at all bound to the bed! Neal and Paulie are next door when the creature arrives and twists off the neighbor kid's head in a gloriously gory display. There's that R-rating we came for! When they run back home it follows them and tears their dad's head apart like a food processor. You hear that? It just followed them! Why the Hell did it just stay under the bed all these years? We went from a lame movie starring a rubber claw under a bed with loud music and no scares to a gore-slathered, slimy creature romp. The monster itself is actually pretty damned cool looking and the special effects are up to snuff as well. It looks like an inbred, disfigured Moorlock covered in snot.Why on Earth the director waited so long to reveal this creature, the action and the gore is beyond me because all of the exposition leading up to this was completely empty and the other characters--the parents, the neighbors, some random love interest that never goes anywhere--really never offered anything to the story, which never made any sense to begin with beyond the simple fact that inexplicably there is a child-hungry monster under Paulie's bed.If things weren't random enough yet, the monster actually fashions a hunter's rope snare, traps Paulie like an animal and drags him into the under-the-bed slimy Netherworld! So, just like in Poltergeist II (1986), Neal ties a rope around his waist and goes after him armed with a flashlight trident. I can't even believe what I'm writing right now! WTF is going on in this movie? Were the writers all high? When they come back to--ummmm…reality I guess--the monster now literally has the ability to teleport before our eyes like Nightcrawler in X-Men. Hooray consistency! Then Neal is about to lose a fight against our under-the-bed teleporting Netherworld snot monster when he discovers that his dead mother's ashes are its one weakness. Yeah! He throws his mother's ashes on the monster and that's what kills it!After a slow, confusing start this film eventually catapults its audience into a tumultuous spin cycle of bonkers gore, creature effects and action which--despite making no sense whatsoever--make the whole experience worth the price of admission. In fact, the last 20 minutes were so off-the-wall entertaining that I don't regret buying this at all. Yes it's very dumb. But it's the kind of dumb I want to share with friends with an improvised drinking game.Enjoy the madness.

Why the long wait for the most action near the end of this? All we see from the beginning into three fourths of the entire movie is what lead up to this monster under the bed, why Neal did what he did, why he protects his brother, "Paulie", and Neal's dark character in the way he shows himself, inwardly, like an introvert. I can only rate this a 3 star just for the acting parts of the kids for the most part, but the parents, who didn't have much of the dialogue, didn't show their true acting for what they had to deal with of their parts, which the script could have been a little better for them to have more compassion for their boys, more of the father than the "new" mom, stepmother, who was better at the end than at the start. But both could've done some share of themselves in investigating the cause of fear with the boys, at least offer to use a video recorder or audio recording to let the boys prove their fear was real. Or why not hire paranormal investigators to check it out, too? I mean, their dad said he tried everything with Neal and Paulie, too, but did he try those ideas? So that script needed some refurbishing.I give enough credit to the photography, special effects, sound and technology, but that's still a 3 star from other sci-fi, ghostly, thriller movies I've watched before this one. All in all, it's an ok movie if you want to sit through to wait for the gory parts in the end but I don't like all that gore and guts and it made no sense with the "monster" under the bed that head ripping is it's forte when throughout the whole beginning to near the end, we learn that this monster "eats" its victims, not rip off heads. Sorry, that was the SPOILER ALERT!Otherwise, enjoy watching another gory, spook, gastly, ghostly movie if you like that sort of thing. For me, it wasn't cut cup-of-tea.

This movie is better than some of the reviews I'm seeing. So what, it does have a plot to similar to "Darkness Falls" (one of my favorites), but most all movies have elements of other movies previously done. It was slow in some spots, but it also was darn scary, how many kids would continue to sleep in a room where something has been trying to get you for years? I know I wouldn't but these kids were really brave every single night. They should have been comatose from all of the sleepless nights thinking about the thing. The last half hour or so, was so scary, I was clinging to my seat with everything that was happening. A good movie when you're looking for something to watch, better than many I've seen.

I made the mistake of NOT renting this film when it first appeared on Amazon ONLY based on the 1 customer review (which gave it 1 star). Clearly it is the reviewer who is less than an adequate film watcher or reviewer. I was relieved to see 2 other (more appropriate) reviews & I agree...WELL WORTH THE COST OF ADMISSION TO THIS E TICKET RIDE, And what a ride it is! You'll not rest from the minute you get it going to the last 5 seconds. Absolutely great story, decent job of the actors - especially the 2 leads. More than a good job by all......GREAT. Whew, I'm glad I didn't listen to that creep.

This movie has the same plot as many other horror movies: a young boy witnesses a loved one die in a supernatural way, and gets put in a crazy home because people think he imagined everything. He gets out when he is grown, to find that the same events that plagued him as a kid are happening to another child, and he vows to help said child. Come on, we've seen that plot in "Darkness falls," "Boogie man" and countless other movies, most recently, "Oculus."The movie doesn't have much action until the end, and the special effects are horrid. The acting is overdone and unbelievable, especially from the father, who happens to have lots of dialogue, which would be awful, even is delivered by the best actor in the world.

an elder brother comes home after spending 32 years at his aunts recovering to find his little brother seeing the same thing under the bed as he has,this thing comes everynight and will stop at nothing ,so the boys come up with a plan too kill it but mustn't fall asleep,i wontt tell you the end,yes I recommend this

I gave it away

Meh, it was an okay movie. But the stars are mainly based on the fact it worked fine and arrived on time :)

I thought it was rubbish and not realistic. Its a waste of money

Quick delivery, good quality DVD and well packaged, recommend.