Belail

A review by Michael O'May

Part of this job, a very rewarding double edged knife is that I get to lend a helping hand to the little guys out there struggling to get their shit seen, be it good or bad I feel they deserve a break. Because I have taken on this task I have to sit through lots of movies, good and bad. Belial leans towards the later.

Belial has elements of a great movie.

 It’s shot pretty well for a movie clearly on a tight budget. There are a few surprising crane shots thrown in there that had me wondering how the hell they did it as well as some pretty cool trick fades and cuts. They use some great locations as well that I’m guessing they got for free gorilla style most notably an abandoned school that looks like it’s right out of an 80’s school melodrama like “Stand by me” or “the Principal”. A location I think they would have been better suited setting a slasher flick inside.

The acting is above par for this type of movie. The lines come out crisp and clear with confidence from the actors that I’m assuming are more than just the director’s friends. There are a few so-so performances in the title character of Belial, the escaped child killer who kind of just screams and tries to menace, and the kid who’s running from him but all he really does is run abet slowly and for hours on end.

The real problem with this movie is that it’s just fucking boring. You can tell that its creator has something cool to show us, he just hasn’t quite gotten it formed in his mind yet. So what do we get? A very boring hour long movie that doesn’t really know what it has to say beyond some role reversal, a scary fat child killer and some shit about angels brought to you by an unconvincing one eyed priest (no not my cock).

As I said earlier I would have been more entertained if they gave us a straight up slasher flick. The killer, while pretty bland had some potential. We do get characters that would fit inside a slasher flick, but they are all used in ways outside the norm. If Belial had focused more on the effects, and some skin and a little less on being existential I would have liked it more.

There is talent present here and you can tell sooner than later these guys will spit out something cool it’s just not in Belial. I recommend picking it up if you went this piece for when these guys do make some worth wild shit, until then move along.

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