Just what I expected

It is a performances centric movie

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

A creepy cover. One of the best concepts for any low-budget film seen recently in my "low-budget film quest for curiosity sake". An appreciation for the film's genre. Reasons enough to check this out and had real potential to be somewhat of a guilty pleasure.The good news is that the concept for this is nowhere near as wasted as those for other films seen recently, having seen my fair share of frustrating wastes of good potential with failed execution. Compared to other recent viewings for low-budget films, this is oddly enough, despite the lacklustre rating, one of the better and more watchable ones. Not a great, or even good, film by any stretch. Not a terrible one either, it left me frustrated at how it didn't do enough with what potential it showed but at least it didn't leave me angry. It starts off well, with a startling, effectively creepy opening that is one of the film's most inventive scenes. There is effort at making some of the characters interesting, parts are creepy and suspenseful in the first part and there are a few brutally inventive kills. My intelligence at least wasn't insulted anywhere near as much as other recent film viewings, it didn't get excessively stupid and the location was an atmospheric one. Sadly not matched in the less than slick way it was shot and edited. It is unfortunate that the promising start and what made it so isn't maintained in the rest of the film. The further the film got, the suspense dissipated and the sillier, duller and more predictable it became. Too many of the kills are too ordinary, no matter the over-the-top gratuitous in quality and excessive in quantity gore and violence was. Things did start to become confusing in the latter stages and not all the characters worked, with not enough done to make one care for them. The male serial killer was interesting, however the female one did irritate and the cop was basically pointless melodrama. There is nothing natural about the dialogue or interactions, insipid stuff awkwardly delivered. The acting is at best lacklustre, while the killer is far too obvious and the ending is so incoherent and what the heck that it brings the film down significantly.Overall, started off well but goes downhill too early and never recovers. 4/10 Bethany Cox

This film goes into a shattered mess of story; we don't get to see what it is about until much later. What looks like a film moving in one direction, takes an entirely different turn – almost as if it was three movies in one. We finally get to the meat of the film in the latter third. It wasn't what I was expecting.This movie involves the brutal and often grotesque killings of other people. These do not always have any apparent reason other than the fact the person was in the way or simply due to what I would label as hedonism. The killings are pretty standard as far as slasher films go, but this film doesn't exactly strike me as a slasher. Instead it is more like a psychological horror movie with some grotesque killings. The film does delve into some areas of the aftermath of immoral integrity; but by this point most of the characters have snapped anyway.I will say the film 'feels' believable, but it wasn't something I myself was comfortable watching. There was some suspense to keep me watching, but the brutality of it was enough to make me question watching it further. I do not recommend this film for anyone with a weak stomach.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/? p=10196).

2015 was not the best year for horror films. Hollywood gave us so much crap, and they added to the brain numbing with remakes, sequels, prequels and family friendly trash. Leave it to After Dark and the small little films that always seem to come out of left field and deliver something that gets us excited and talking. Bastard is a film that will win over most horror fans almost instantly. Rebekah Kennedy gives us the May for the 2015 age. She really showcases some serious talent. This film is bloody, fun and unpredictable. Films are meant to be fun and manipulate fear in you, this film is something really special that works on every level. This is what horror has been needing for so long. What a great film. Seek it out and enjoy it.

"After Dark" has made some very decent trips into the horror genre. This is not one of those trips."Bastard" opens with a man picking up a girl staring out into space while (I suppose) her companion works on something. The girl has the personality of a fence post. As it turns out, the two companions are actually just married and are also serial killers. They off the man, steal his car, and go in search of their next victims. Cut to a scene where a boy and girl are leaving wherever it is they live. Turns out the girl pukes a lot (there is a very obvious reason for this) and they are picked up by the serial killers. Add to the mix a seriously messed up suicidal policeman (and cross dresser), and there are the main actors in this movie.After a throwaway scene, the two couples are directed to (and arrive at) a bed and breakfast, unaware that a serial killer also lurks around those parts. It takes a while for the movie to get to this plot line, so I don't know if there is enough to hold anyone's attention up to this point.I won't go any further into any detail; you'll just have to suffer like I did. The graphic gore doesn't really start until their arrival, and then it just seemed like it was violence-for-violence's sake. And if you cannot figure out who the killer is, you need to turn in your Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys badges because, yes, it's THAT obvious.This is one of the few "After Dark" movies that did not work on any level, as far as I was concerned. The infamous Swiss cheese script, characters no one cares about, and a laughable ending. C'mon on After Dark; you can do MUCH better than this.Rated R for graphic violence and language.