It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Christy watches as her sister is badly burned in a car explosion due to a crash with which she was driving. Told that she was dead, Christy believed that she was still alive. Sent away to a mental hospital, Christy is said to have a Borderline Personality Disorder, and this affects her job later as a 20 year old intern(Nora Zehetner). Finding out that an old friend passed away, Christy returns and decides to pursue whether or not her sister Vanessa(Carly Pope)died from heart failure due to trauma, or by malicious intent. Her sister's husband John(Matthew Settle)wishes her to leave as soon as possible and his daughter Amy(Jessica Amlee)speaks of a thing which comes from the closet to haunt her at night, hoping to catch it on her digital camera. When those close to Vanessa either wind up dead(..like John's mother, portrayed by Gabrielle Rose)or harmed(Amy and John), Christy, against the advice of those around her who resist her notions of a sister who was buried alive, will hopefully shed some light on obvious secrets which have remained hidden just like a crawlspace in the Locke house leading to several areas. An important sub-plot is Christy's uncanny ability to see people's faces and certain acts from the past and future for which she artistically renders to paper. Also important is the location of a mysterious medical assistant to John, Claire(Eliza Norbury)who was with him when Vanessa supposedly died.More or less a mystery with pretty, cat-eyed Zehetner, quite subtle and never really over-dramatic despite the struggles and hurdles she contacts during her search for the truth. If some character, particularly John, is rather aggressive and angry towards her wishing for her to leave, Christy(..through Zehetner) doesn't overreact or throw tantrums about being mistreated. A constant feeling of others wishing for her to just leave the town is ever-present and when she questions anything about Vanessa's death, barriers are thrown up. But, you just know that Christy will forge ahead despite signs of danger, and find the truth. While it's easy to see who the culprit might be regarding the mystery's answer, I found a critical twist regarding Vanessa's true fate rather hard to swallow. The film contains a house with a crawlspace that is very important as a travel source for both escape and directly leading to rooms..it's a plot device used well. You often see Christy attending funerals, too. The twist might work for some..who the monster is that is supposedly terrorizing Amy and behind the attack of John, but I found it a bit hard to take. Beautiful location work, attractive production values, and rather decent acting, but the overall film never really gripped me. And, that ending(..what happens when Christy discovers the real truth about Vanessa)left me cold and indifferent.

Anyone who is nitpicking at this movie over ridiculous things such as "do school websites list past students' phone numbers" and "this character would've/should've/could've not let the younger sister drive" should be ignored.Films are made for viewers willing to allow the film to take them where it will. If the film is imperfect, the real film lover will still attempt to see it for what it wanted to be; for what it's actual *point* was. That is, of course, assuming there is one.On the other hand, there will always be the wannabe Sherlock Holmes of film fandom, who will pick at the silliest details as if a movie somehow needs to be a fully provable mathematical truth.Silly.On to the film.I must say, it is a typical thriller with horror elements taking place in a typical old house with typically hidden "creatures" and such, where the main character attempts to uncover a mystery until in the end -- surprise. If you want to understand what this film's atmosphere is like, think of "A Tale of Two Sisters" and "The Others" (with Kidman).Is the movie super-successful at what it does? I wouldn't say so. I will say, though, that it was certainly not a failure either. In fact, "willing viewers," as described above -- in other words, those viewers who have managed to retain their childlike sense of wonder and innocence when they sit down to watch a film -- should be left completely unaware until the final revelation.And let me tell you, mate, if you have any kind of compassion for the characters you see on screen and think the value of cinema lies partly in you allowing yourself to become emotionally involved with them (as opposed to analyzing their every action like some goofs will inevitably always do), you will be horrified at the ending. Bleedin' horrified. Not that it's particularly "scary" in the typical horror film sense, but because of the human suffering and injustice involved.Ignore the yapping cynics and enjoy this perfectly acceptable entry into the spooky-family-in-an-old-house-with-a-dark-secret roster. However, allow me to still add that that if you are looking for a movie along this theme and want one that is *really* well done, watch "A Tale of Two Sisters" instead.

Beneath starts with one of those implausible accidents where a car that doesn't seem to be driving too fast hits some boxes of earth that have been left out on the road (as you do) causing them to skid and crash.Kristy (Heroine) is thrown from the car while her sister Vanessa (on the non-impacted side) appears to be trapped and then the fuel tank explodes.One could say that Vanessa should never have let Kristy drive, as she was under age, and if she was going to let her then possibly not standing in the passenger seat whooping may have helped. Possibly not.Kristy is heading to the funeral of the caretaker, Joseph, who seemed to have cared for her after her sisters death (except we know she isn't really because we see many shots of her burned skin - and alive). In fact Kristy thinks she was buried alive - there can't be far fewer hints that she is alive can there? At times the script seems to have little idea where it is going. Lines which may have once meant to establish something, the doctors family with the mine they had trouble closing and John Locke's mother who speaks the "ancient tongue" - a mix between a number of European languages - all seem to be badly devised red herrings or more likely writers ideas that were never edited out.Kristy however wants to find out the truth and Nora Zehetner (Kristy) really tries to get something out of a stodgy script. However with John acting all evil you feel the actor has read to the end of the script and found out that he is... well evil, or mad, or just badly written as he is acted.Kristy also suffers from hallucinations and this for me is one of the main points that lets the film down. If her hallucinations were really this bad would she have been let out of the mental hospital, especially when some of her visions see her causing people harm or blacking out for 2 hour periods only to be found fitting in your friends back garden (a friend you are staying with because you forgot to ask beforehand if you could stay at your brother-in-laws place).Other questions arise as to whether school websites really do carry peoples personal details (I'll have to check my own for phone numbers), how much light can a mobile phone really produce and why Mr Wells uses a shotgun to shoot at birds. My favorite is the fact that the police take Kristy at night and the next shot she is in the back seat in full daylight. Were they taking her for a cruise round town? Finally when Vanessa is found to be alive (gasp, shock) she has one of those pro-active kill spree agendas which is never truly explained by the plot.There are positives to be taken here and it does not outstay its welcome however Beneath really does little to complement itself either, bar Nora Zehetner and a reasonable music score.

MTV films makes a really moody horror film. To be certain its the sort of thing thats been done before, but even then this has some genuine shivers and some creepy moments.The basic plot has a young girl returning home when her old caretaker dies. The girl has a tragic past that includes the death of her sister after a fiery car crash. Plagued by visions and a sense that her sister was buried alive she begins to search for clues as to what happened seven years before.This one came out of left field for me. I have vague notions about hearing about the film, but I never really remember seeing or hearing anything about it. I'm pretty sure that helped my enjoyment of the film since I had no preconceived notions for it.Looking like TV movie with interiors that remind one more of a set than of a real place this film over comes its limitations (and occasional WTF moment) to play out almost as if its an extended Tales from the Darkside or other similar horror anthology show. Odd shifts in perspective, some genuine creepy, but not too in your face imagery and willingness to go sans blood and guts except as required make this pretty much a throw back to the old days of horror when less is more. Its not perfect but even with its flaws and the following of a well worn path at times this still manages to be a solid little thriller of the B variety.Worth a rental with a bag of popcorn and a soda.(Though don't buy this just yet -its a bare bones release that they want almost 30 dollars list for- too much for too little)