HauntingattheBeacon

Haunting at the Beacon (2009)

The grieving parents of a missing boy move into a new apartment to try and start their lives over. It isn’t long after they move into the Beacon (the name of the apartment building) that the wife, Bryn, begins to notice strange things. At first her husband dismisses what she is saying. After their son disappeared she lost it and tried to commit suicide. So he and her sister think that she just needs to see the doctor again. This all changes in an instant when the husband recognizes the picture of a dead man who he has recently seen walking around in the Beacon. But is it too late for him to save Bryn?

Haunting at the Beacon isn’t a bad ghost story. The story is solid and they waste no time getting to the creepy stuff. This is a good thing because this movie is at it’s best when the ghosts are on screen. We get just enough background on the main characters that I was invested in what was happening. Plus when the big reveal about the Beacon comes at the end it fits very nicely. I want to be very careful not to spoil anything, but I will say that the writing is solid and how the director, Michael Stokes (who also wrote the script), brings it to the screen works. For me this is one of those few movies that I will watch again just to see how subtle the story was setup. I never saw the reveal coming, but if you go back and watch the movie again you can see it. I thought this was nicely done.

If there is a weakness in the movie it would be the acting. I really wasn't thrilled with the performance from most of the cast. In fact other then Teri Polo, who played Bryn, no one really seems all that scared. When you are making a movie that is supposed to creep the audience out this is a very bad thing. I also found that it really hurt the movie and took me out of the story. Haunting at the Beacon also frustrated me because while it cast a couple of veteran actors in Michael Ironside and Ken Howard it doesn’t give them anything to do. I would have rather seen these guys get some more screen time then watching the rest of the cast.

Now I’d like to talk about the behind the scenes stuff. I thought that the camera work and lighting were very good. Haunting at the Beacon does what all good ghost stories should and effectively uses the shadows. We have creepy things happening in the background of many of the scenes that are just out of the sight of the characters. This is an old trick, but one that too many filmmakers are unable to use effectively. Here it is used well and adds a certain creepy “factor” to the movie that works in it’s favor. I also thought that the look of the ghosts was spot on. It isn’t an elaborate effect, but doesn't need to be. Plus the fact that everything is practical was a refreshing change from most of the lower budget movies that I’ve seen in the last 10 years.

Haunting at the Beacon isn’t breaking any new ground and is at it’s core just a typical ghost story. But there isn’t anything wrong with that at all. In the end I think that it is worth checking out.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer