Beast Within (2016)

Beast Within: Directed by Daniel Robbins. With Ben Getz, Kyle Kirkpatrick, Zack Weiner, Paulina Singer. A sleepwalking teen straps a camera to himself and discovers a sinister family secret.

“The cover and the idea of the story for u0026#39;Uncagedu0026#39; were not bad, the cover looked pretty creepy actually and while unoriginal the storyu0026#39;s idea intrigued. Having seen my fair share recently of bad low-budget films and decent ideas executed badly in film, part of me was also nervous.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNervousness that sadly was proven to be justified. There may be worse films out there than u0026#39;Uncagedu0026#39;, but it is definitely among the worst recent viewings for me and a very good example of how not to do a low-budget/B film. This is not coming from someone narrow-minded or wanting to hate everything, actually aim to be a fair reviewer and it actually takes a lot for me to give a low rating to a film and be negative. Giving something the lowest possible rating is not a regularly used one these days, but u0026#39;Uncagedu0026#39; is for me one of the deserved recent recipients. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026#39;Uncagedu0026#39;su0026#39; good potential ends with the story concept. It is an example of a film that starts poorly, with the u0026quot;trying to be clever but in reality looks cheap and a visual eyesoreu0026quot; photography and editing rendering the opening not just confusing but incomprehensible. Unfortunately, this confusion doesnu0026#39;t go away and even increases with the jumpy structure and so many things left incomplete and vague. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOn top of being confused, the story is also very erratic in pace. At some points it feels rushed. At other points itu0026#39;s tedious, that would have been improved if some of the content that was unnecessary and there for padding purposes was trimmed or cut. Nothingu0026#39;s fun or interesting and tension and suspense are nowhere in sight, instead itu0026#39;s all those things and a lot of parts, especially the character behaviours, are far-fetched, stupid and illogical. The script is awkward and never rings true, with a lot of ridiculousness and unintentional humour.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCouldnu0026#39;t get invested with any of the characters, because of the lack of development or drama and because they are just so annoying and incapable of rational or intelligent thought, and the direction is barely existent. The acting is really bad at best, the main protagonist tries but the antagonist is too over-the-top and the female lead is cringe-worthy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s not just the photography and editing in the opening that looks poor visually. Those elements are not much better throughout, and there is a drab, over-dark look. Standing out too in a not-good way is one of the worst-looking werewolves ever, even for low-budget there is no excuse for anything to look like something that would have looked awful 50 years ago. Audio is over-bearing and ruins any atmosphere by telegraphing it in advance. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTo conclude, even for someone judging it for what it is u0026#39;Uncagedu0026#39; was just a complete waste of time. 1/10 Bethany Cox”