We’ve got an ultra-low-budget gem for you this week! Lady Phantom chose a cinematic oddity called Besetment (2017) for Episode 053 of Horror Movie Weekly. There are some things you just can’t un-watch (or un-hear), so proceed with caution. But here for this episode, we have another rare occasion where your late-night Horror hosts, Jay of the Dead, BillChete, and Lady Phantom all agree and call this film a buy! So, buckle up! This review is painstakingly spoiler-free! Enjoy!
Note: This episode was recorded on August 9, 2020 and released on August 30, 2020.
This weekly Horror movie podcast brings you one recent Horror movie review every Sunday. (We’re defining “recent” as any Horror movie released within the last five years.) And we always reveal next week’s pick at the end of every show, so you can watch along with us and be prepared for the following episode. Join us, and thanks for listening!
SHOW NOTES:
Introduction
— Welcome to Horror Movie Weekly Episode 053
– Jay and BillChete recommend “Mountaintop Motel Massacre” and “Eaten Alive”
– Visit MOVIES IN 4K for bonus releases and written reviews!
– Lady Phantom’s pick for this week: Besetment (2017)
[ 00:04:16 ] – Feature Review: Besetment (2017) — Genre Classification: Thriller Horror
Premise:
Amanda is in between jobs, but she’s desperately looking for work, so she can escape from living with her alcoholic mother. When Amanda finds a job working at the Oregon Hotel, the owner, Millie, seems warm and accommodating. But soon Amanda discovers that Millie has failed to mention all the various duties that go along with her new job description at the Oregon Hotel.
Ratings and Recommendations: Besetment (2017)
Jay of the Dead = 7.5 ( Buy it to terrorize friends and before it’s out of print )
BillChete = 8 ( Buy it! / Top 10 Horror of 2017 )
Lady Phantom = 9 ( Buy it! / Top 10 Horror of 2017 )
Next on Episode 054: Black Water: Abyss (2020) — Jay of the Dead’s pick!
Podcast artwork: Lady Phantom
Original podcast theme music: Jay of the Dead
Links for this episode:
Jay of the Dead’s other podcast: ConsideringTheCinema.com
Jay’s HORROR-only content: ConsideringHorrorCinema.com
— BillChete and Lady Phantom’s other podcast:
MOVIES IN 4K
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— And BillChete recommends checking out MovieGuy365 on YouTube
— BillChete on Letterboxd
— Lady Phantom on Letterboxd
— Jay of the Dead on Letterboxd
Follow Horror Movie Weekly on Twitter: @horror_weekly
Website: Horror Movie Weekly.com
Follow Lady Phantom on Twitter: @LadyPhantom74
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Beset us with comments!
After listening to Jay and Billchete for years… after listening to HMW every single week since episode 001… it’s official: I have NO CLUE what the three of you will like or what you will dislike! LOL! I mean it! I am typically able to gauge the cinematic tastes of the hosts I listen to, and I really just CANNOT nail the three of you down at all. Believe me, I wouldn’t have it any other way, but that doesn’t mean I’m not shocked by what I heard on this episode! I was CERTAIN the three of you were going to HATE this movie with a passion. Boy, was I wrong! Ha ha. And that’s great. 🙂
MOVIE PROS:
The story is definitely engaging, and as far as disturbing content is concerned… this movie “goes there.” Wow! I wasn’t expecting that particular mother/son dynamic at all! Ha ha. What a treat! 😉
The acting from the main characters was definitely solid. I was rooting for the character of Amanda the entire time. She was terrific.
The blood and gore the film gives us was also quite solid. The bedroom wall scene looked great. A throat-related scene looks pretty good. I dig all that, but…
MOVIE CONS:
I don’t mind the “low-budget sheen,” as Jay put it, but if the technical merits of a film… or lack thereof… pull me out, that’s a sin right there, and this film did this to me over and over.
Several times… during exterior shots… you can literally HEAR the wind hitting either the boom microphone or the camera’s onboard mic. YIKES!
None of the non-stock footage drone shots were smooth. You can actually SEE the wind knocking the drone around as it flies, making the camera shake as these aerial shots are happening, and that’s no good right there.
At times… maybe ALL the time… the audio seemed strange to me. I dunno if they were using boom mics to capture audio or if they were using the camera’s native microphone, but it didn’t always work well for the scene. In fact, at times, it was downright gnarly. And speaking of audio… that soundtrack was atrocious! When the banjo music started playing in the store, I laughed out loud. Had it been DIEGETIC sound, I would have liked it, honestly, but wow… so bad!
Some of the acting wasn’t too great. Some of the camera angles were executed in an amateurish fashion. The decision at the end regarding the little kid was SOOOOOO bad!
Essentially, when I watched this, I was reminded of the fact that kids on YouTube make more cinematic-looking projects than this on their cheap DSLR cameras. That is not even slightly hyperbolic, either. You don’t need a budget to shoot in the correct frame-rates and get your color-correction and drone shots on point. Anyway…
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I feel like I didn’t watch the same movie that the three of you did. In 2017, I watched a total of 107 movies from that year, and just now… I ranked this movie among that very list of 107 movies on Letterboxd, and I would have put Besetment in 97th place! I’m not even kidding!
Now, don’t get me wrong… I enjoy low-budget cinema, and I thought Besetment here had a nice indie charm to it. It’s neat to see amateur filmmakers go out and make a movie! I find that inspiring. Listening to the three of you talk highly of this movie was delightful. This is why I love this show so much! You’re full of surprises! Even when our tastes in horror movies don’t line up… heck… ESPECIALLY when our tastes in horror movies don’t line up, I’ve got nothing but respect for this badass horror podcast!
Much love,
Mister Watson
Mr. Watson, thanks for the kind words. We have fun doing the show. And I picked this movie BECAUSE I love it.
I know that it feels very independent. But the thing is, I’d rather watch a movie whose technicals are on the cheap side, but with solid acting and story, than a movie that’s professionally made, but empty. And I’ve seen my share of those.
Once again, thanks for listening and leaving these kind comments!
You’re awesome, Phantom! It was a great choice, honestly. I don’t regret watching it. Thanks for another engaging episode!
Thank you! You’re too kind. It’s always our pleasure!
The horror genre is well suited for this kind of low budget format. All we need is Joe Bob Briggs hosting to make it a fun Saturday night.
Jay of the Dead’s monster movie pick looks promising.