Horror Movie Review: Beezel (2024)

Written (alongside Victoria Fradkin) and directed by Aaron Fradkin, Beezel tells a traditional horror story spread over a 60-year period. Taking place at a seemingly cursed house, several different occupants discover the truth of what lives beneath it.

It’s a witch, but that’s not a spoiler. The selling point of this film is how this creature’s dark influence effects so many over such a long period of time and what it wants.

This mystery and how it plays out is just one of the highlights of Beezel, but so is the clever use of different tech to represent and showcase eras. This gives it so much more authenticity, especially when it comes to ‘found-footage’ styles. Some of which are more egregious (and frustrating) than others.

It is an early version of this that makes up the first third of the film. Where, at a standard New England home, a nightmarish event that cost the lives of a woman and a child has happened. The wife and son of Harold Weems (Bob Gallagher), who many years later, hires videographer Apollo (LeJon Woods) to prove that he wasn’t responsible for the murders. So, who was responsible? A supernatural being that he calls Beezel. One that lives in the basement of the house and needs to be fed.

This section of the film is set in the 80s, whereas the second part is set in the early 2000s, continuing the story post Weems as his widow, Deloris is bed-bound and needing care. This is where nurse Naomi (Caroline Quigley) comes in and the more ‘trippy’ elements of the film come into play. It, like the previous part, is steeped in frightening atmosphere, and delivers some strong jump-scare moments.

Something the third and final part of the film goes all in on. Set in modern times, the last part of the story surrounds Deloris’s son Lucas (Nicolas Robin) and his wife Nova (Victoria Fratz Fradkin). They come to the house to sell it, but once there, Beezel’s influence starts to affect the latter in dark ways. Here, more than at any other point, the more cerebral parts of the witch’s power is unleashed.

It’s all still very mysterious though. The entire film is coated in mystery, refusing to fill in the blanks, and leaning heavily into the episodic style so it feels like we’re joining a story as it is ongoing. This brings its own kind of frustrations but does work to give the film a fresh feel and sense of deeper darkness.

Enhancing all of this is the differing filming techniques and equipment, alongside a solid cast (some better than others) and discordiant musical elements. Even though it is made up of familiar horror parts, effort was made to make it standout from the pack. It’s a memorable watch that just needed to be a bit clearer to be great.