Horror Movie Review: Under the Bed (2012)

Under the Bed takes an absolute age to get going. Once it does though, it becomes a decent little horror flick with some surprising moments of extreme gore.

The story surrounds the teenage boy, Neal (Jonny Weston) who has returned home to his younger brother Paulie (Gattlin Griffith), his father, Terry (Peter Holden) & his new wife, Angela (Musetta Vander). Neal has been living with his Aunt ever since his mother died in a house fire, a fire that Neal set.

Considered crazy by the rest of the town, Neal has a lot of trouble adjusting & his aggressive father doesn’t help matters. The only one who understands what Neal is going through is Paulie because he is going through it now.

This isn’t a psychological horror even though it seems like it might be heading down that path a few times. No, this is a straight up monster movie.

Neal was terrorised by a monster living under his bed that only feared light & since he left it has turned its attention to Paulie. Neal set the fire to try & kill the creature. His plan failed & he lost his mother so he is determined to not let it take Paulie.

Under the Bed drags its heels for far too long. It spends an age trying to pretend that maybe Neal is actually the problem but doesn’t commit fully to it. Rather than play with the idea, it chooses to show the monster’s arm. This coming at the mid-point of the movie makes any potential finale reveal pointless.

The characters are bland & the acting passable at best with only Neal & Paulie offering any kind of convincing relationship. It’s a pity as a later death scene lacks impact because of this.

The monster is disappointing as well, while horrific looking it fails to live up to what the imagination conjured up & it calls into question just where it’s strength actually comes from.

However, Under the Bed does get a lot right. When things finally get going it is exciting, tense & very bloody. A great sequence involving the monster using a blanket (like Michael Myers in Halloween) is excellent. As is watching the bratty kid next door get slaughtered. Just two particular high points.

Unfortunately there are too many flaws to really get that excited about Under the Bed. Perhaps had it been a short, it would have been far better.