Leofwine_draca THE HAUNTING AT THE BEACON is a very ordinary ghost story about a grieving family who move into a new and haunted home. The scares are diluted and way too much of the screen time is taken up with lame dialogue, but I suppose as haunted house films go it could be worse. At least the film-makers avoid the usual clichés for the most part, but at the same time they deliver a film in which nothing really happens.Teri Polo and her on-screen husband play some dull-beyond-belief characters who don't deserve a movie to themselves because they hold zero interest. The only face who raises a smile is that of genre legend Michael Ironside, but sadly he gets very little screen time playing one of a number of cops. One of the notable scare sequences at the climax of the movie makes use of some special effects that had me laugh out loud rather than scared; they look like they belong in an old episode of the MONSTERS TV show rather than a supposedly serious horror flick...

mjodie94 This movie shouldn't be classed as a horror. My husband described it as a comedy. We are massive fans of horrors and have seen a lot and this has to be the worst so far and we have seen some awful films. Too many questions left unanswered and no scary parts in the film. Looked slightly promising at the beginning and just went downhill from there. It's an hour and a half that I will never get back!!!!!!!!How come everyone could see Vanessa but only Bryn could see the child. Why was the husband able to sleep with Vanessa if she was a ghost?? What happened to.the older cop??? There's more to be asked but can't be bothered reliving it to find out.

GL84 After moving into a new apartment building following the disappearance of her son, a woman and her husband find the area's grisly history of suicides is sparking an increase in ghost sightings and that something may be after her.This one here was a pretty forgettable entry but still has some good stuff about it. One of the main problems is that it's rather predictable from the outset, as nothing really sticks out here as being all that original or unique and it tends to wander down the same exact roads done hundreds of times in these kinds of films, where the woman maybe telling the truth or not and those around her are totally unsupportive. It becomes far more enjoyable during the last half-hour, when a twist comes along that really spices things up and makes the film far more enjoyable, as there's some good hauntings, nice make-up work and more that are highly enjoyable. However, all the Lifetime-style drama not only causes it to be too little too late, it also makes it stick out like a sore-thumb as being inconsistent with the rest of the film as it comes barreling out of nowhere with a ham-fisted introduction to turn it into a horror film. It's still pretty good, but it is flawed.Rated R: Graphic Violence and Language

Siamois After reading the two reviews here, I was hopeful this would be good. Unfortunately, what I was subjected to was a bunch of clichés and a film that got progressively worse. First, a little synopsis. A couple move in to an apartment building in order to put the traumatic loss of their child behind them and get their life back on track. Instead, their lives spiral out of control as strange events keep happening. I've often wondered why the always reliable Teri Polo was always confined to supporting roles. Now I know. Polo stars as Bryn, who can't get over feelings of loss and guilt and she telegraphs and amplifies pretty much every emotion of her character. She's... regrettably bad. The direction and writing by Michael Stokes sure does not help but really, it's inexcusable. David Rees Snell (a.k.a. that wooden actor who played the quiet of the four detectives in "The Shield) is her co-lead as the husband. Again, a cliché character of the husband courageously trying prevent his couple from sinking and repressing his emotions in the process (probably better that way, as the actor wouldn't be able to show any). Oh, there's also the cliché sister. She's a hot babe with some of the worse lines and characterization I have seen in a while. Flashing her breasts to the movers one moment, and the next reciting platitudes disguised as pearls of wisdom the next. It's really painful. Anyways, from the moment they move in, we meet a cast of weird characters. The tenants all have their little quirks and again, the characterization is awful, particularly when the whole plot is taken into account. This movie, mark my words, will have zero replay value because of the various plot holes, many of which are caused by the awful acting on display. Speaking of the plot, this is your fairly typical ghost story, which means nowadays plot twists that don't really make much sense. These could have made for a watchable film in the hand of a competent director but unfortunately, it's not the case here. As things escalate and the weird happenings become more common, we are subjected to some of the worse makeup effects seen since the 90s. I literally paused and wondered if I was watching a horror movie or a comedy. There are hundreds of horror movies you should watch but Beacon is not one of them, I would think. Unless you're a hardcore fan of the genre.