Beneath
Encyclopedia
Beneath is a thriller-horror film
co-produced in a first time partnership between Paramount Classics (a Viacom
subsidiary) and MTV Films
(although both co-purchased the rights to Hustle & Flow
in 2005). The film is directed by the newcomer Dagen Merrill, who co-wrote the script with Kevin Burke
, and the list of producers include Sean Covel
and Chris Wyatt
(Napoleon Dynamite
, Think Tank
), as well as Troy Craig Poon. In Paramount Classics's first horror movie, which marks the company's expansion from acquisitions into the production arena, the cast includes Nora Zehetner (Brick, May
, R.S.V.P.
, Everwood
) and Matthew Settle
(U-571
, Band of Brothers). Shooting started 2005 in Vancouver, the film was released on DVD August 7, 2007.
), is trapped inside when the car explodes. Vanessa initially survives, though disfigured and completely burnt. Christy is sent to Pine Bluff Psychiatric Care Center for treatment while her sister is treated by her husband Dr. John Locke (Matthew Settle
), at home with the assistance of the nurse Claire Wells (Eliza Norbury), and his rather stern mother, Mrs Locke (Gabrielle Rose
). When Vanessa has a heart attack and dies, Christy has a breakdown at the funeral service screaming that her sister is alive in the coffin. Christy moves to California for pre-med, but remains haunted by nightmares and weird visions. Six years later, Christy returns to Edgemont for a funeral. Vanessa's husband and mother-in-law regard her coldly, but Amy (Jessica Amlee
), Christy's niece who is afraid of "dark things" behind the walls of the house, asks her to stay.
Christy experiences blackouts and strange visions, the most prominent of which features a scarred, burnt woman clawing at a lid. She decides to investigate the death of her sister that she believes had been buried alive. The locals believe she has borderline personality disorder. She befriends a cop, Jeff (Warren Christie
), and discovers that her sister was treated in the house's basement, which had tunnels connecting it to the rest of the house. She visits the father of Claire Wells, the nurse who treated her sister, who tells her the Lockes are evil and ruined Claire's life, and that Claire broke relations with her family and left the state after Vanessa died. Meanwhile, Christy's premonition that Mrs. Locke will die comes true.
Amy tells Christy about a monster which comes into her room through the wardrobe while she is sleeping and touches her cheek. While in Amy's bedroom, Christy hears noises from the wardrobe. She travels through a tunnel connecting the wardrobe and the basement and has another blackout and when she wakes, she discovers John next to her with scratches on his cheek. He threatens to press charges if she does not leave the house immediately. In the Lockes' boathouse, Christy finds a love letter from John to Claire revealing an affair between them and suggesting that Vanessa's death would be best for everyone. Christy is convinced that John and Claire gave Vanessa medication to induce her heart attack.
Christy shares her findings with Jeff. They visit the hospital staff connected to Vanessa's treatment, and a doctor tells them that Vanessa's treatment had been controlled entirely by John and Claire. He also says Vanessa's murder would be impossible to prove because her body would have decomposed completely by now, making an autopsy impossible. However, Christy points out that the coffin's lid would contain Vanessa's scratch marks, proving she was alive at the time of her burial. No one, including Jeff, believes Christy. Nonetheless, Christy opens Vanessa's coffin herself and is shocked to see it unscathed.
Christy returns to the house and apologizes to John. She is about to leave when she gets a phone call from Jeff and realizes that the woman buried was not her sister but Claire Wells. John attacks Christy but she shoots him with his gun. Christy searches the house again and discovers an underground cellar wherein lies a badly burnt and disfigured womanVanessa. Vanessa does not recognize Christy and attacks her until she sees the necklace Christy is wearinga present from Vanessa. Vanessa cannot speak, but Christy assures her and promises to take care of her. Christy realizes that her visions were of Vanessa scratching the cellar trap. Vanessa had traveled through the house's tunnels, discovered the affair, and killed Claire. She had also killed Mrs Locke and would visit her daughter through the wardrobe.
Vanessa and Christy share a moment, when Amy suddenly appears. Amy stabs Vanessa, unaware she is her mother, in order to kill "the monster". In the last scene, Christy scatters Vanessa's ashes into a lake. Amy takes a picture and there is a vision of Vanessa prior to her accident, staring at her killer.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
co-produced in a first time partnership between Paramount Classics (a Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
subsidiary) and MTV Films
MTV Films
MTV Films is the motion picture production arm of cable channel MTV. Founded in 1996, it has produced films based on MTV programs such as Beavis and Butt-head Do America and Jackass: The Movie, as well as other adaptations and original projects. Its films are released by fellow Viacom division...
(although both co-purchased the rights to Hustle & Flow
Hustle & Flow
Hustle & Flow is a 2005 independent drama film written and directed by Craig Brewer and produced by John Singleton. Terrence Howard stars as a Memphis hustler and pimp who faces his aspiration to become a rapper...
in 2005). The film is directed by the newcomer Dagen Merrill, who co-wrote the script with Kevin Burke
Kevin Burke
Kevin Burke is an Irish fiddler considered one of the top living Irish fiddlers. Born in London to parents from County Sligo in 1950, Burke took up the fiddle at the age of eight, eventually acquiring a virtuosic technique in the Sligo fiddling style. In 1974, he moved to Ireland, where he formed...
, and the list of producers include Sean Covel
Sean Covel
Sean Covel is an American film producer.-Personal life:Covel graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in 2002.He married actress Alexa Vega on October 10, 2010.-Career:...
and Chris Wyatt
Chris Wyatt (producer)
Christopher Aaron Wyatt, sometimes credited as Chris "Doc" Wyatt, is an American film producer, writer, and second unit director. He produced the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite, the 2006 film Think Tank, the 2007 film Beneath, the 2007 film Coyote, and the 2009 film Broken Hill featuring...
(Napoleon Dynamite
Napoleon Dynamite
Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 comedy film co-written and directed by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess and stars Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite. The film was Jared Hess' first full-length feature and is partially adapted from his earlier short film, Peluca....
, Think Tank
Think Tank (film)
Think Tank is a comedy feature film written and directed by the Brian Petersen, star of MTV's "Sportblender". The film was produced by Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel...
), as well as Troy Craig Poon. In Paramount Classics's first horror movie, which marks the company's expansion from acquisitions into the production arena, the cast includes Nora Zehetner (Brick, May
May (film)
May is a 2002 American horror film. It stars Angela Bettis, Anna Faris, and Jeremy Sisto, and was written and directed by Lucky McKee.-Plot:...
, R.S.V.P.
R.S.V.P. (film)
R.S.V.P. is a 2002 American horror film written and directed by Mark Anthony Galluzzo.The plot of this black comedy in the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians is about the post-graduation party of a college student, obsessed with serial killers, during which...
, Everwood
Everwood
Everwood is an American drama television series that initially aired in the United States on The WB. The series is set in the fictional small town of Everwood, Colorado, and was filmed in Ogden, South Salt Lake, and Draper, Utah, except the series pilot which was filmed in Canmore, Alberta,...
) and Matthew Settle
Matthew Settle
Jeffrey Matthew Settle is an American actor best known for playing Captain Ronald Speirs on the HBO show Band of Brothers and Rufus Humphrey on Gossip Girl.-Career:...
(U-571
U-571 (film)
U-571 is a 2000 film directed by Jonathan Mostow, and starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Thomas Kretschmann, Jon Bon Jovi, Jack Noseworthy, Will Estes, and Tom Guiry...
, Band of Brothers). Shooting started 2005 in Vancouver, the film was released on DVD August 7, 2007.
Plot
On the way home from visiting her parents' grave, Christy (Nora Zehetner) crashes the car into a tree. The impact throws Christy to safety, but her older sister, Vanessa (Carly PopeCarly Pope
-Early life:Pope was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an older brother, Kris, also an actor, and a younger brother, Alexander. She began acting during her high school years in Vancouver where she appeared in stage classics such as The Odd Couple, playing Mickey, and A Midsummer...
), is trapped inside when the car explodes. Vanessa initially survives, though disfigured and completely burnt. Christy is sent to Pine Bluff Psychiatric Care Center for treatment while her sister is treated by her husband Dr. John Locke (Matthew Settle
Matthew Settle
Jeffrey Matthew Settle is an American actor best known for playing Captain Ronald Speirs on the HBO show Band of Brothers and Rufus Humphrey on Gossip Girl.-Career:...
), at home with the assistance of the nurse Claire Wells (Eliza Norbury), and his rather stern mother, Mrs Locke (Gabrielle Rose
Gabrielle Rose (actress)
Gabrielle Rose is an accomplished Canadian actress. She has an extensive resume that includes multiple nominations for Genie Awards and Gemini Awards...
). When Vanessa has a heart attack and dies, Christy has a breakdown at the funeral service screaming that her sister is alive in the coffin. Christy moves to California for pre-med, but remains haunted by nightmares and weird visions. Six years later, Christy returns to Edgemont for a funeral. Vanessa's husband and mother-in-law regard her coldly, but Amy (Jessica Amlee
Jessica Amlee
- Biography :She attended Kanaka Creek Elementary School in Maple Ridge. She is known well for playing Mallory on The Canadian TV show Heartland. She is also known for playing Amy in the thriller-horror film Beneath- Personal life:...
), Christy's niece who is afraid of "dark things" behind the walls of the house, asks her to stay.
Christy experiences blackouts and strange visions, the most prominent of which features a scarred, burnt woman clawing at a lid. She decides to investigate the death of her sister that she believes had been buried alive. The locals believe she has borderline personality disorder. She befriends a cop, Jeff (Warren Christie
Warren Christie
Hans Warren Christie is an Irish-born Canadian television and film actor known for his roles as Ray Cataldo on the ABC drama October Road and as Aidan "Greggy" Stiviletto on the ABC series Happy Town...
), and discovers that her sister was treated in the house's basement, which had tunnels connecting it to the rest of the house. She visits the father of Claire Wells, the nurse who treated her sister, who tells her the Lockes are evil and ruined Claire's life, and that Claire broke relations with her family and left the state after Vanessa died. Meanwhile, Christy's premonition that Mrs. Locke will die comes true.
Amy tells Christy about a monster which comes into her room through the wardrobe while she is sleeping and touches her cheek. While in Amy's bedroom, Christy hears noises from the wardrobe. She travels through a tunnel connecting the wardrobe and the basement and has another blackout and when she wakes, she discovers John next to her with scratches on his cheek. He threatens to press charges if she does not leave the house immediately. In the Lockes' boathouse, Christy finds a love letter from John to Claire revealing an affair between them and suggesting that Vanessa's death would be best for everyone. Christy is convinced that John and Claire gave Vanessa medication to induce her heart attack.
Christy shares her findings with Jeff. They visit the hospital staff connected to Vanessa's treatment, and a doctor tells them that Vanessa's treatment had been controlled entirely by John and Claire. He also says Vanessa's murder would be impossible to prove because her body would have decomposed completely by now, making an autopsy impossible. However, Christy points out that the coffin's lid would contain Vanessa's scratch marks, proving she was alive at the time of her burial. No one, including Jeff, believes Christy. Nonetheless, Christy opens Vanessa's coffin herself and is shocked to see it unscathed.
Christy returns to the house and apologizes to John. She is about to leave when she gets a phone call from Jeff and realizes that the woman buried was not her sister but Claire Wells. John attacks Christy but she shoots him with his gun. Christy searches the house again and discovers an underground cellar wherein lies a badly burnt and disfigured womanVanessa. Vanessa does not recognize Christy and attacks her until she sees the necklace Christy is wearinga present from Vanessa. Vanessa cannot speak, but Christy assures her and promises to take care of her. Christy realizes that her visions were of Vanessa scratching the cellar trap. Vanessa had traveled through the house's tunnels, discovered the affair, and killed Claire. She had also killed Mrs Locke and would visit her daughter through the wardrobe.
Vanessa and Christy share a moment, when Amy suddenly appears. Amy stabs Vanessa, unaware she is her mother, in order to kill "the monster". In the last scene, Christy scatters Vanessa's ashes into a lake. Amy takes a picture and there is a vision of Vanessa prior to her accident, staring at her killer.