The Bell Keeper (2023) Poster

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3/10
Dumb. Just dumb
b_bullers27 November 2023
This movie is so dumb, I created an IMDB account, just to leave this review. We just rented it from the Redbox app for like $7. Had they paid US $7 to watch this movie, I'd still feel like I paid to much... It's just dumb. I mean, there's a scene where a kid is trying to use a Chainsaw and not only is it painfully obvious he's not actually trying to start it, but you can see that it's not running while he's trying to cut a Steel object (avoiding spoiler) with it. There's also the obvious solution of just cutting the wood holding said object up with the Chainsaw.. I don't want to say it's a terrible movie, it's just dumb...
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3/10
Un-bell-ievable dribble
hiramthreets21 October 2023
Randy Couture in the starring role, the plot revolves around a bell keeper. This movie was painstakingly boring. A waste of my time, I enjoy a good horror film but this was pure dribble on a modest budget. Couture could do so much better, or maybe he should just stick to wrestling. I am hoping he puts out better movies, because this flop is not going to break any box office records. The acting was sub par from all involved, but I am glad too see Chaz Bono in some of these horror movies. I blame the writers & directors, Couture needs to do a well written zombie movie. That might help his career.
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3/10
Pretty rough and slow
HorrorFilmHellion29 October 2023
Not much of a plot here.. all we really need to know is that there is a cursed bell that random adventurers go and ring, and that's bad. A dude named Hank with a cauliflower ear is gonna kill those in range to hear it. There is a reason for all this, but you have to watch it to find out why. It's pretty cheap, draggy and nonsensical, but it does have just enough quirkiness to keep it mildy entertaining. We have Randy Couture, with a straight forward performance, and a quick run in with Bonnie Aarons (The Nun) being the most fun. The Liam and Brittany characters were decent, the Sheriff being the worst. Couture groupies might like this the most.
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Very standard horror fare.
dweston-3866931 October 2023
Light, watered down horror that would appeal more to Elsie and Molly generation than seasoned hardcore fans-it wouldn't look out of place on Netflix.

Like most horrors I've seen of late its a hodgepodge of other horrors with all the stock characters in place. I was reminded of the similar horror I watched on 26/9 called ' She Came From The Woods' in its young characters being picked off by a malevolent entity but that film had humour, sympathetic characters and a witty script. It knows it's target audience and sends up the genre-this comes reasonably close.

Being Halloween today I fancied something silly and forgettable-I got it here.
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1/10
The Plot Is A Good Idea But The Film Was Not!
silicontourist2 November 2023
A film with four teens - 2 girls and 2 boys who are dating couples - plus Liam, who is the brother of one of the other guys. There is also a weird filling station woman, 2 dumb-ass redneck local cops, a girl looking for her missing brother and an immortal called Hank the killer.

The film begins with the two couples being typical whining females and unfunny males. They are a cringe quartet who are totally unlikable and whom you hope are killed off as soon as possible; because they just get on your nerves.

From that bad start the film goes on and on and on, but does not get any better. Its a shame really because I thought that the plot outline was good, a story that could have made a decent film. Unfortunately there was just nothing in the input given by any of the cast and, it just dragged on slowly. To me it rated as a C film and I stuck with it to the end and was very thankful when it ended.

No tension, no scary moments, no shocks and no horror...so no point to it having been made!
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2/10
An Awful Mash-Up Of Evil Dead And Knock At The Cabin.
meddlecore4 February 2024
It's kind of hard to forge a decent horror film, when the concept is to make a cheap pastiche, based on an idiotic premise.

The whole thing is effectively a mash-up of Evil Dead and Knock At The Cabin - which is an act of blasphemy in itself.

And tries way too hard to force a horror-comedy angle into the storyline...which just doesn't work.

Because it makes the whole thing seem confused about what it wants to be.

Does it want to be a comedy? Or serious horror?

One can only assume they've tried to make it the best of both worlds.

However, these two different paths mix like oil and water in this example.

With the crux of the storyline coming off extremely forced at best.

It's just not a very good film.

But I guess that's what you get when you try to emulate a hack like Shyamalan.

It's not surprising that this was made by the same director who brought us the travesty that is Snow Falls (among other awful 2023 releases).

And while it might not be as bad as that film...it's still pretty bad.

2 out of 10.
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1/10
Absolutely dreadful
dsbt-9601917 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Truly, this is a classic example of terrible American cinematography.

The plot line was appalling, I.e, 'If you ring the bell, (that for some bizarre reason the locals left there, even though they knew its evil history), then you will be cursed and a man with an Axe, (called Hank), is going to come and kill you.' The acting was quite average, the best of the bunch being the sister searching for her brother, Liam, who unlike his brother was not a complete idiot, but came off as quite a nice person, and the woman from the petrol station (Who played the Nun in the movie of the same name, and the Conjuring).

The scene at the petrol station was actually the high point of the film.

I don't know how the movie ends, and to be honest I never want to, I watched it for about forty minutes, before I switched it off and wrote this review.

My advice to anyone reading this, is to not watch this Movie.

1 star out of 10.
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2/10
LAME, made no sense
Tina_jeppesen4 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Plot sucks, kills suck, characters suck, acting sucks.... I was excited to see Chaz Bono in something. That's the only reason for 2 stars instead of 1 : my soft spot for Chaz Bono. Why he chose THIS is a mystery. I expected slightly more (just slightly) since the lady who plays The Nun was in it. For all of about 5 minutes. Same with Chaz. This is seriously so weak. So weak that there is only 7 people that bothered with a review. Now eight including mine. The premise/concept is different I guess. The whole bell thing. Then it goes way off track into being so lame, so predictable...& doesn't even make sense. Lazy effort & got lazier & lazier towards the end.

Speaking of the end- weak azz ending too. Sooo...the end is Chaz, the 2 survivors (extremely obvious who they will be from the get-go) drive off in his car with some plan of them being demon hunters together. Main kid (I allready forgot his name & we watched this 10 minutes ago) leaves his Winnebago/home there.... Worst movie I've seen in a long time & that is saying a LOT since I watch a lot of old 70s, 80s, &90s slasher & horror movies!
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4/10
Everyone who comes out this way, only comes out to ring the bell...
paul_haakonsen19 November 2023
The storyline in "The Gate Keeper", as written by Joe Davison and Luke Genton, was actually a fair enough script and storyline, which felt like something you'd see in a 1980s horror movie. And I have to admit that I liked that about it, as it was a nice touch to the movie.

The movie even had the classic hiker out looking for a lost sibling, complete with a missings person flyer and all. That was definitely a nod towards the tropes often seen in 1980s and 1990s horror movies.

The acting performances in "The Bell Keeper" were actually good. I can't claim to be thrilled about having the likes of Randy Couture on the cast list, and in such a pivotal role nonetheless, as I never did take a liking to him or his acting skills. There were a couple of familiar faces on the cast list, with the likes of Mike Manning and Bonnie Aarons. I will say that the actors and actresses, in general, put on good performances throughout the course of the movie.

"The Bell Keeper" is the type of horror movie that you watch once, then bag and tag it, never to bring it out for a second viewing. While it was an adequately watchable movie, it was by no means a scary horror movie. And I think that was mainly because of the non-distinct killer that the Hank character (played by Randy Couture) was.

My rating of "The Gate Keeper" lands on an four out of ten stars.
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4/10
Run Gary Run
nogodnomasters3 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The film opens with Gary (Nick Theurer) being chased and hacked to death by Hank (Randy Couture). Hank takes his driver's license and places it on a wall full of driver's licenses. We get a quick glimpse of the back story in newspaper clippings which implies the location is in New Jersey, although it looked like it was filmed elsewhere. A group of 5 young adults are traveling to the cursed Bell Lake to film a documentary about haunted places in America. Holly jokes if this was a horror film, she would be "the final girl." They meet Brittany (Kathleen Kenny) along the road who is searching for her brother Gary. At midnight Holly with 3 others, rings the cursed bell, as Hank leaves his cabin with his axe.

This is similar to a cabin-in-the-woods film except it is a Winnebago. They even make a fuel stop at the ominous gas station. Homage is paid to other "B" films such as when Liam (Reid Miller) tells Brittany he is "The Last Winnebago on the Left." There were no other vehicles. The demon look was a horrible white face. I liked the film until they rang the bell and gave the story a twist that they didn't pull off too well.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
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10/10
Real horror!... NOT!!!.
phildeesnow3 November 2023
It's not a 10, I was just trying to get someone's attention. It's not horror, it's horrible.

I agree with the other reviews, but maybe, in the light of current events and considering all the fuss in Hollywood about A. I doing human tasks they should take note, see this crap and try to come with something better.

Bad CGI triggers my anxiety and puts me in a very bad mood, but I understand that maybe we are not there yet, but the basics of cinema and performing it's being around for ages. Making something this bad triggered something worse.

My point is that there's no reason for movies to be this bad.

I'm going to only mention that here, some things are not that bad. The acting of the main two kids is believable...and that's about it.

The rest is awful, the acting is worse than those late night infomercials from the 90's.

And what's with the eyebrows on the blonde couple?. The cute black guy, is so gay that is cringy and he is not even supposed to be gay. The " vegan" girl is just irritating and like the gay guy, it's not supposed to be that way. I guess this happens when you try too hard.

A wasted opportunity for the lady from The Nun, and Chaz Bono.

And to the "non- A. I" writers, what is a ghost, who lives in a house, defecates and lives like the living?... I really don't get it.

I truly hope someone would force Fren Drescher to watch this, because I honestly think that a toaster would make something better than this.
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7/10
Starts slow and uneventful
bigcox-9523620 October 2023
You can fast forward to the gas station scene, watch that, then ff to about the 30 minute mark when they get to the campsite.

Then this flic gets good, scary, gory, bloody, an unexpected twist, and even some one line humor that had me laughing out loud.

Overall a pretty decent low budget movie... I give it 7 outta 10.

You can fast forward to the gas station scene, watch that, then ff to about the 30 minute mark when they get to the campsite.

Then this flic gets good, scary, gory, bloody, an unexpected twist, and even some one line humor that had me laughing out loud.

Overall a pretty decent low budget movie... I give it 7 outta 10.
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6/10
Underrated, simple but solid horror story.
pietroschek15 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I found the movie rated 3.5 out of 10, and while it can be watched at 120% playback speed, it is not the junk that low rank implied.

The story makes sense, the young adults stumbling into the story aka discovering the curse, albeit too late, also fit quite well.

"A country bumpkin sorta Satanist had sacrificed virgins, until the loving father of a girl found him and dropped him dead in the middle of a ritual. The Satanist dragged to hell by demons, the father accidentally becoming an immortal in his stead. Sadly, the demons got their hands on the magic, so they could continue to run the curse: Whoever rings that bell gets possessed by a demon and goes on a killing spree." -> Not genius, but also not the worst horror story I know.

So, a scary axe murderer turns out to be a demon hunter, a curse turns out to have become worse than the origin due to demonic meddling, and young adults learn the harsh truths along the way.

Some of the acting is formidable, and the movie does have atmospheric moments. The action scenes aka fighting scenes are not very professional, but low budget could always mean that fans fund a better remake, if they stop moaning and start living up to the costs of real production.

What I found noteworthy: The characters are a notch less cliché than usual. Their behavior fits the story, and adapts to what they learn about the incidents. Nothing great, but plenty of movies failed to deliver that.

I rated it 6 stars out of 10, as I think that team would deserve a chance for a sequel or remake instead of no money incoming.

Good watch for: Grimm like fairy tales turned horror, people OK with not so innovative stories, fans of curse stories with violent killings (no extreme gore).

Not so good for: People with high expectations, unpaying folks demanding more than can be funded. Longhaired Satanists.
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