Backwoods Horror

Well before I began writing for BackwoodsHorror.com, I had heard through the wire, then watched, a small, independent slasher flick in the vein of HALLOWEEN entitled MALEVOLENCE, written and directed by Stevan Mena.  Put together on half a shoestring budget, Mena created something very special…a GREAT flick full of suspense and terror, a film lauded by many within the horror community.  Upon watching the film, I found myself agreeing with nearly EVERYONE in the positive.  MALEVOLENCE is a very competent piece of horror filmmaking.  But, well, then what happened?  Shock Till You Drop got the news that a prequel is on the way, the second part in what is intended to be a trilogy of terror.  Here’s the scoop:

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about Malevolence: Bereavement, the prequel and first part of the intended trilogy to Malevolence from filmmaker Stevan Mena. Fangoria caught up with the filmmaker to get a status update on the movie, which wrapped principle photography over two years ago.

“The film is in final post-production, so we’re just working on the final touches of the sound mix,” Mena tells Fango.

One the reasons for the delay? “There’s a tremendous amount of plot that I’m trying to get into a two-hour movie, so certain things couldn’t make it in, and it was a long process for me to decide what should and shouldn’t be in the final picture. The initial cut was about three hours long, so it has been a laborious process to kind of kill my babies and figure out what the final film’s gonna be. It has taken me a while to really get my head wrapped around that, and now I’ve finally done it.”

While the prequel depicts the backstory of how little Martin Bristol is kidnapped by serial killer Graham Sutter and himself turned into the killer that we meet in the first Malevolence, Mena has opted to drop the “Malevolence” moniker and simply title it “Bereavement”.

“We wanted this film to be its own entity,” explains Mena. “There are certain things which will be obvious if you’ve seen the original. And if you haven’t, it certainly stands on its own. I’d say that you should see this, and then watch Malevolence.”

Bereavement also boasts an interesting cast including fan fave Michael Biehn (Planet Terror), John Savage (Carnivàle), Brett Rickaby who plays Graham Sutter and can be seen later this month in The Crazies remake. Lead actress Alexandra Daddario will next be seen in The Lightening Thief. Spencer List, Jennifer Blanc and Kathryn Meisle (Basket Case 2) round out the rest of the cast.

Here’s a little look at some behind-the-scenes action on BEREAVEMENT: