User reviews

I just want to chime in here and say that if you watch this movie then PLEASE do not try to do CPR the way the Doctor in the movie did it. Go get yourself trained by the American Red Cross, you can do it online. At least look it up on Google or something. The way it was done in the movie would actually kill somebody, pressing on the neck like that!

Pregnant mom with the baby crazies. History of miscarriages. Useless clueless husband almost clinically retarded. Other kids who are wise and disbelieved. The town and local cops are in on it. Zillow unaware the house is a possessed pit to hell.

saw this on Netflix.

I think what lets this movie down is the effort to link a number of monster/scary themes in one movie. If you are familiar with "sleep paralysis" phenomenon, alien abduction etc. you'll recognize that theme. However if you've seen Dark Skies and Nightmares, you'll know why this particular plot doesn't really work. The actors are doing their best with it plot/script wise and give great performances all round. The direction is classy but the story is very thin and I found myself about two thirds the way thru losing interest. Some of the elements might motivate a series - its kinda like a bad pilot in a way, though then again perhaps we've spared another endless series ;-)

It's worth watching for the overall production value but if you haven't seen Dark Skies and Nightmare, watch those first.

Aus.

Not long after John Chambers and his family arrive at their new home in a small country town in Pennsylvania, John begins to experience sleep paralysis. Lying there paralyzed, trapped within his own nightmare, other-worldly beings visit.

The highlight of this film is that it stars Brian Krause, who is one of the greats in genre cinema. Between "Sleepwalkers" and "Charmed" he has really made a name for himself. Sure, there were a few duds... like, what the heck is up with "Camel Spiders"? But overall, always a pleasure to see Krause.

That being said, this is neither one of his great films or his duds. And he is, of course, quite good. But the film as a whole is just so-so, something to pass the time in October, but nothing that will become a holiday standard or must-see. It just sort of... exists.

Dr. John Chambers (Brian Krause) moves to the countryside of Pennsylvania with his pregnant wife Heather Chambers (Jaimi Paige) and their seven-year old son Nathan. Two weeks later, his teenage son Ben Chambers (Jared Abrahamson) comes to his house since he was expelled from college. John begins to have astral travels and daydreams with shadow people and realizes that he is experiencing sleep paralysis. When Nathan sees also the people, he concludes that there is a dark secret in the place.

"Be Afraid" is a senseless supernatural messy film, with a promising but totally wasted storyline. There is no explanations and the one dimension characters are not developed from the beginning and the viewer, for example, never knows why Ben was expelled from the college. Or why the sheriff hides the danger of the shadow people. And even their motives abducting children. In the end, watching "Be Afraid" is a waste of time with fake reviews promoting this flick in IMDb. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Saw 'Be Afraid', being fond of horror regardless of budget (even if not my favourite genre) and being intrigued somewhat by the idea. Being behind on my film watching and reviewing, with a long to watch and review list that keeps getting longer, it took me a while to get round to watching and reviewing it.

Giving 'Be Afraid' a fair chance with being interest and apprehension, it turned out to be far better than expected. Won't say that 'Be Afraid' is a great film because it isn't and the potential, while not wasted, is not fully lived up to. Considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre and less and wasting potential, was expecting worse and was relieved that while wanting in a fair few areas it was actually one of my better recent low-budget viewings.

'Be Afraid' started off quite well, the first twenty minutes or so starting the film off on a promising, unsettling and atmospheric note that really does intrigue.

Production values did have some eeriness and nowhere near as cheap as expected, and the music, which not the most memorable in the world, didn't detract from the atmosphere.

The setting is effectively spooky and the acting was better than average all round. There are spooky and suspenseful moments and it isn't dull. The direction doesn't feel phoned in.

However, the story was severely wanting. It is very disjointed and after the promising start the final third especially loses atmosphere, one loses interest and things start to not make sense. Too much of the film is vague and doesn't explore some elements and story strands enough, some dropped soon after being introduced, go nowhere or serve much point.

Ending is unsatisfying, on top of feeling hasty there are too many loose ends hanging in the air. Got the sense that the writers didn't know how to end the film. Would have liked much more tension and suspense, scares could have been more consistent and some weren't surprising enough.

Found too the script to lack natural flow and with a bit of cheese going on, and the characters bland with some adopting some annoying and not always logical decision making.

Overall, better than expected but not great still. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I enjoyed this movie, with a larger budget it could have been seriously good. The concept and story are pretty solid, interesting and engaging. The characters and actors involved were all very good and believable. I loved the whole idea with the tunnel which reminded me of Absentia which is a superb indie horror.

A family move into a new home and soon after begin seeing strange things. The young child sees a man in a hat in his bedroom and the dad starts having nightmares about creatures. The older son returns home from college and connects with one of the female locals who happens to be the sheriff's daughter.

The younger lad is drawn to a tunnel near the home, it has a memorizing affect on him.

There have been many unexplained disappearances in the town and the sheriffs estranged wife is the subject of ridicule for voicing concerns about strange beings at the corner of your eye.

It all reaches a climax after an initiation prank goes terribly wrong and it appears the sheriff knows more than he's letting on.

Much is sadly unexplained at the end of the movie but all in all I thought it was pretty good.

This is a real stinker. We needed something to watch so we headed to NetFlix. We decided to just pick something and not check the IMDB first. We ended up checking how much time was left...over and over. I've never run to the computer to rate this kind of a trash movie before, but this time I just want to warn other potential viewers. This one just doesn't doesn't work.

Yes, you have to be afraid, you will lose one hour and half of your time watching a low budget horror film with no real story. A town terrified of the shadows yet too stupid to turn on some lights. I saw many stupid films but this one is in the top ten. Only one question remains : who can rate 10 for that crap???

In reading other reviews, it seems this movie is truly a love or hate situation. Frankly, I have no idea how some people could rate this movie so poorly? From a purely entertainment perspective, it's very well done and should hold your attention. A lot of reviewers get too caught up in the technical aspects of a movie, critiquing the acting, directing, etc. I tend to rate movies based purely on their entertainment value, and in that respect, this is well worth a watch. The ending had an especially nice twist.

A medium-budget production.The topic of a little boy or of a little girl who sees "dead people" is quite overused but sometime it still works. This is not one of those times... As I wrote on the summary the movie is pretty much boring....So boring that I stopped to watch it before the end.Not enough action, few and poor special effect,common and predictable dialogues.Btw I guess that if seen by a child it can be a quite scary movie.

The subject for this one isn't quite overused, I do like the approach, bold, but the only thing standing in its way was clearly the budget.

Perhaps with more funds they would have been able to produce something far better, a horror for the masses, like this tho it shall remain mostly unknown and unappreciated. Quite the shame because the people involved did a good work and if you do watch it, you'll see that is an OK indie production.

Is it recommendable? I don't think so. You won't be afraid, but you will forget about it in a few days top. With more money, Be Afraid could have delivered far better. Overall 4 stars out of 10 from me. Do not look for horror here. Just a pretty good written story.

Cheers!

You see a lot it there so called ghost / horror flicks that are just completely feeble. A - team Hannibal smith In his aquamaniac costume would have been more scary. Not very well acted either. No suspense, no jumping out of your seat. Just cheated out of an hour and a half. Ugh

This was a decent production but I wouldn't call it a horror. There were quite a few unanswered questions that left you bewildered.

The acting was rather good n the characters were ok too.

There were a few plot holes n the story was a bit sketchy. Like I said there was a sense of bewilderment towards the end where most of the action took place.

There were some tense moments.

The ending was abrupt n unexpected.

I recommend this movie if you like supernatural films.

Took too long getting to the point and then didn't bother to explain anything. Could have been really good. Had decent acting, etc just not enough meat to the plot. If it came on TV and you're looking to kill a couple hours, it's decent but I wouldn't pay to rent or stream it.

It's not the jumpy scary, nor the guts and gore type, but an actual phenomenon which you have to think your way through.

Yes, a bit slow, but the ending is a decent twist. It's worth the time.

This film I really enjoyed. When I first seen this rated as low as 4 I wasn't going to watch it. But after I did I'm so glad I did. The acting is top notch in this title and although the story is a bit weird I loved every minute of watching this title. It wasn't boring in the slightest. It grips you to your seat until the last minute as you really want to find out what happens and why. The ending was a bit odd as it just ended so suddenly. But all the same well worth buying, well worth watching

This is another of those wonderful indie efforts - you should NOT heed the haters on this one if you're down for creepy nightmare movies. While a few of the cast members struggle to carry their characters, the overall effort is excellent.

Brian Krause plays Dr. John Chambers, who has just moved his family to a new house in the countryside, he does a great job, and Jaimi Page plays Heather, his uber-hot and oh-so-unfortunate second wife; their sons are well played by Jared Abrahamson (Ben) and Michael Leone (Nathan). Now I know what you're thinking... it's another haunted house movie.

Okay, so you get the framework - how many horror plots are their, really? After that bit of mundanity though, this picture shines! Creepy apparitions plague the family with terrible consequences for all! Only the ultimate sacrifice will save the village's youth!

If this film fails to make your hair stand-up and your skin crawl, then your heart just isn't beating! This one is well worth your time!

I love truly great cinema, and also have a fondness for more than a few certifiably terrible films; what I don't like are those movies that occupy the middle ground, displaying very little imagination, content to settle for mediocrity. Be Afraid is one such example, a totally pedestrian supernatural horror that suffers from incredibly lazy writing and uninspired execution.

The film's monsters - shadow men - are given no lore, the viewer expected to accept their existence without any kind of backstory. Their purpose is unknown: the film never explains why they attack children, why they live in a disused train tunnel, and why they only lurk in the dark corners of our peripheral vision. The script also includes a whole load of hoary horror clichés such as ominous sketches of creepy figures, crazy locals, and the female lead being attacked while taking a bath.

Even more slovenly than the film's writing is the direction by Drew Gabreski, who merely rolls out the predictable visual gimmickry employed by so many contemporary horror film makers: shaky camerawork, rapid editing, inappropriate use of smoke, flickering lights etc.

It all amounts to a frustratingly tedious experience. Be afraid, be very afraid...