By GRACE DETWILER
Starring Elizabeth Elise Gonzalez, Jose Angel Herrera, Hector Dez
Written by Dakota Thomas and Christian Valencia
Directed by Dakota Thomas
Dakota Entertainment | Stache House Productions
The 20s indie-horror boom rages on, courtesy of the incredible minds behind Skinamarink, The Outwaters, and The Angry Black Girl And Her Monster. Films like these, and Dakota Thomas’ supernatural tragedy BEDRIDDEN, demonstrate the true ingenuity of queer creators and filmmakers of color, whose voices are finally being heard in the horror community. After winning the Audience Award at The El Paso Film Festival and the Bronze Award for Best Feature Film at the Mindfield Film Festival, BEDRIDDEN finally sees its wide release two years after its premiere.
A primarily Latine production out of El Paso, Texas, BEDRIDDEN is the brainchild of Dakota Entertainment’s Dakota Thomas, a lifelong horror devotee since his mother took him to see Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday at three years old. Perhaps in homage to his mother’s love of horror, BEDRIDDEN centers around a mother, Teri (Elizabeth Elise Gonzalez, Broken Gaiete), who is attempting to cope with the aftermath of a brutal attack that left her injured and her husband dead. After returning home, Teri must face her two teenage daughters (Raquel Gomez & Cienna Valles), whom she sends away to sleepovers so that she can process her grief alone. However, a demonic presence that takes the forms of both her husband and his killer begins to terrorize her, leaving her bed-bound and helpless as she faces the true consequences of his death.
BEDRIDDEN is a bleak, nihilistic tale of terror that inflicts its bloodlust indiscriminately, against mothers and children alike. While the film hits a few stumbling blocks with regard to pacing and tone, what Dakota was able to accomplish on an indie budget during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic is truly remarkable. A clear student of classic slashers, giallo, and supernatural horror, Dakota weaves a heart-wrenching portrait of the destruction of a family over only a few days’ time. Despite the moments where the pace drags or the acting borders on melodramatic, BEDRIDDEN is a competent effort of a filmmaker who will go on to do great things with more even resources.
Most remarkable in BEDRIDDEN are its sequences of genuinely disturbing violence, and its meaningful engagement with side characters like Teri’s daughter Cassie (Gomez) and her boyfriend (Ryan Rox), who are facing an unplanned pregnancy in the midst of the supernatural chaos. These real-life struggles ground the characters of BEDRIDDEN in reality even as they endure an experience of hellish proportions – one from which there may be no escape. BEDRIDDEN may not be a perfect film, but it is undeniably a genuine and well-executed one. Even where the film struggles to weave together its sentimentality and off-the-wall horror, it is an entertaining watch that showcases a true cinematic talent in its writer/director.
The limited edition Blu-ray is currently available from SRS Cinema and comes with an 11×17 poster. BEDRIDDEN became available on DVD and VOD on June 13, 2023. The Blu-ray and DVD both include a commentary track and a feature-length making-of documentary.
