Malevolence (film series)

Last updated
Malevolence
Malevolence - film series logo.jpg
Official film series logo
Based onCharacters by
by Stevan Mena
Release date
2004–2018
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3,800,000
(3 films) [lower-alpha 1]
Box office$391,084
(3 films)

The Malevolence film series consists of American slasher-horror crime films, written, directed, and produced by Stevan Mena. The series center around various groups of people who come into contact with a serial killer named Martin Bristol, who was kidnapped as a child and raised in an abusive upbringing by a murderer named Graham Sutter. The series explores the investigations surrounding his crime scenes, and attempts made by law enforcement to put an end to his murderous pattern.

Contents

Though the series as a whole lost money at the box offices, [2] [3] [4] and were met with a mixed critical reception at the time of their release, [5] [6] [7] the films have earned a more positive modern-day analyses while being deemed indie-cult classics of the horror genre. [8] [9] [10] [11] Contemporary reviews have favorably compared the first film to John Carpenter's Halloween , and the prequel to Friday the 13th ; while Mena acknoweldged his fandom of the Carpenter's work. [10] [12] [13] Ross Hughes of HorrorCultFilms.Co.UK praised the film series, stating: "...his is a franchise that is up there with the likes of Halloween. …a Slasher trilogy made by a slasher fan for the slasher fans…Unmissable." [14]

Films

FilmU.S.
release date		DirectorScreenwriterProducer
Malevolence September 10, 2004Stevan Mena
Malevolence 2: Bereavement March 4, 2011
Malevolence 3: KillerOctober 12, 2018

Malevolence (2004)

Ten years following the abduction of six-year-old Martin Bristol from the swing set at his family's home by a madman, [lower-alpha 2] the search for the child's location have proven unfruitful; ultimately believed to be a lost cause. This changes, when a group of robbers plan a bank heist in September 1999.

The team of thieves includes a desperate couple named Julian and Marilyn, her ex-convict brother Max, and his friend Kurt. The group gets separated during their escape and Kurt takes innocent bystanders, Samantha and her teenage daughter Courtney hostage in order to make it to the team's rendezvous location; a secluded rural farmhouse in the woods. Upon arrival the group begins to argue about the taking of these civilians, only to find that the home they have invaded belongs to a now-teenaged Martin. Forced to watch the murderous rampages of his abductor, and to clean up after him, Bristol has become a serial killer himself. As he begins to murder each of them, the robbers attempt to survive the night. Julian and Marilyn free the hostages, and work with them to try to escape before it's too late. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Malevolence 2: Bereavement (2011)

In 1989, a young boy named Martin Bristol suffers from congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), a rare neural disorder in which the patient does not feel pain nor temperature senses. One day while playing on the swing at his family home, a deranged criminal named Graham Sutter kidnaps the child and forces him to watch as he abducts, murders, and mutilates young women. After Sutter slaughters the innocents, he orders Bristol to clean up the mess; a cycle that continues for years.

Five years later, a teenage orphan named Allison Miller comes to live with her uncle Jonathan, aunt Karen, and cousin Wendy in rural Minersville, Pennsylvania. As the family welcomes her to their home, Allison, a distance runner, goes on daily jogs and soon believes she sees a child in the window of the nearby Sutter Meat & Poultry factory, thought to be abandoned. When her uncle asks her to avoid the area due to rumored dangers in the area, she stubbornly rebels and seeks to find out more about its history. While investigating the building, she discovers the nightmares taking place therein and she too is attacked and bound by Sutter. Jonathan and Allison's boyfriend William frantically search for her; she escapes with Martin until they confront Sutter at her family's house. [21] [12] [22] [13] [23] [24]

Malevolence 3: Killer (2018)

After narrowly escaping local law enforcement, [lower-alpha 3] the killer known as Martin Bristol returns to his childhood home, from which he was abducted as a child. [lower-alpha 4] Tortured and raised as the accomplice of his captor, a serial killer named Graham Sutter, Bristol's psyche has been damaged beyond any sense of sanity. Upon returning to his family home, he is angered to find that it has been turned into a rental with various young women now residing as tenants. Ellie and her roommates quickly begin to realize that they are the targets of the murderer who has moved into the area, unaware of his identity and history.

With police officer Special Agent William Perkins on the trail of murders left behind, the Bristol family works together to find Martin and convince him to end his murderous rampage. As they draw closer they work frantically against time knowing that more innocents will die, while Ellie fights to survive the night. [25] [26] [14] [11] [27]

Main cast and characters

List indicator(s)

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.

CharacterFilms
Malevolence Maleveolence 2:
Bereavement 		Malevolence 3:
Killer
200420112018
Principal cast
Martin BristolJay Cohen
David K. Guida II Y 		Spencer List
Chase Pechacek Y
Jay Cohen O A C 		Jay Cohen
Graham SutterDavid K. GuidaBrett Rickaby
Courtney HarrisonCourtney BertoloneCourtney Bertolone A C Courtney Bertolone
Samantha HarrisonSamantha DarkSamantha Dark
Julian R. Brandon Johnson R. Brandon Johnson
Allison Miller Alexandra Daddario
EllieKatie Gibson V Katie Gibson
SA William PerkinsKevin McKelveyKevin McKelvey
Supporting cast
MarilynHeather Magee
KurtRichard Glover
MaxKeith Chambers
Sheriff RileyJohn IngramJohn Ingram C U John Ingram
Jonathan Miller Michael Biehn
Wendy Miller Peyton List
Karen MillerKathryn Meisle
Katherine BristolAshley Wolfe
Georgianna PritchettLynn Mastio Rice
Meredith Bristol Adrienne Barbeau
TaraKelsey Deanne
LynnAlli Caudle

Additional crew and production details

FilmCrew/Detail
ComposerCinematographerEditor(s)Production
companies		Distributing
companies		Running time
Malevolence Stevan MenaTsuyoshi KimotoStevan Mena & Eddie AkmalMena Films Inc.,
Painted Zebra Releasing Films,
The Solari Group,
Anchor Bay Entertainment,
Magnetic Media Productions,
Caffeine Entertainment,
Compression Films		Mena Films Inc.,
MVD Distribution,
Anchor Bay Entertainment		1 hr 30 mins
Malevolence 2: Bereavement Marco CappetaSteven MenaMena Films Inc.,
Crimson Films,
Aurilia Arts Productions		Mena Films Inc.,
Anchor Bay Entertainment		1 hr 43 mins
Malevolence 3: KillerStevan MenaMena Films Inc.,
Magnetic Media Productions		Mena Films Inc.,
MVD Distribution		1 hr 29 mins

Reception

Box office and financial performance

FilmBox office grossBox office rankingVideo
sales gross		Worldwide total
gross income		BudgetWorldwide total
net income		Ref.
North AmericaOther territoriesWorldwideAll time
North America		All time
worldwide		North America
Malevolence $127,287$220,085$347,372#12,140#14,586Information not publicly available>$347,372$200,000≥$147,372 [2] [28]
Malevolence 2: Bereavement $43,712—$43,712#14,935#28,357Information not publicly available>$43,712$3,600,000≥−$3,556,288 [3] [29]
Malevolence 3: Killer—————Information not publicly availableInformation not publicly available$0 [1] Information not publicly available [4]
Totals$170,999$220,085$391,084x̄ #9,025x̄ #14,314>$0>$391,084$3,800,000≥−$3,408,916—

Critical and public response

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
Malevolence35% (17 reviews) [5] 43/100 (8 reviews) [30]
Malevolence 2: Bereavement44% (18 reviews) [6] TBD (3 reviews) [31]
Malevolence 3: KillerTBD (0 reviews) [7] —

Notes

  1. ↑ Mena claimed in 2018, that there was no studio budget for the third movie, with the filmmaker completing the project on his own. [1]
  2. ↑ As later depicted in the prequel, Malevolence 2: Bereavement (2011)
  3. ↑ As depicted in the events of Malevolence (2004)
  4. ↑ As depicted in the events of Malevolence 2: Bereavement (2010)

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References

  1. 1 2 Aguiar, Joe (July 9, 2018). "[Exclusive] Director Stevan Mena Updates On 'Malevolence 3'; It's Finished and Trailer is Coming Soon!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Malevolence (2003)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Bereavement". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Malevolence 3: Killer (2018)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Malevolence". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Bereavement (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Malevolence 3: Killer". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  8. ↑ Miska, Brad (August 15, 2011). "Behind-the-Scenes of 'Bereavement' Slaughter House". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Malevolence (2004)". Effed Up Movies. 15 December 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  10. 1 2 Hughes, Ross (June 11, 2011). "Stevan Mena Talks to HorrorCultFilms: An Exclusive Interview with the director of cult classic Malevolence!". Horror Cult Films. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  11. 1 2 Blacktooth (August 14, 2019). "Malevolence 3: Killer Coming To Blu-Ray / DVD On October 15th". Horror Society. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  12. 1 2 Gingold, Michael (November 11, 2010). "Review: Bereavement". Fangoria. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  13. 1 2 My Bloody Reviews (September 8, 2016). "Bereavement (2010)". My Bloody Reviews. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Hughes, Ross (September 13, 2018). "Malevolence 3: Killer: The Hughes Verdict!". Horror Cult Films. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  15. ↑ Butane, Johnny (September 29, 2004). "Malevolence (2004)". Dread Central. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  16. ↑ Jacobs, Evan (May 11, 2005). "Malevolence DVD Review". MovieWeb. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  17. ↑ Fulci, Frank (October 8, 2019). "I Don't Wanna be the Wolf Man - "Malevolence" Review". Repulsive Reviews. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  18. ↑ Nusair, David (April 10, 2005). "Malevolence". Reel Film Reviews. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  19. ↑ D, Crisco (January 24, 2011). "Malevolence Review". Horror Society. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  20. ↑ Yapp, Nate (April 20, 2005). "Malevolence (2004)". Classic-Horror.com. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  21. ↑ Scheck, Frank (March 17, 2011). "Bereavement: Movie Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  22. ↑ Howard, Steph (August 30, 2011). "Review: Bereavement". Daily Dead. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  23. ↑ The Black Saint (April 7, 2019). "Film Review: Bereavement (2010)". Horror News. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  24. ↑ Tor (October 28, 2011). "Bereavement (Movie Review)". Bloody Good Horror. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  25. ↑ Fulci, Frank (October 29, 2019). "Why Don't You Give Them to Goldilocks? - "Malevolence 3: Killer" Review". Repulsive Reviews. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  26. ↑ Hamman, Cody (August 25, 2018). "Malevolence 3: Killer (Movie Review)". JoBlo. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  27. ↑ Squires, John (September 12, 2018). "Stevan Mena's Slasher 'Malevolence' Getting Its First Blu-ray Release This October". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Malevolence". The Numbers . Nash Information Services LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Bereavement (2011)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  30. ↑ "Malevolence (2004)". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Bereavement (2011)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
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