VOD Review: Delivery: The Beast Within (2014)

More Found Footage! Yes!

We were beginning to think that something was gravely wrong with the Horror Industry because it's been at least 3 days since we've come across a brand new FF flick that they're trying to cram down our throats. I mean, they're all so good and original, that we need way more of them than we are getting...

Alright, enough of the snarky sarcasm. We promise.

Delivery: The Beast Within is a different beast (please pardon the pun) altogether though. This FF movie plays and genuinely feels like a Reality TV Show for the most part, and it's interspersed with interviews of key people trying to disseminate the aftermath of everything that transpired in the "reality" portion.

I am not one at all for Reality TV, mainly because it panders to the lowest common denominator of Television viewership, and plays in such a disingenuous and bullshit way that it makes me wonder "who watches this shit, and why aren't they offended that Hollywood keeps forcing garbage like this down their simple-minded gullets?"

If the term "TV will rot your brain!" has ever justly applied to anything, it's Reality TV.

This movie though was an interesting and pleasant "Reality TV" experience for us. Sure, it's a fictional movie about Reality TV, but even in its fictitious setting it was more satisfying, and less insulting, than most Reality TV Shows could ever be.

Kyle and Rachel are a young, pregnant couple who agree to document their pregnancy from start to finish for a new, family-oriented reality show called "Delivery." From the get-go, this movie is presented in two formats which it jumps between; Reality TV Show and Faux Documentary. Also from the get-go, it's apparent that this whole reality pregnancy experiment is doomed, as are Kyle and Rachel, and their yet unborn baby.

On the Reality TV front, Kyle and Rachel settle into their pregnant lives, showing we the audience everything from the travails of morning sickness to the travails of lovey-dovey relationship schmaltz. They're just a cute, loving couple who really want to be parents, and it's all fairly sickening sweet, like most Reality TV Show couplings tend to be.

"OMG BFF, you're totes preggers!"

On the Faux Documentary front, the people interviewed paint a grim and foreboding picture about the fate of our favorite couple. Here we learn that some crazy old Armenian lady was yelling "Devil" at Rachel during a random house tour freak-out, and that an otherworldly voice kept popping up on the Reality footage.

After a miscarriage scare (where we're guessing the baby died, and then was possessed by the Demon Gozer), the pregnancy moves along in normal fashion... until the family dog snaps at Rachel, which tells us that it knows! Knows what, we can't say, but it sure knows something!

"Where the fuck are my pickles and ice cream?!?"

As the odd occurrences begin to mount, so do the questions: are Rachel and her baby being haunted by some sinister force, or is Rachel just haunted by her own insanity? Should they put that disobedient dog down? Does every mother-in-law need to be some sort of overbearing and meddling bitch? Far be it from us to spoil anymore of the movie for you here, but suffice it to say that everyone is haunted, and they should probably just put both the dog and the mother-in-law down for good measure.

Merle was never the brightest man, but he... well, he just wasn't very bright.

I have to admit that Delivery: The Beast Within did a great job at taking the FF conceit and making it feel about as real and genuine as we've ever seen it portrayed.

The Documentary aspect of the movie reminded us a lot of the 2011 Aussie FF gem, The Tunnel; it felt like real people giving real accounts of what transpired, and it was wholly believable. The Reality Show aspect of the movie felt equally as genuine; the characters were likable, believable, and we couldn't help but feel their pain throughout most of their emotional roller coaster of a pregnancy.

I'm honestly not trying to over-sell the virtues of this movie here, but if you have any experience with pregnancy, miscarriage, and the like, you'll definitely sympathize and empathize with this couple.

You'll also be like "Why didn't you just take her to a Hospital!"

As far as the Horror of it all goes, Delivery plays it fairly subtle, with its terror coming more from a place of "what in the hell would I do if that were me" than one of cheap scares and incident. There are some tense moments throughout, and a few solid scares to be had here and there, but for the most part, it's a quiet and slow burn.

Oh, and the ending was all kinds of disturbing and messed up.

Delivery is filled with some familiar Horror tropes, such as the pregnant woman eating raw meat, odd religious symbols showing up where they shouldn't be, cameras going all fuzzy and wonky, etc... but for the most part, they work well for the film more than they detract from it.

"Maybe I'll name him Azazel."

Delivery: The Beast Within is definitely one of the better entries into the Found Footage realm that we've seen in a while. Sure, it takes the more quiet and subdued path to get where it's going, but it also delivers a creepy and tension-filled atmosphere, and offers a few scares along the way. 

If you're thinking "This movie sounds just like Devil's Due," then put that thought out of your mind. Devil's Due was a mess of poorly executed ideas that didn't work very well at all, whereas Delivery gets the "possessed pregnancy" thing far more right.

Turn the lights out, send everyone who can't shut up for 90 minutes to bed, and enjoy this one in as much solitude as possible. Yes, that's the way that we recommend that you watch most Horror movies, but with this one, the more immersion the better.

B+

Delivery: The Beast Within is available now on VOD.

We already know that babies are all little Devils in disguise, so how many more Horror flicks do we need telling us that very same thing over, and over again?

I mean, can't we just have a Horror movie where the unborn baby saves everyone from evil, instead of being the evil for a change?

No. No we can not.