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Review: Seth Breedlove’s “Mark of the Bell Witch”

The true(ish?) story of The Bell Witch has haunted Tennessee for generations. Because of this, the strange happening were manufactured into Hollywood features on a number of occasions. The problem with this, however, is that the genuine integrity of the story and its historical facts are lost while trying to give it that extra “oomph.” Luckily, Small Town Monsters and director Seth Breedlove have taken a fascinating approach and visited the actual town of Adams, Tennessee to bring you the closest retelling of the tragedy that befell The Bell Family in 1820. And what a better time to do so than on the two-century anniversary of the patriarch’s untimely death. If you’re unfamiliar with the tale, The Bell Family was haunted by a poltergeist – then said to be a witch- between 1817 and 1821. While accounts have varied, and been verified through kept texts, one this is for certain – something evil was plaguing this family. From knocks at night to disembodied voices to hair pulling and everything in between, Small Town Monsters visits the real-life house for special interviews to paint an unholy portrait of a mysterious witch in The Mark of the Bell Witch; coming to Digital HD, VOD, Blu-ray and DVD on December 15th 2020.

The Mark of the Bell Witch differs from previous hit Small Town Monsters documentaries because of how it tells the story. Its predecessors, like The Mothman of Point Pleasant and Invasion on Chestnut Ridge, have featured animated sequences and motion comic-esque scenes to highlight the dialogue being narrated on screen. This time, with The Mark of the Bell Witch, the story is told as a docu-drama, with many of its most frightening moments being demonstrated as reenactments in a movie. Amy Davies, Thomas Koosed, Aaron Gascon, Sue Matzke, Grayden Nance and Mark Matzke star in The Mark of the Bell Witch with Adrienne Breedlove as The Bell Witch. This docu-drama finds Seth Breedlove once again in the directors chair with producer Adrienne Breedlove. The film features narration by Lauren Ashley Carter, cinematography by Zac Palmisano, scoring by Brandon Dalo and VFX provided by Santino Vitale and SRV Films. It’s no surprise that this team has pulled off another successful feature, that could serve as a learning experience if the commentary and testimonies were edited out. Knowledge is power and I even learned that the haunting took place in Tennessee; not the earlier colonies like I assumed.

The Mark of the Bell Witch takes a deep-dive into every harrowing event from the haunting, and then tries to explain it with science, supernatural or psychology. This haunting is investigated from every angle and no version of events from the historic texts are left untouched. Did John Bell see a Thunderbird at one point? Did slaves have to do with the event? Was the witch a ghost of a young woman who hung herself? Was it all hysteria due to the second Great Awakening/Religious Revival? Why did the neighbors experience weird happenings if the whole thing was a hoax? Was the whole frickin’ thing due to Betsy Bell getting engaged and another woman was jealous? Did natural disasters in the area contribute to the hysteria? How come unfortunate fates await anyone who steals rocks from the property to this very day? All of these questions and more are answered in The Mark of the Bell Witch, an authentic, historically minded approach with no Hollywood bullshit or add ons. Horror fans will remember the iconic hair pulling sequences from other movies, but there’s still so much more terror to be found and Seth Breedlove shows it to you here.

What’s most frightening to me, is when I put myself in the place of the victims. Imagine someone is banging on your house at all hours of the night, only to disappear into thin air when you run outside to confront them. Imagine you get your shit rocked in the middle of the night by an unseen force that is enough to knock your bed around. We have the luxury of phones and cars and the internet in 2020. These obviously did not exist in the 1800’s, so it’s literally just a house in the middle of no where, The Bell Family, the darkness and whatever waits on the other side. Now that, my friends, is scary. Is it enough to make you believe in witches or ghosts? Watch and find out! And if you’re a horror history buff, the fact that this movie takes place in the original town, the actual house and inside the museum should be enough to make you purchase a stream or Blu-ray.

The Mark of the Bell Witch is a supernatural docu-drama done right! Packed with enough suspense, drama, true history and horror to make you sleep with the lights on. And it’s a really good popcorn movie. I just watched on my computer chomping away like, “this is some good shit.” Final Score: 9 out of 10.

Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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