Bereavement is the chilling prequel to 2004’s Malevolence. The film follows 11-year-old Martin Bristol, who is abducted from his backyard by the deranged serial killer Graham Sutter. For five years, Martin is held captive on Sutter’s isolated Pennsylvania slaughterhouse farm, forced to witness and participate in unspeakable acts of violence. Meanwhile, teenager Allison (Alexandra Daddario) comes to live with her uncle in the rural town and begins to sense something terrifying lurking in the shadows. The result is a slow-burn, atmospheric horror film that emphasizes psychological torment alongside brutal set pieces.
While x265 (HEVC) is the modern standard, the x264 codec used in 2010 was the king of compatibility. The playHD group was known for their meticulous encoding settings, balancing file size with visual fidelity.
This specific release avoids the "banding" (visible color stripes) that plagues poorly encoded horror films during fade-to-black transitions. It runs smoothly on Plex, VLC, or any hardware player from the last 15 years without stuttering.
Release Title: Bereavement 2010 1080p BluRay DD 5.1 x264-playHD
Genre: Horror / Thriller / Slasher
Director: Stevan Mena
Cast: Michael Biehn, Alexandra Daddario, John Savage, Peyton List, Nolan Gerard Funk
Runtime: 103 Minutes
Rating: R (Strong bloody violence, disturbing content, language)
“This is a slow-burn atmospheric horror film that relies on dread, not jump scares. We preserved the film’s natural 24p cadence and grain structure. No sharpening filters were applied. The DD 5.1 track was re-encoded from the original PCM to maintain sync and full surround steering. For the best experience, watch in a dark room with a calibrated 5.1 system or good headphones.”
If you want to watch Martin Bristol’s tragic descent into violence the way Director Stevan Mena intended—with crushing, surround sound immersion and sharp, film-like visuals—ignore the 700MB compressed files.
The winner: Bereavement.2010.1080p.BluRay.DD.5.1.x264-playHD
TL;DR: Best source (BluRay), best resolution (1080p), best audio (5.1 surround), best vintage codec (x264), best scene group for the era (playHD). Track down this specific hash for the definitive viewing experience.
Note: This article is for informational purposes regarding media quality and preservation. Please support the filmmakers by purchasing official releases when available.
The 2010 film Bereavement , directed by Stevan Mena , is a gritty, nihilistic prequel to his earlier slasher Malevolence
. This review evaluates both the cinematic quality and the technical merits of the 1080p Blu-ray (PLAYHD) Warped Perspective Plot & Cinematic Experience
The film serves as an origin story for the psychopathic killer Martin Bristol. It follows a young boy (Martin) who is kidnapped by a deranged murderer, Graham Sutter, and forced to witness horrific crimes in an abandoned slaughterhouse. DVD Review: Bereavement (2010) - Warped Perspective
