What Happened to Dorothy Bell? – Review | Fantastic Fest (4/5)

WHAT HAPPENED TO DOROTHY BELL? is a new found footage horror movie with a great story and excellent use of shadows. Screened for Fantastic Fest 2024. Read our full What Happened to Dorothy Bell? movie review here!

WHAT HAPPENED TO DOROTHY BELL? is a new horror movie premiering at Fantastic Fest 2024. It’s found footage and has been described as a “feature-length nightmare” which isn’t wrong.

In fact, I was not ready to turn off the light in any room for a while after watching this. Excellent use of light and shadow, budget-friendly practical effect choices, and a simple but strong story result in a great horror movie.

Continue reading our What Happened to Dorothy Bell? movie review below.

Confronting childhood horror

In What Happened to Dorothy Bell? we’re dealing with childhood horror. We’ve seen this in a few recently reviewed horror movies. I’m thinking of The Shade and No Voltees which both deal with mental illness and/or abuse.

DO CHECK OUT

Our review of No Voltees which you can watch for free on Tubi >

Still, this one has an added twist! Or rather, a few classic horror elements come into play. Also, there is still the element of family trauma, but in very different ways compared to the two above-mentioned titles.

First, this is a footage horror movie. Second, we’re getting the deliciously iconic kind of horror movie where a book sets off something demonic and brutal.

Ozzie and her documentary approach

We meet Ozzie Gray (Asya Meadows) who has just discovered that her own adult struggle may be directly related to something she never knew happened. She has a scar across her face and has just come to learn that it stems from her beloved grandmother’s violent attack on her.

Of course, her loving grandmother, Dorothy Bell, wouldn’t just hurt the very young Ozzie of her own accord. Ozzie doesn’t believe this and she will soon learn that something very sinister is to blame.

She moves into her childhood home, where her grandmother lived with her and her parents. Also, she goes to the place where her grandmother worked; A library.

Now known as the haunted library of her hometown because it’s associated with an urban legend. We get to follow the evolution of her discoveries because Ozzie documents everything as she confronts the darkness.

What Happened to Dorothy Bell? premiere at Fantastic Fest

This nightmarish (and possibly nightmare-inducing) found footage horror movie comes from writer and director Danny Villanueva Jr. This is his feature film debut and it’s getting a world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2024.

A very deserved and appropriate place for this new horror movie!

The found footage formats include video diaries, security camera footage, and home video camcorder tapes. All of it is brutal at times, but especially the video diaries which include sessions with a therapist are brutal towards the end!

The runtime is just 80 minutes, which might sound a bit short, but it’s exactly as it should be. Do not miss out on watching What Happened to Dorothy Bell? when you get the chance

What Happened to Dorothy Bell? is reviewed as part of our Fantastic Fest 2024 coverage.

Details

Director: Danny Villanueva Jr.
Writer: Danny Villanueva Jr.
Cast: Asya Meadows, Lisa Wilcox, Michael Hargrove, Sargon, J Anthony Ramos