Bystanders (2025) review – A well-intentioned but amateurish revenge trudge

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are going to be checking out a low-budget horror movie that just hit VOD a few weeks ago – Bystanders. This movie follows a group of vile, murderous frat boys as they just so happen to find themselves on the receiving end of the violence at the hands of an equally murderous couple.

You’ve seen it all before

It’s probably pretty obvious from the synopsis above what the deal is with Bystanders. A group of frat boys lure a bunch of girls to their secluded cabin. They ply them with spiked drinks, take advantage of them, and then set about hunting them through the woods.

This comes, typically, in the form of drawn-out monologues and acts of torture. Everything you would expect from a revenge-horror movie.

While pursuing our protagonist, Abby (Brandi Botkin), they encounter a couple heading home from a wedding. The couple just so happen to have a very particular set of skills, and the group of dudes quickly find the tables have turned.

If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is. This is a very similar formula to the 70s shock horror Last House on the Left, with a sprinkling of I Spit on Your Grave thrown in for good measure. Our couple are very adept at violence, and they are hell-bent on doling out their own form of justice.

This comes, typically, in the form of drawn-out monologues and acts of torture. Everything you would expect from a revenge-horror movie. But the question is: is Bystanders a good film?

It’s a little bit awkward in parts

This is one of those horror movies that I feel a little bad about when it comes to giving my honest opinion. It is very clear that Bystanders is someone’s passion project. Writer and star Jamie Alvey is, obviously, very proud of this film. According to the extensive trivia notes regarding the movie, apparently provided by Alvey herself, I assume, this is a film that has been in the planning stages for, at least, the past seven or eight years.

Alvey enlisted Dread Central’s editor-in-chief, Mary Beth McAndrews, to direct. She knocked together a script, jumped into a starring role, and finally managed to bring her dream to life. I can really respect that. Making a movie is no small task, and it is definitely not an easy thing to do.

“It must suck to have some dude who has never written a script criticising your work. But alas, I review movies as a hobby. I just have to call it as I see it. Bystanders is not a very good movie.”

It must suck to have some dude who has never written a script or directed a single shot criticising your work. But alas, I review movies as a hobby. I just have to call it as I see it. Bystanders is not a very good movie.

There are a few positives

This is one of those movies that has a ton of issues. We should get the good stuff out of the way, first. I don’t find the plot to be overly bad. I am quite a big fan of revenge movies, and I think the formula has legs when done well.

It’s not a sub-genre that gets a whole lot of attention, either. There’s always room for more. I, actually, quite like the idea of a murderous couple fighting for good. We can all relate to wanting to see horrible people getting their comeuppance, and it is easy to root for the characters here.

The direction is, actually, pretty competent. Bystanders doesn’t feel quite as amateur as it probably should, and there aren’t an overabundance of issues with continuity, etc., outside of the expected instances of objects changing hands, shot inconsistencies, and the like. It’s okay… not good, but okay. Some of the acting is okay, too. Garrett Murphy has a few decent moments, as does Brandi Botkin. The script has a few moments of promise. They are few and far between, but they are there.

There’s a lot of negatives

Everything else is significantly less praiseworthy. Bystanders starts with the typical audio hiss and distant vocals that seem to be the trademark of these types of movies. The picture is massively oversaturated, almost hazy with deep hues and bleeding colours. It looks pretty awful.

Most of the cast are terrible and seem more like friends of the crew than actual actors. The girls have, virtually, no character beyond Abby being bad at makeup. The initial setup is altogether too brief, and the introduction to the frat boys is very lacklustre. There’s barely five seconds to work out who these characters are and what their connection is to each other.

It’s just so slow

Once the action starts, it is very laboriously paced. As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of slow walking and protracted monologuing. Each confrontation is punctuated by a journey between destinations that takes altogether too long.

“The bad guys talk like comic book villains, and the good guys talk like a slightly more ethical version of Heath Ledger’s Joker.”

Nothing happens with any urgency, which wouldn’t be so bad if the action was interesting, but it just isn’t. The action scenes repeat themselves, ad nauseam. They all, inevitably, lead to someone being incapacitated in one form or another purely to enable some dull torture scenes and another rambling monologue. It all feels extremely cheesy and a little immature, to be honest.

The monologues suffer from some very weak scripting, too, which makes things worse. There’s only so many ways a character can tell another character that “they are bad but we are worse” before it gets old. Much of the dialogue is very unnatural, as well. The bad guys talk like comic book villains, and the good guys talk like a slightly more ethical version of Heath Ledger’s Joker. Characters in Bystanders feel more like caricatures than real people.

The less said about Hannah Fierman’s small role, the better. I thought she had so much promise, but she is not good at all, here. She seems to just be making a living acting in low-budget horror now.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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