Delivery: The Beast Within (2013) Movie Review - Mediocre Pregnancy Found Footage Horror

Welcome back to Knockout Horror. I’ve been getting a little tired of traipsing through recent horror releases. With this in mind, I decided to go back a few years. We have, recently, covered a few movies based on a theme of new parenthood or pregnancy. I am aiming to throw together a list based on this theme which, naturally, requires a trip into the back catalogue. That’s where today’s movie comes in. We are checking out pregnancy themed horror Delivery: The Beast Within, from 2013.

Falling into the much maligned Found Footage genre of horror. Delivery follows the story of soon to be parents whose experience is filmed for a reality show. This wouldn’t be much of a horror movie if things went completely fine, obviously. It’s fairly interesting stuff. It’s a good option for those looking for pregnancy horror with a difference. If you can get past the boring second half and lack of scares, there is a horror movie worth a watch here.

Pregnancy Themed Found Footage Horror

Delivery follows the story of couple Rachel and Kyle Massy. The pair have been wanting to start a family for awhile. After a number of unsuccessful attempts, they finally succeed. The pair agree to a TV crew filming the entire process for a new reality show. They want to document every step from the initial scans to the family being told, all the way through to the birth. When Rachel seemingly suffers a miscarriage, the pair are relieved when, days after the event, a heartbeat is found suggesting the baby is still alive. It’s at this point, however, that the TV crew begin noticing strange occurrences.

Delivery is something of a mash up of Found Footage styles. It starts off with a reality show like presentation, before switching to a more typical found footage. The pilot episode of the show has already been filmed. Everything we see after a certain point is, supposedly, unedited footage. This makes for a rather fresh feeling approach to the slightly tired sub-genre. The initial scenes absolutely nail the reality show style presentation. Cheesy cuts, tons of random B-Roll, old photos and interviews with the characters. It all feels perfectly fitting and offers a real sense of authenticity.

These scenes play out between a documentary style interview with the show’s producer. Much like the excellent Aussie documentary style found footage Lake Mungo. These interviews take place throughout Delivery’s length and further expand on the, as yet, unknown backstory. We learn about the timeline of events and we are offered insight into what the camera crew saw and audio recordings of strange voices. It’s engaging stuff and feels like a nice spin on the usual Found Footage formula. Its worth remembering that this style of presentation was getting a bit stale back in 2013. People were attempting to keep it fresh and mix things up a little. The documentary style was just one of the ways filmmakers did things

A Missed Opportunity

The unedited footage provides the bulk of Delivery’s content and the documentary style interviews offer interesting exposition.But it is the initial Reality TV style that actually manages to hook you and draw you in. There is an underlying feeling that the movie would have benefited from focusing primarily on this style. It feels unique when considering the horror genre, as a whole. Instead, the movie abandons it and quickly begins to play to type.

The reality TV stuff seems a distant memory and the camera crew being there feels awkward. The once promising setup of Delivery suddenly feels like a bit of a hindrance. Cameras are placed in every room, even the bedroom. Cameramen film every single interaction, no matter how late in the night. The characters attempt to act oblivious to the crew’s presence and it all just feels a little bit strange.

Boring For Much of its Length

Understandably, the nature of a reality TV show would mean lots of unedited footage. We can assume that much of this would be fairly tedious. The problem with Delivery, however, is that this tedious footage comprises most of the movie. There are very few interesting scenes here. The first half an hour or so is very engaging but the movie then begins to drag its feet. Monotony takes centre stage and there is a distinct sense of repetition. Scares are mostly absent, feeling very secondary to the bubbling domestic tension. Its pretty mundane stuff.

I, personally, don’t watch horror movies to see a couple arguing. Especially not when it makes up the bulk of the movie’s length. The only real moments of tension come from an anxious pet dog. Sightings of random shadows and allusions to satanism feel half baked. It’s all been done before. Delivery also has a tendency to engage in horror tropes that lack in impact. Questions of mental health, medication and a frayed relationship feel overdone. As the story plays out, it also has a tendency to fall foul of plot holes and illogical character decisions. It’s the same old same old, just in a different wrapper.

Well Acted and Worth a Watch

The movie peaks early into its runtime, for the next 30 minutes or so, it spins its wheels. The interactions between Rachel and Kyle begin to annoy. Despite being well acted, there isn’t much to like about these two protagonists. Kyle, played by Danny Barclay, is particularly guilty of this. His aggression and anger would incite concern from anyone spending any length of time around the pair. Rachel, played by Laurel Vail, is, simply, a rather boring character. These two are unlikely to drag you into the story. It’s the moments of exposition from producer Rick (Rob Cobuzio) that will keep you engaged.

With that being said. This movie is still worth a watch. It’s nice to see the pregnancy horror trope presented in this format. Acting is decent throughout, the Reality TV style presentation is spot on and very novel for this type of horror. The story is, initially, very engaging and the ending is one that will definitely shock. Though lacking in scares the pacing is decent. The interesting start to the movie can help you get through the second half slog. It’s not a particularly demanding movie and makes for an easy watch. Found Footage is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. This is one of the better ones in both style and execution.

Should You Watch Delivery: The Beast Within?

Delivery: The Beast Within is an interesting pregnancy themed horror that is actually worth watching. Presented as part documentary, part reality show. It feels like a fresh take on the genre. The movie is, unfortunately, light on scares. It has a tendency to get lost in mundane and repetitive everyday life. Still, it has its moments. Movies like this are rarely presented in this way. It is well acted and, for some of its runtime, quite engaging. Worth a look for fans of pregnancy horror or found footage.

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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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