The conventions of the slasher movie genre get a new twist in this independent horror story. It's late October, and Eddie (Dylan Fergus) aspires to be a cop on the West Hollywood Police Force's roster, though a vision problem has kept him from passing the physical. Eddie gets the assignment to look into a grisly murder in which two men were found decapitated in a car parked on a remote lover's lane. Eddie tries to put the crime out of his mind when he heads out with three friends -- Joey (Hank
Harris), Tobey (Matt Phillips), and Chaz (Andrew Levitas) -- for West Hollywood's over-the-top gay Halloween celebration. While festivity is in the air and hunky guys abound, Eddie soon discovers that the same killer he's been looking for is on the prowl at the block party, wielding a scythe and lopping off heads with aplomb. Can Eddie stop the killer before he murders his friends? And who is this fiend and what is his motivation? Hellbent received its world premiere at the 2004 San Francisco Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
A genre cheapie from its digital-video camerawork to its Casiotone soundtrack to its bland, buff cast, the movie is a cultural watershed in a dry gulch.
The film goes through the motions familiar from mainstream slasher movies, but without an underlying logic motivating the action, the film becomes an exercise in blood-spattered boredom.
By the time Etheredge-Ouzts uncorks the Suspiria-meets-Un Chant d'Amour climax, the film has snowballed enough subtext for five Robin Wood dissertations
A typical, high body-count slasher flick except for two glaring departures from fright fare convention: (1), the black guy doesn't die first; and (2), virtually every characyer is gay.
Doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel with its narrative, but for horror fans, it's smarter than the norm and delivers a crafty little twist to the conventions of the genre.
Did taking place amid the gay scene in Hollywood make a difference with this slasher film? No, no it didn't. It spends so much time exercising the gay angle of the film that it forgets to be a slasher. Or entertaining. Pass on it.
December 19, 2009
Steve K
Super Reviewer
A surprisingly effective slasher flick - the meagre budget often shows, but Hellbent has been made with a fair amount of conviction and has some very effective moments. The usual trapping and clichés of the genre are in evidence but there's some nicely skewed sequences. The 'First Gay Slasher' badge doesn't really
add to much in and of itself except add a bit of novelty value, but there's a genius use of a character's disability in the final showdown and the leads are affable. It's also very funny in parts and nicely paced. Decent.
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