Customer Reviews

Hellbent

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hellbent was a real surprise for me. It is a well made, high production value, well acted, well scripted, well shot, low budget film. Think Halloween rather than Friday the 13th.

A group of west Hollywood friends who are gay head out to WeHo's famous Halloween parade and then on to bars to drink and see who they can see. (This setup is not too far afield of many other slasher film set ups). Along the way they manage to draw the attention of a serial killer of homosexuals dressed as a devil. The rest of the film is standard slasher film stuff: they run and some die and they run some more, and more die and then a heroic man survives the day to destroy the evil only to realize that evil just ain't gonna lie down and die.

So what's the attraction; why bother? Well, the easy reason is that this film is made by but not necessarily for the homosexual community. The actors are all portraying gay men (though the actors are not necessarily gay - it is, after all, currently avante garde to play gay). Then, the set up works well within the gay genre - gay men being attacked for being gay - wow, that's not only believable but very very real.

What makes this film unique (from most of the gaysploitation films being made) is that the production values are so amazingly high. These men can act. This script is tight. The filming is of a high quality. The editing is top notch. The direction is good. This film is highly watcheable.

My gripe? Why the heck is the killer doing what he's doing? What's up with that?

Is my gripe with Hellbent in particular for this? Nah. It's pretty much part and parcel with the film genre.

Is that good? Yup. I think Hellbent's producers intended to make a good gay horror film to show that a good horror film can exist with gay characters and not necessarily appeal to only homosexuals. I don't know that its theatrical release would have acheived that, but I do believe that word of mouth with spread and that the film may eventually find favor with teenaged boys who want a good scare, regardless of the lack of boob shots.

For the record, there is little man-to-man contact in this film beyond kissing (and that is to a bare minimum). There is ZERO nudity and the four letter word count is quite possibly less than a single episode of NIP/TUCK....in fact, NIP/TUCK is probably far racier than this film. The gore...well that's another story. This is, after all, a slasher film.

Rent this and you won't be disappointed. It's a good slasher film - and not just for the gay community.

After years of seeing slasher films with scantily clad young girls running around, it seems long overdue that we get a film focusing on half-dressed young gay men. Well, "Hellbent" is here to remedy that situation. A killer wearing a horned mask and weilding a lethal sword that he uses to cleanly chop the heads off his victims, is on the loose. His focus is four young men (one in drag) who are attending a Halloween party. Not nearly bad as I expected (the acting and production values are actually quite good) but nothing exceptional. The only unique perspective this films brings is the gay angle. If you enjoy a good slasher film that avoids a motive or a viable explanation and is filled with a few good scares and lots of blood (and half nude actors!), it is worth a look.

I was positively surprised to see this movie, it is well made, exciting and with charming characters, and can be easily compared to "Scream" or "I know what you did last summer" in quality and drive.
This is however pure slash, and no psychology. They should have added 10 minutes to the movie, to give the viewer a killer profile. The movie ended with me wondering who the killer is under his mask and what his motives are to kill the gay guys (and only the masculine ones).
However, apart from the entertaining factor, this movie gives the gay community reason to rejoice. It shows that the gay now feel so confident in themselves as gay, that they can watch a movie about gay men getting slashed without letting it hit their self esteem or make them feel discriminated. Wonderful!

Truer words were never spoken as said by one of the characters two seconds before he literally loses his head. A few weeks ago I watched a lesbian slasher flick, "Make A Wish" and now the gay guys get theirs. The big difference is the lesbians were boring while the guys had more fun even when getting slaughtered. Vivid and bloody death scenes but not over the top gory as some of these slasher movies can be. And the cast can really act and the film looks good for a low budget. The movie even has some oddities and a physical flaw on one of the better looking friends that is used as a surprise ending.

This movie is definetly worth a rental and is a surprising novelty watching a slasher film not featuring a bunch of half-clad bimbos running around but a bunch of half-clad himbos running around.

Hellbent once again proves that people can do dumb things and place themselves in danger, but I guess that's the point of movies such as this. Although cheaply made with lots of cheesy dialogue and a second act that is made up mostly of a lot of suspenseful cruising and running around in alleyways, Hellbent is surprising good - mostly because the film achieves in building tension and features some of the best eye candy. In short, the guys are hot!

Two young gay guys are found brutally murdered in a park before Halloween in West Hollywood with their heads sliced right off. Eddie - whom works for the West Hollywood Police Dept. sees the crime scene photos - but that doesn't stop him from taking his best friends Joey, Chaz and Tobey out to the park on the eve of the Hollywood Halloween festival. Drunk, the boys hop out to relieve themselves in the bushes, when they encounter the psycho.

After thinking that he's out to cruise them, they start tempting him, after all, he's towering and totally buff, but little do they know that he's also a masked killer, a cross between Batman and the grim reaper who likes to chop off cute guys' heads and keep them as souvenirs. All evening, he stalks the guys through the festival from a gay club called Meat to the main drag of Santa Monica Boulevard, where the extravagant, tightly populated annual Street Carnival takes place.

It's pretty easy for this psycho to blend in - everyone is dressed up in colorful costumes - and any random psycho can easily pick his victims off whenever the chance arises and As the murderer begins his rampage, the boys one by one become the lambs to the slaughter. Whilst his friends are being murdered, Eddie pursues Jake, a muscled hunk whom he met that day in the local tattoo parlor. But will our heroes Eddie and Jake actually survive the night or just become victims of this scythe-wielding psycho?

Writer-director Paul Etheredge-Ouzts bathes his story in a type of sickish humor. The killings are all executed with above-average flair, and it's clear that when the twitch of a headless corpse gets the movie's biggest laugh, it's clear that Etheredge-Ouzts knows what he's doing. Ironically though, we really begin to care for these characters as they begin to meet their untimely deaths.

One of the best attributes of Hellbent is that it keeps things plain and simple, but it can also be frustrating because we never get to know what exactly motivates the killer. In other words, the greatest asset of Hellbent is that it never tries to be anything that it's not. In addition there's a few ingenious touches involving a strobe light and an eyeball, as well as a tension-filled climax, which make the film instinctively watchable. And as a slasher film with a gay twist it's a great addition to the genre. Mike Leonard September 06.

I really enjoyed this movie for what it was: a Horror Movie. The fact that the main chracters are gay is secondary. What I liked most about this film is it takes a few minutes to set up the characters then it just takes off and doesn't stop until the end. I love that we see the movie through the victims' point of view; they don't know who this guy is, so why should we? It just makes it that much scarier. The gore is top notch and overall this movie is an entertaining horror vehicle.

I wanted to see this movie because #1 I like horror movies. #2 I like horror movies! I was pleasantly surprised. It is a basic slasher movie with the twist being that the main characters are gay. Big woof! Other then the guys' being yummy eye candy it was just a good horror flik. IF you like the "dead teenager" type movies of the 80's and 90's (Jason, Freddie, Michael Myers, Scream, etc..) you will not be disappointed.
Everyone does a good job in throughout. From the cast and crew on I'm sure was a small budgeted film. I hope that there will be a sequel the ending is even set's it up for one as with most movies in this genre. But it seems that there will probably not be one. This is mainly because the movie hasn't made enough money to grant that. Interest, Yes. Box office, No. It is all about the money sadly. Remember folks it is called SHOW BUSINESS!!!

Finally, Who plays the Devil????? He is awesome. Just the right amount of "Scary SOB" and "Yes, he is hot!" He is the epitome of the strong silent type. I can't find out anything on him. Was it one guy or more? An actor/stuntman? No mention of him anywhere. Nothing. No screen credit to be found, anywhere. Many horror films that have such a character sometimes use several different persons in the role. But they are usually mentioned at least on fan sites or boards. But for this movie I haven't found any such thing. Keeping the anonymity of the actor is a novel touch but it would be nice to follow the performer's career also.

HELLBENT is a tough movie to classify. Yes, it is about a serial killer on one Halloween night in West Hollywood, but it also seems to be a light-hearted takeoff on all the silly teenage massacre horror films. Is it parody or was it meant to be a thriller? No matter, because what we get is an entertaining, well-paced, witty-scripted, full of tension foray through the clubs and alleyways of the very colorful West Hollywood Halloween atmosphere.

Don't search for story motivation: there doesn't seem to be one. A devil-garbed body builder beheads boys, leaving the corpses sans heads to the horror of the community just as Halloween festivities are beginning. Our main characters are four friends who are out for a good time, the leader of whom is costumed as a cop and in reality is a wannabe policeman who failed the course due the loss of an eye. His fellow friends are zippy, tight, and fun loving and along the way many of them fall victim to the 'devil's scythe' (and yes, that is shown in grisly detail!). There is a lot of chase action in dark rooms and darker woods and alleys and the fear quotient is pretty high. The problem is the ending, which doesn't answer any plot motivational questions and unfortunately leaves the door open for future follow-up adventures (or is this merely part of the parody of the multitudinous versions of Freddy, I Know What You Did Last Summer, etc teenie flicks?).

The cast is attractive and seems to be enjoying themselves as actors. The lighting and costuming and musical scoring are on a par with the best production values of films of this genre. In the end it is fun to see a thriller played solely in the gay community without preachy comparisons or strife with the straight folk. It is entertaining for everyone. Grady Harp, September 06

This DVD is an ABSOLUTE MUST for every horror genre loving gay man (and straights as well!). This movie is truley a horror film which just happens to have all gay characters that thankfully do not fall back on stereotypes. The men are hot, the killings are intense, the music is fresh (I think we've had enough of curcuit music, thankyou).
Grab a few buddies, lower the lights and have a great time!!!

A gay horror flick? I thought I'd seen them all on porno. But this one actually delivers some fun surprises (even if some are obvious). Simple plot. It's Halloween in Hollywood (that's a horror in itself!), and Eddie who works for the West Hollywood Police Dept. sees the crime scene photos of two guys that got their heads chopped off while messing in Griffith Park. "Cut so clean, not even their tubes were crushed" - oh, scary! But, it is Halloween and Eddie (whose sister is a cop - Eddie has a glass eye and can only do paper work-plot trivia), takes his best friends Joey, Chaz and Tobey out for the night. What could happen? Okay, so there's the homely, but nice friend. Then the model that dresses in drag and has low self esteem. Then the hottie Hispanic, Tobey (who should never have been killed; sorry for the spoiler). What about Eddie? Does he get sliced like the rest? (Sorry for the spoiler). Regardless, this actually has some tension and scary fun mixed into the party atmosphere. Sure, the killer is random and is never explained (No, Mommy didn't beat or abuse him and Daddy might have been home for baseball, but who cares?) Its just scary fun and the ending is fairly inventive. There is a bit of tension release when the killer is finally caught, but what he does with a piece of private property of Eddie's is truly inventive.