HELLBENT

HELLBENT
By Ken Leicht

HELLBENT, the new horror film from Here Films and Regent Releasing bills itself as the first truly gay horror film. As no other example of gay horror comes to mind, I have no reason to dispute the claim. While the film may be blazing new trails as the first gay horror movie, it doesn’t necessarily blaze new trails in horror film. But then again, the slasher film, which is what this is, isn’t about blazing new trails per se. The slasher film follows predictable paths and gives the people that love them what they want. And if you’re the type who wants to know what would happen if a Tom of Finland-type decided he wanted to cut off people’s heads, then this film is for you.

The story begins with two young gay men in the throes of some parked car sex. They are interrupted by a buff psycho wearing a devil mask and carrying one of those curved blade scythe things. Heads fly off and blood spurts.

Cut to the next night. It’s Halloween and four gay friends get themselves all dressed up for the annual bacchanalia that is the West Hollywood Halloween Carnival. But, as parking is scarce, they decide to park near where the murder took place. While taking a piss in the nearby woods, they run into the killer. Thinking he’s just another gay boy on the prowl, the friends flash their asses at him and tell him to bring it on. The killer disappears and the four friends head off to the party not knowing that they are being followed.

What follows is the standard killing them off one by one scenario. What makes this not dull routine is not so much that the main characters are all hot to trot gay guys on the prowl; it’s that they are well drawn and appealing. You actually do give a rat’s ass what happens to them as opposed to looking at your watch and waiting for them to die.

Dylan Fergus’s Eddie is your average everyday single gay guy who wishes he could be the cop his dad was. Hank Harris’s Joey is the shy dorky guy. Matt Philips’s Tobey is the lonely drag queen who just wonders why nobody’s looking for a nice girl like him. Andrew Levitas’ Chaz is the quintessential frisky party guy but in what is a rarity in any film of this nature, he’s not a jerk.

Eventually things end up with a final confrontation which is pretty much the same final confrontation that has been haunting films like this since John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN. Director Paul Etheredge-Ouzts does a good job of navigating the genre’s conventions and effectively delivers scares as much as a shot on vid indie can deliver them. The man knows his horror films and it shows.

Etheredge-Ouzts does a great job of capturing the West Hollywood singles scene on its biggest night. It’s hard to go wrong with all that free art direction but Paul’s eye is where it needs to be. He’s a little less successful at the police station but hey, you can’t win ‘em all. And I’m fairly sure that Paul called in all his prop house favors on this one. Ambulances don’t come cheap. The effects, while low budget, are effective. Particular kudos to the twitch of a headless dead body.

Low budget kvetching aside, as a traditional slasher film, HELLBENT succeeds. By being traditional, it sort of stops it from being as ground breaking as the filmmakers would want it to be. But enough is achieved here that it should garner some well deserved attention. Not because everyone in it is gay. But because everyone in it is a rounded, interesting character that you can get some degree of involvement with. And compared to the empty, soul-less mass entertainment being churned out these days, the film truly is groundbreaking. Oh, and bonus points for Texas Terri cameo.

HELLBENT is making its way around the country road show style so keep an eye out for it at an art house or festival near you.

Visit Hellbent on the web at http://www.hellbent-movie.com