I watched Hellions as the final act of a movie marathon during the sacred Samhain season of 2015. I was very unsure of how this one would go. On one hand, it was directed by Bruce McDonald of Pontypool, an alt horror warlock. On the other, critics and fans pelted it with a mountain of killer tomatoes.
The summation of the negative side? Hellions is an okay movie ruined by a horrid third act. Shocker, a horror film that can't end well.
When in doubt, watch the trailer. Sure, it's an ad, but it shows a little leg and this one looked sexy as sin. Yeah, you can put enough perfume and makeup on anything to mask to the truth, but the trailer got me in line for the ride...
The trailer is no liar! Hellions is a feast of sights and sounds! The town is one of those Halloween dreams, full of the traditions which we can only lament these days. An old house overlooks a pumpkin patch. A teenage girl learns she is pregnant and wages war against evil spirits under a blood moon, as she looks down the barrel of an uncertain future. Which way the barrel is aimed and what it all means are left up to the audience. Fans typically penalize this kind of ambiguity (see The Babadook), but it nevertheless forces you to think and consider the film's many layers.
The story and survival elements remind me a lot of Silent Hill, so there might be a bias there. But that's just it: there's a STORY here! So much meaningless garbage and gore is chucked onto our screens each year, by people who can barely count or spell, that a little intelligence goes a long way! For the bloody and body count crowd, you won't be able to get your rocks off to this one, sorry...
The amazing story is supported by music and sound effects that are on par with films like Sinister, where it is taken to an ambient/symphonic perfection.
All of that said, even I can agree the last act is clumsy. Catastrophic? No. But it weaves and wanders a lot, going for the artsy acid trip and the dreaded Shyamalan twist.
Out of ten: -1 star for not being perfect (most movies), -1 star for a little reefer madness late in the game, and -1 star for juggling and juxtaposing ideas in a way that becomes uneven by the denouement. Still, this film is a solid 7/10 and better than most of the recycled and repulsive junk we get in the horror genre.
And on a final note, I do NOT agree there is some agenda or political subtext. People see allegorical specters and phantom commies in everything. Get over it.
The summation of the negative side? Hellions is an okay movie ruined by a horrid third act. Shocker, a horror film that can't end well.
When in doubt, watch the trailer. Sure, it's an ad, but it shows a little leg and this one looked sexy as sin. Yeah, you can put enough perfume and makeup on anything to mask to the truth, but the trailer got me in line for the ride...
The trailer is no liar! Hellions is a feast of sights and sounds! The town is one of those Halloween dreams, full of the traditions which we can only lament these days. An old house overlooks a pumpkin patch. A teenage girl learns she is pregnant and wages war against evil spirits under a blood moon, as she looks down the barrel of an uncertain future. Which way the barrel is aimed and what it all means are left up to the audience. Fans typically penalize this kind of ambiguity (see The Babadook), but it nevertheless forces you to think and consider the film's many layers.
The story and survival elements remind me a lot of Silent Hill, so there might be a bias there. But that's just it: there's a STORY here! So much meaningless garbage and gore is chucked onto our screens each year, by people who can barely count or spell, that a little intelligence goes a long way! For the bloody and body count crowd, you won't be able to get your rocks off to this one, sorry...
The amazing story is supported by music and sound effects that are on par with films like Sinister, where it is taken to an ambient/symphonic perfection.
All of that said, even I can agree the last act is clumsy. Catastrophic? No. But it weaves and wanders a lot, going for the artsy acid trip and the dreaded Shyamalan twist.
Out of ten: -1 star for not being perfect (most movies), -1 star for a little reefer madness late in the game, and -1 star for juggling and juxtaposing ideas in a way that becomes uneven by the denouement. Still, this film is a solid 7/10 and better than most of the recycled and repulsive junk we get in the horror genre.
And on a final note, I do NOT agree there is some agenda or political subtext. People see allegorical specters and phantom commies in everything. Get over it.