HellBent
2004
Dir. Paul Etheredge-Ouzts
A group of friends are stalked and murdered by a masked killer as they party at West Hollywood's Halloween carnival.
Slasher movies can nearly always be relied upon to stick closely to a familiar structure and a set of conventions established by the likes of Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980) - oblivious characters are picked off one by one by a masked killer in an isolated location (summer camp, quiet suburban neighbourhood, sorority house, college campus etc) as they separate and wander off from the group. Eventually only one (usually a young woman - the 'final girl') is left to defeat the killer alone. Scream (1996) shook things up and breathed new life into the slasher film, with its fresh humour, irony and cine-literate characters and dialogue. In a post-Scream landscape however, is there anywhere left for the slasher to go that's new and interesting?
Enter HellBent. Written and directed by Paul Etheredge-Ouzts, it has been described as the 'first gay slasher movie.' While horror has always contained subtle gay subtext and undertones, and has a huge LGBT following, very few horror films have ever really made gay characters or themes the main focus. HellBent features a savvy, pop-cultured cast of gay characters who aren't solely defined by their sexual orientation (they're all out, proud, and living their lives). The screenplay invests enough interest in them to make the audience care about them and root for them when the killer strikes. However, as characters in a slasher film, they do still conform to basic 'types.' There's Eddie (Dylan Fergus), who from the outset looks to be the 'final girl' substitute as he is the most level-headed and responsible. Eddie's bisexual housemate Chaz (Andrew Levitas) likes to party and is the reveller of the group, while Joey (Hank Harris) is the youngest and, being quite shy, struggles to summon the courage to talk to his crush. Tobey (Matt Phillips) is a handsome and athletic model who, fed up with the superficiality of the scene, dresses in drag in an effort to meet someone who likes him for his personality and not just his good looks. Lastly, Jake (Bryan Kirkwood) is a rugged motorcyclist who joins the group as the love interest for Eddie.
The cast have great chemistry and their characters are likeable, relatable and (unlike many slasher film characters) actually seem to really care about each other. For the most part they try to stick together and look after each other in the midst of the carnival. They discuss the killer's possible motives, and the possible connection between sexual repression and the violent rampage of the killer. Are the victims being murdered by a homophobic maniac, or is the killer slaughtering these young men as the result of his own internalised homophobia? While HellBent provides a fun, fresh angle and some positive LGBT representation, other than its gay theme and subtle queering of various slasher tropes, it sticks rigidly to the rules and conventions of the slasher movie, right down to the pre-credits murder sequence involving a couple making out in a car in the middle of nowhere. The carnival provides a colourful, hedonistic backdrop with its costumed party-goers, drag performers, nods to the Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, and queercore punk sensibility.
Social commentary sparks when Eddie, who works in a police station, beseeches his sister, a cop on the force, to not let the murders be dismissed as 'just a gay-bashing thing.' This moment serves to highlight social inequality, injustice and violence against the LGBT community, highlighting intolerance and police brutality that means victims of homophobic violence are generally ignored, if they report attacks at all, or for it to be implied that they were somehow 'asking for it' because of their sexual orientation.
The silent, seemingly invincible killer in HellBent wears a devil mask, wields a scythe and has obviously been working out. An unusual, striking slasher villain, he elicits feelings of fear and desire, which lends proceedings an unnerving, heady feel. We know nothing about him or his motivations, except how unrelenting and vicious he is.
While obviously shot on a low budget, the film still manages to be visually striking, and features many vivid set pieces that have an Argentoesque feel to them: in other words everything is bathed in lurid red lighting and creates quite an arresting, unsettling atmosphere. Etheredge-Ouzts builds tension throughout and really cranks it up in the last act when Eddie and Jake come face to face with the killer. There's a particularly stressful moment involving a character handcuffed to a bed as the killer advances...
Ultimately, this is a fun, at times taut and unnerving film with a chilling final shot.
