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,...