Hellbent [DVD]

I was genuinly surprised by this film, it is one of the better horror films i have seen with and added bonus that the main characters are all good looking and gay. However the film makers have not let gay element drive the film or detract from its essence, which is horror. Ok it's not the most blood thirsy film or nor does it have the most iniative death scenes but hey, that is so easy to do these days. What is does so well, that most modern horrors forget to do, is make you actully like the characters care what happens to them. Its not jsut gay sex filling in bewteen the death scenes (actually there is hardly any) its about friendship and coming to terms with who you are. the Death scenes are bruthel and sylishly done, the acting is good and script has well balanced hummour and all in all, it doesn't look, sound of feel, like a low budget fim. There were 6 of us watching it and i've lent it to other firends and every one loves it! Buy you will not regret it!

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 read some reviews somewhere which made this film out to be the worst ever made.

It's not a materpiece, but it kept me entertained. Likes to make out that the gay thing is incidental, but it isn't.

Good mindless fun.