Hellbenders

The trailer for this seemed promising enough, but after watching I felt somewhat cheated. The comedy wasn't really there. I don't even remember laughing once. The characters weren't that interesting, except for maybe Clancy Brown's, but they didn't dig deep enough to make us really connect with him. The story was alright, but just wasn't executed well enough.

I normally like Brown, Clifton Collins Jr and especially Dan Fogler, but they couldn't save this unfortunately.

I'd pass this one up, unless you have some time to waste or are sure you have the same tastes as the people who gave this a good review.

Leave your political correctness at the door, and enjoy this raunchy and surprisingly well done horror movie. The vulgarity is 'integral to the plot' as the old saying goes. I thought it was being made as a horror comedy when it first started, and I was surprised that the cast was made up of seasoned experienced actors whom don't really appear in horror movies. Then the horror scenes began and I saw they were taking things seriously (raunchy humor aside). The scares are well done and imaginative (aside from the obviously tongue-in-cheek 'gateway' to hell), the story stays on pace when it cranks up , and it sets up for a sequel without being cheesy about it.

Watch this movie.

It's fun and absolutely irreverent while being faithful at the same time. The basic plot idea is fairly novel, and works well with the story despite the obvious logical and religious fallacies that present themselves in such a scenario.

In the same way that the "Adams Family" brought a breath of fresh air to the TV sitcom industry, this film brings a breath of fresh (well, freshly laden with the scent of whiskey perhaps..) air to the idea of exorcism. The Adams are evil, dark, twisted and backward, and yet somehow manage to deeply embody the cherished values of any strong family.

This film works somewhat the same, but with a lot more swearing, sexual innuendos and gory battles. The priests are absolutely the worst of the worst, and purposely keep themselves yoked with the burden of as much sin as they can in order to "fight fire with fire." It's a new take on the idea for certain. The originality makes it fun, and you can tell that the writers got it down quick, with all of the energy that having a good idea can generate.

This is a movie that was made purely for the sake of outlandish enjoyment. It has few pretenses, and doesn't bother taking itself seriously at all.

If you don't mind a little swearing, some poking at religion, a few sexual references and some fake blood, then I suspect you will enjoy this movie. So put your cynicism and expectations on the sideline for a little while and watch this. It's a good time.

And if you decide to watch it, know that my personal favorite part was the scene with the cracker.. and make sure you read the credits.

Having its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Hellbenders comes to us from the mind of writer/director JT Petty who was the man calling the shorts behind Mimic 3: Sentinel (2003) and The Burrowers (2008).

The film takes us inside the Hellbound Saints of Brooklyn Parish where the members are a group of vile quasi-Catholic priests who spend their days soaked in immorality in efforts to overtly break each of the seven deadly sins. Their licentiousness is recorded by a fellow member of the parish (Andre Royo) and the intention is to be so morally reprehensible that you can be possessed by a demon and then pull that demon into hell with you after taking your own life. This is the motivation for members to be "damnation-ready" for when the time is needed for them to spring into action.

The 'church' is always in a state of readiness. And when the phone rings with reports of a demon sighting, the members jump into action to both bloody and comedic effect. Think of them like the Ghostbusters, except this team likes to smoke, get drunk and commit as many sins as possible for heading out on assignment.

Things get hairy when two of the members try to exorcise a demon only to have one of them become possessed with an evil spirit intent on wiping out all of humanity. The remaining members must then put their feelings for the possessed priest aside as they attempt to thwart the demons world destruction plans.

With a cast that includes Clancy Brown, Dan Fogler, Macon Blair and Robyn Rikoon, Hellbenders was an interested but flawed profane 85-minute ride that stretched its interesting story about as far as audiences would concede.

The equal balance of comedy and supernatural elements worked fairly well and the cast seemed to be invested in the source material which was extracted from JT Petty's own graphic novel.

But the story just didn't grab us by the throat they way the director (I am sure) intended. Although these beings attempt to be as vile and profane as possible, they still didn't come across as evil and nasty as you would have hoped for such a dark comedy. And a whole storyline about the Parish being shut down by the church just felt like a diversion from the core story that was far more interesting.

The effects in the film were top rate. We were surprised at our screening to be passed 3D glasses, but as the movie progressed, we were conscious of the extra dimension and thought it was one of the better uses of the gimmick we have seen on screen. The make up and special effects were also comparable to big blockbuster type budgets.

But for a film demonic possession, it felt rather hollow and didn't give us enough of what the synopsis of the film promised. By the time the curtain was lowered and the cinema lights came back on, we had wished that JT Petty had spent more time on the characters themselves than on the story. We would have far more appreciated a feature just watching these guys sin and try and top each other rather than watching them demon hunt.

www.killerreviews.com

I've never reviewed a movie; but I have seen thousands, so I feel qualified enough to give an informed opinion. For what it was, this movie was freakin' Awesome! Don't forget that this is a cross genre movie. Don't get caught up in the fact that any serious horror fan wouldn't appreciate this or that, go into it knowing 'It's A Comedy/Horror'. This is a very well acted adult comedy using a horror theme. It's a great concept and well put together. There's plenty of gore and thrills to justify the horror tag, just don't expect the Exorcist and you will be well entertained. I am not involved with this or any other movie, I am just a dude who likes movies and gets pi$$ed-off when people misrepresent one to others by totally missing the whole point of it.

I will watch this movie again and make sure others do too. I gave it a 9/10 to try and even-out the D-bags who gave a low score but it is a solid 7/10. Acting, Concept, COMEDY/Horror; remember that.