Hellmouth

This could have been a good flick but the story was too muddled. At the end of it, I find myself asking, what was the point of it?!

The CG / effects are hair better than a typical SciFi channel movie; with a bigger budget, the film's visuals could have been outstanding. As it is, sometimes they're interesting and other times they're almost distractingly bad.

As far as the acting, Stephen McHattie certainly stands out in a good way, but the rest of the cast are pretty standard and not all that interesting. Unfortunately, McHattie can't make up for the film's drawbacks, and ultimately what drags the film down is any lack of coherence or depth to the plot. The teaser "Hellmouth is about a gravekeeper who is drawn into a hell dimension to save the soul of a beautiful woman" sums the film up completely, and sadly, there's not really any depth to the story beyond this statement. This is one of those films that felt like it could have had real vision, but failed due to a lack of focus by the film maker.

I knew within the first five minutes of watching this move that it was something really unique. Not really a horror movie, which the name and poster suggest. First of all there is Stephen McHattie, who is a seriously underrated actor. Second, the visuals and filming of the movie are really quite unique. It wanders a bit as the movie progresses, but is well wroth watching. Fantastic.

Underrated actors... I was not sure about trying this movie at first and it was mainly due to him that I did but I am glad that I did! This was a great little find! As others have said, if you were not a fan how movies like Sin City were done then you may not be fond of this. I actually find that I like this style a lot, and found this movie to be visually stimulating as well as entertaining. Watched it late at night and was glued to it until the end. Yes, the overall story outline was simple but that doesn't mean it wasn't good. I would definitely watch this again and would suggest it to others that can appreciate it as a visually artistic piece of entertainment. The acting was excellent all the way around, they nailed that 50's film noir feel completely! Loved it!

This Constantine (2005) meets Sin City (2005) is a mostly black and white, graphic novel approach to hell. It's glaringly stark cinematography adapts well to the horror filled nightmares of children and the black despair and creepiness of hell. Strangely simplistic in its approach, the fifties element of the despondent detective in the form of a aging, dying, close to retirement grave-digger is caught up in a wrenched dilemma of perhaps having to continue dig his own grave on his terrible, nightmarish job until he dies (his dream of more sunny retirement Florida seemingly beyond his reach). This movie may have been much more effective had it been directed and scripted as an R-rated feature film so that its graphic profanity of a hellish nature and sexual emotional bonding could have enriched and enlivened the movie even more so. The somewhat soft ending can be taken either as a cop out or a refreshing little breath of mental sunshine, probably left up to the viewer. Nevertheless, this movie borders on the ranks of What Dreams May Come (1998) and to a lesser epic extent The Lord of the Rings (2001) in an epistemological (inner knowledge or truthful way).

Stylized, surreal and thoroughly captivating. If you're looking for a scary horror movie, this isn't it. But if you are looking for something oddly charming, memorable and creepily funny that makes you ask, "Wait, what?!" with each new turn of the plot, this movie has much to offer. (Fans of Dellamorte Dellamore will probably enjoy this.) In my opinion, the only thing that could have improved this movie was a soundtrack by Danny Elfman.