Hellweek

HELLWEEK! Not real sure why the early rating of this film is so low, granted, I only give it a 4 out of 10, but a 1 or 2? No way! While the acting is for the most part bad, this film delivers in other ways, and most of that is the homage that it plays to other films. From THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE to THE EVIL DEAD and even American PIE, this film has it all.

The leading actor, J.J. (Rob Jaeger), tries his damnedest to fit the role of Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) from American PIE. For the most part he does a good job, with some corny one-liners of the sex-oriented variety, and even the facial expressions, hair, etc. He does a better job at imitating Stifler than anyone I've ever seen, yet his acting still isn't as impressive as Seann W. Scott's Stifler, but who's is? One of the actresses that I loved watching in this film (and would LOVE to see more of) was Michelene Pancoe (Haylie). I think she would be a perfect "Scream Queen" actress if put in the right role. I know if I was a director she would be one of the actresses that I would make a starring role for, along with Tiffany Shepis and Jenny Spain of course. I wish she would of had a bigger role, I really do.

...back to the film. Pretty good story. A few nice gore scenes. Some comedy. Decent acting. Good music. Some very beautiful girls. Some good camera shots of an old factory (in Cleveland?). Not very scary at all, but it's still a horror film. Definitely not as bad as the IMDb ratings show thus far (like 45 votes at the present time I think). Not bad at all for a low budget film. Have I seen better? Yes. Have I seen worse? Hell yeah! It kept me interested the entire time, so I feel it's worth a view. A solid 4 out of 10. I almost gave it a 5...

This is not a movie.

This would be more considered as a student project. These kids have persuaded their girlfriends to do the "acting" here, and used up some goofy masks with a lot of CHEAP red paint for fake blood. Script is weird, in terms that is adds up characters that have nothing to do with it. Also, film is sterile, has no love scenes. That only shows that youth is ashamed of its own actions...which is a very standard and plain way of thinking inside the insides of the box.

This movie is so cheap, that I'd suggest you to watch it alone and not call anyone else along side, because they'll fall in coma from lame dialogs and frames that look like they were made by cell phone camera.

This is not a horror movie, its just a horror.

I think people need to realize that this was a low budget indie film. Not a $20 million dollar Hollywood production. The writing is the strongest part of this movie, so kudos to Eddie. Followed by Rob who plays JJ does a incredible job with his character.

"Hellweek" isn't just a film; it's a reminder of how low the bar can go.

From the first frame to the interminable last, this cinematic monstrosity drags itself along like a zombie in need of caffeine. The concept-a satanic fraternity initiation gone awry-should have been the bloody good fun of "The Evil Dead" meeting the relentless dread of "Hereditary." Instead, it's a soulless slog with the charisma of an unpaid extra in a straight-to-VHS knockoff.

The dialogue? If clichés were currency, this script could fund James Cameron's next underwater odyssey. The characters feel as if they were written by AI stuck in beta: bland, wooden, and occasionally glitching into bouts of absurd melodrama. Underacting and overacting battle for dominance like dueling banjos in "Deliverance," but neither wins.

And oh, the direction. It's as if someone watched "The Shining" and thought, "What if we sucked out all the atmosphere?" The pacing plods, the scares are telegraphed a mile away, and the runtime-at an unholy two hours-stretches the audience's patience thinner than "The Exorcist 2's" critical acclaim.

Still, the hard-rock soundtrack bangs. Unfortunately, it's like putting a cherry on top of a compost heap.

Low budgies are always something of a crapshoot. On one hand, the people involved have more freedom. On the other, they often can't afford talent. Hellweek was supposedly produced on an estimated budget of $14,000 and, for the life of me, I can't figure out where that money went. The camera-work is amateurish at best, the acting is a bit worse than amateur, the script is meandering and occasionally nonsensical, and the editing is non-existent. There are serious issues with sound-balancing where one second you can barely hear the characters but the next second their laughter can be deafening. The color is off in many of the scenes and there are lighting issues in many shots. The film also suffers from the all-too-frequent problem of inconsistent outdoor environments where morning, day, dusk, and night fly by in minutes.

The story is both meandering and often incomprehensible. Near as I can figure, ghostly serial killers are haunting a warehouse where a fraternity plans to haze new members. Of course, it takes forever for anything resembling hazing to begin. Much of the movie revolves around a boy named "JJ". His is apparently the only important name, as any scene that he's not in (and there are very few) all of the rest of the cast is mostly talking about him. And, to prevent you from forgetting who that character is, JJ frequently talks in the third person or otherwise self-references.

The majority of the film is consumed by talk about some big party, occasional drama between characters that doesn't build into much, and pointless almost-subplots (a porn business, a premonition, a psychic, etc). While the movie is supposedly about kids being attacked in a warehouse it takes forever for them to actually get to the warehouse. It's almost as if the horror was an afterthought. The villains and effects are generally goofy and their motivations range from being confusing to silly.

Hellweek plays out like a bad student film project. Most of the actors deliver dialogue with an almost smile on their face, an "oh, look at me, I'm ACTING!" The camera-work, editing, and production are generally shoddy. The story lacks focus and even the dialogue is weak. Would recommend avoiding.