Hex

"Hex" follows a gang of bikers in the 1920s who stumble upon a rural farm in the Nebraska countryside. The men, who have one female among their group, accept the reluctant offer to spend the night at the farm, which is run by two Native American sisters. After one of the gang tries to rape the younger sister, the eldest takes to her deceased father's Native magical practices to enact revenge.

Though marketed as a horror film, "Hex" is really a mixture of genres, with some horror elements cobbled together with a period Western and the counterculture biker flick, e.g. "Easy Rider." Filmed on location in South Dakota, the film has a dreary, dusty feel, and is quite nicely photographed, giving the viewer the sense of actually being there.

The horror sequences come in spurts here, and are centered around the eldest sister (portrayed by Cristina Raines, who would later gain fame in the horror genre for her turn in "The Sentinel") practicing Native American magic as a means of getting back at the various members of the biker gang who have wronged her or transgressed the family's land. Among these is a particularly powerful, hallucinogenic sequence involving the female biker, who has a macabre vision brought on by a spell involving a toad.

A handsome Keith Carradine plays the sympathetic leader of the gang, and Scott Glenn and Gary Busey play two of the wayward gang members who are much more unseemly. The characters are mostly well-written, save a few of the bikers, and there is a goofy romantic subplot that nearly elicits laughter in certain awkward moments. The whole thing feels quite innocent in tone, which is at odds with the film's darker elements, but it somehow retains a made-for-TV-movie quality that is as perplexing as it is amusing. This is only accentuated by the ending, which defies logic but ties the story up in an appropriate way.

While it is not a perfect film, I found "Hex" to be quite enjoyable. As a horror film, it is quite mild, though it does deliver some psychedelic cinematography and a few creepy moments. More than that, it is just plain weird, and as a quasi-horror flick grafted onto the skeleton of "Easy Rider," it manages to be surprisingly memorable despite all odds. 7/10.

I caught this one online under the title THE SHRIEKING. It's an odd little amalgam of no less than three genres, none of which work out very well. It has a western setting with Native American folklore playing a role in the proceedings. The idea of an outlaw gang holing up at a remote ranch occupied by a couple of young sisters is a familiar western trope. It's also a biker movie, with familiar faces like Keith Carradine, Robert Walker Jr., Gary Busey and Scott Glenn filling out the roles of the ragtag bikers. Finally, it's a supernatural horror story of death and revenge, although these plot elements are so subtle that you could almost miss them. Some interesting ingredients are present here, but as a whole it's a quiet and lacklustre movie.

While there are better films tucked into the sub-genre of the weird western anyone who really enjoys those movies should take a look. If you've never heard of weird westerns then this could be an easy entry. A lot of familiar faces here and there.

This film begins in 1919 with two sisters named "Oriole" (Cristina Raines) and "Acacia" (Hilarie Thompson) working alone on their farm several miles from the small town of Bingo, Nebraska. Although they don't go into town very often, when they finally decide to do so, they are surprised to see a small group of World War I veterans riding motorcycles and causing all kinds of pandemonium. So much of a ruckus in fact, that not long afterward these same veterans are subsequently chased out of town by an armed posse. Since none of this affects Oriole, she simply continues on with her business and afterward the two of them head back to their farm. When they get there, however, they are surprised to find the motorcyclists hiding in their barn in order to elude the posse. So, unable to convince them to leave or forcibly evict them, the two sisters decide to show them some hospitality by allowing them to sleep in the barn for the night and hoping that they will leave the next day. Unfortunately, when one of the veterans named "Giblets" (Gary Busey) tries to rape Acacia, Oriole takes matters into her own hands and conjures an evil curse upon him which kills him in a ghastly manner. Not realizing that Oriole has such mystical powers, the veterans decide to stay there a little longer-with horrible consequences for them all. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this could have been an excellent film if the director (Leo Garen) knew what he was doing. But apparently, that wasn't the case as each time he arrived at an important crossroads--he chose the wrong direction and let the moment slip. So rather than creating something special all we're left with is an incoherent mess. What a shame.

When HEX began, three things struck me. First, how incredibly pointless were the first scenes. Second, how the music score for the credits was incredibly jarring and loud. Third, I looked on the IMDB trivia and it said that the film was made in 1971 but sat on the shelf for two years and was also cut and recut... a clear sign the film was a s**tstorm. Holding a film for release it's a kiss of death with few exceptions.

In 1919 (soon after the war ended) a group of pilots and a woman (Whizzer, Golly, Jimbang, Chupo, Giblets and China) becomes motorcyclist and goes to California for seeking their fortunes. In rural Nebraska they are challenged to a race by a hot rodder. The result is disputed and they go in a farm owned by two sisters. Giblets (Gary Busey) tries to r**e Acacia that manages to escape, but her sister Oriole puts a curse on him; soon we see Giblets wandering at night where an owl attacks him taking his eyes out. After China goes missing other strange events occur such as Jimbang (Scott Glenn) that tries to shoot Oriole but the gun kills him instead, Whizzer killing Chupo in the barn with a sickle, Oriole that stabs a toad and kills also China because the toad had some hair in his mouth and many more I thankfully forgot.

The acting was amateurish by everyone. While you can't certainly blame Gary Busey and Scott Glenn as they were still making their bones, you can't forgive the others as they have a laziness comparable only to that of the TWILIGHT franchise actors. The soundtrack was all over the place, as they were the direction, photography and pacing: it looked like they knew they had a bad movie in their hands and simply didn't care to improve it in any way.

So, despite my reservations about the acting, the two year delay and the horrible beginning, is there something that makes this movie worth seeing? Well, considering its score of 4,5 it's unlikely I'd recommend it to anyone that soon. Do yourself a favor - don't watch this film. Even for someone who occasionally watches bad movies (like me) it's not worth it - unless they are masochists. And I gave it a 2 only because there wasn't that much blood nor gory scenes.