Billed as 'the first gay slasher film', Hellbent basically takes every genre trait it can and tries to combine them into a singular movie. It works in some ways, mainly as a pastiche with a twist since it's not the usual straight sex-crazed, drugged-out teens that have been served up as fodder for decades.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work in a number of other ways, and that's a real shame. I think the biggest way that it fails is that no-one really brings up the concern of a hate crime after the double-murder at the beginning. In reality, that would be all over the place, people would have heard about it, and it's very unlikely things would go on exactly as planned with a brutal double-murder the night before Halloween, especially when it was not even two blocks away from the centre of West Hollywood. Sorry, but I don't buy it.
It seemed like the makers wanted to avoid stereotypes, but in so doing also managed to avoid realistic-feeling characters. Instead, the characters came off as pretty heavily stereotypical...just in different ways than is usually seen in gay-oriented entertainment, and at the same time included almost no recognisable figures that one would really encounter in a place of such a concentration of the gay community. Basically, like they were trying way too hard to 'normalise' gay men and gay culture, to the point where it just looks like obnoxious 20somethings at funky clubs on Halloween. The characters are all fairly ridiculously fit, though, which isn't really clever enough to be ironic.
It didn't deal well with the mysterious killer, who is never explained and has no real gravitas. It's just some bodybuilder in a mask, that's it. Nothing more is ever really explored. For that matter, the other characters were largely not that great, aside from the genuinely likable Chaz, which may have been due to the actor's own charisma. The main protagonist was awful, as was his unbelievable and obnoxious female friend; they also didn't really explain what he was doing working for the police since it was stated numerous times he failed his exam.
This said, though, the big flub of Hellbent is that it kills off the much more likable and interesting characters, does it far too soon in the story, and doesn't even do it well. The more annoying characters stick around, the story goes nowhere, and it ends about as you'd expect. The story doesn't make sense -- after encountering a weird, potentially dangerous guy at the scene of a murder less than 24 hours previous, they say nothing to anyone and aren't that surprised when he follows them?! The whole hate crime element is not really touched upon, and it's conspicuous by its absence, but it's not something that the viewer can really avoid thinking about.
Maybe that's the reason why Hellbent is one of a tiny few in the 'gay slasher' genre...because it's not really fun, and usually slasher films are kind of supposed to be. It tries too hard, and it doesn't try hard enough. It's basically just really depressing, and by the end of it all you aren't even fulfilled by a satisfying resolution. If it had been just another 'straight teens go partying on Halloween and there's a killer' film, not a single person would have cared. It doesn't have a sense of humour really, so you can't even say it's a black comedy. It's just sad.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work in a number of other ways, and that's a real shame. I think the biggest way that it fails is that no-one really brings up the concern of a hate crime after the double-murder at the beginning. In reality, that would be all over the place, people would have heard about it, and it's very unlikely things would go on exactly as planned with a brutal double-murder the night before Halloween, especially when it was not even two blocks away from the centre of West Hollywood. Sorry, but I don't buy it.
It seemed like the makers wanted to avoid stereotypes, but in so doing also managed to avoid realistic-feeling characters. Instead, the characters came off as pretty heavily stereotypical...just in different ways than is usually seen in gay-oriented entertainment, and at the same time included almost no recognisable figures that one would really encounter in a place of such a concentration of the gay community. Basically, like they were trying way too hard to 'normalise' gay men and gay culture, to the point where it just looks like obnoxious 20somethings at funky clubs on Halloween. The characters are all fairly ridiculously fit, though, which isn't really clever enough to be ironic.
It didn't deal well with the mysterious killer, who is never explained and has no real gravitas. It's just some bodybuilder in a mask, that's it. Nothing more is ever really explored. For that matter, the other characters were largely not that great, aside from the genuinely likable Chaz, which may have been due to the actor's own charisma. The main protagonist was awful, as was his unbelievable and obnoxious female friend; they also didn't really explain what he was doing working for the police since it was stated numerous times he failed his exam.
This said, though, the big flub of Hellbent is that it kills off the much more likable and interesting characters, does it far too soon in the story, and doesn't even do it well. The more annoying characters stick around, the story goes nowhere, and it ends about as you'd expect. The story doesn't make sense -- after encountering a weird, potentially dangerous guy at the scene of a murder less than 24 hours previous, they say nothing to anyone and aren't that surprised when he follows them?! The whole hate crime element is not really touched upon, and it's conspicuous by its absence, but it's not something that the viewer can really avoid thinking about.
Maybe that's the reason why Hellbent is one of a tiny few in the 'gay slasher' genre...because it's not really fun, and usually slasher films are kind of supposed to be. It tries too hard, and it doesn't try hard enough. It's basically just really depressing, and by the end of it all you aren't even fulfilled by a satisfying resolution. If it had been just another 'straight teens go partying on Halloween and there's a killer' film, not a single person would have cared. It doesn't have a sense of humour really, so you can't even say it's a black comedy. It's just sad.