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HellBreeder [2004] A surprisingly arty, low-budget horror picture – commendably ambitious, if hard to warm up to. Guilt-ridden mother Alice [Lyndie Uphill], whose eight-year-old son has been murdered, suffers nightmares about the incident which has ruined her family life and turns up at the scenes of further killings by the same murderer, exciting the suspicion of the cop on the case [Dominique Pinon]. Unsure whether she is going completely crazy or having psychic flashes, she seems to remember that her son was attacked by a madman [Darren Day] who also pops up around the case, but eventually realises this gaunt figure is another grieving parent and that the actual murderer is a supernatural being [Harold Gasnier] who takes the form of a giant, fanged clown. The monster is an obvious borrowing from Stephen King's It, and some
place-names are similarly tip the hat to the King oeuvre, but the approach
is British miserablism, with characters unsure of the reality of what
they experience and wallowing in often literally naked depression. It's
creepy, unsettling and highly-wrought, with a strong performance from
Uphill, but its vagueness and attempt to make something of a very contrived
and familiar situation ultimately hobbles it to the level of an average
direct-to-video piece. Writer-director Johannes Roberts has followed
up with Darkhunters and
Forest of the Damned;
his films all have their moments, but none are wholly satisfying yet
– still, he's a more interesting filmmaker than Jake West or Adam
Mason. First published in this form here. Visit Kim's Official Website at www.johnnyalucard.com
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