Here Comes Hell

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Under the Radar

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This title is so very under the radar that it doesn't have a Wiki page (that I can find), the entire cast and crew are unfamiliar names (unless maybe you're British), it's low budget as all hell, and its Rotten Tomato page averages the film at 75% - 100% of that being a whopping 5 critic reviews. However, this is something I actually kind of admired for what it was. It's a title I think deserves to be out there for horror fans to explore.

Now, when I say "horror fans", I mean those who can appreciate this particular blend of 'Evil Dead', 'And Then There Were None' (which is really more mystery) and 'House on Haunted Hill'. Somehow, they made that all fit together here, and the low budget completely lends itself to the effects of old, classic cinema. Yeah, it sometimes looks ridiculous, but you can't help but feel that's what they meant to do. On top of that, it IS classified as a horror/comedy, so I feel a lot of cheap special effects are forgivable. Having said that, I should probably note that it's not exactly a knee-slapper of a horror/comedy either - this is saying a lot, as that's my favourite sub-genre.

The plot is about as basic as it gets. A number of characters, including George (Tom Bailey), Christine (Margaret Clunie), Jeffrey Bank (Robert Llewellyn), Freddie (Timothy Renouf), Victor (Charlie Robb) and Elizabeth (Jessica Webber) get invited to a fancy dinner party at a gigantic Manor. It's the old whodunnit set-up, hosted by some unnamed guy (Jasper Britton). However, instead of the classic situation where everyone gets to know each other, the lights flicker, and the first murder is committed for a night of problem-solving, only the first of these is true to form.

Instead, our Host wishes to conduct a seance with the help of a medium named Madame Bellrose (Maureen Bennett) in order to contact the spirit of the mansion's former owner, Ichabod Quinn (Nicholas Le Prevost). As one can probably guess, the seance goes awry, and before the group knows it, they are face to face with what can only be considered another version of "Deadites" from 'Evil Dead'. Can they survive the night, and close the gate to Hell they just accidentally opened? Sooo... not entirely original on the whole, but once again, this one's more about the execution of things.

The way this plays out is as though it's an old-timey horror/mystery film from the 30s or 40s but if they were allowed to do things like 'Evil Dead' was able to do by 1981. It would have been terrifying for the time, and I can't help but appreciate that aspect of it. I have a thing for something that can use old material but put a new spin on it. The only real problem I have with this is that it's just not really funny at all. There were times I may have snickered a bit, but I'm fairly convinced I wasn't exactly meant to. This is a movie I can appreciate for what it tried to do, but it sadly does fall a little bit flat. However, with the right audience, I do believe this has some kind of cult-following potential. For those of you who have Shudder, go check it out and decide for yourself.

3/5

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