Hellions (2015)

hyped garbage

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

'Hellions' had a good deal going for it. The cover/poster was cool and creepy, the idea for the story was great, it looked and sounded interesting with it taking a more arty and surreal approach to supernatural horror. The mixed to negative reviews and less than favourable rating made me feel a bit conflicted in seeing it, due to judging from recent experience (being somebody who actually trusts the site ratings and critical reviews much more than most do) those that have either or both are that bad.Decided to see 'Hellions' anyway, and while it did underwhelm considering its potential, with it starting so well, it didn't make me feel ashamed of having watched it, despite its heavily problematic final third that brought it down significantly. As far as recent low-budget horror viewings go, 'Hellions' is up there with the better ones. Not great, not awful, more one of those mixed feelings worth a one-time watch for interest films while not holding up for repeat viewings.There are good things here. 'Hellions' is a surprisingly decent looking film in general, very nicely and professionally shot, some creepy lighting, editing that is coherent and not a hack job and some effects that don't look afterthought-like. The music and sound are ominous and not intrusive. It also starts off really well. The first half an hour especially is very intriguing and atmospheric with a lot of creepiness and suspense. The direction is assured to begin with and the acting is better than average, good in the case of Chloe Rose. The chemistry didn't feel bland and didn't feel random and did appreciate that it didn't rely on gratuitous gore and nudity to convey the horror. Which is why it is sad that 'Hellions' is badly let down by the last third feeling like a different film, where the tension, suspense and creepiness of the first half an hour completely dissipates. Instead becoming a mess of stupid decision making that makes previously sympathetic characters frustrating, senselessness that borders on incoherence, predictability and erratic pacing, it all becomes bland, uncomfortably weird and muddled. Topped off by an ending that feels like the film didn't have an ending at all and like the writers had run out of ideas or didn't know how to end it. They were enough to bring the film more than one star each.Also, the dialogue is far from great throughout 'Hellions', it is a miracle that the actors managed to keep a straight face with the unintentionally funny lines they had to spout. While 'Hellions' generally looks decent, it's not perfect. The pink colour filter is distracting and some effects struck me as unnecessary and cheap-looking.Overall, not bad but considering its early promise it should have been much better. 5/10 Bethany Cox

A teenage daughter decides to stay home Halloween and hand candy out. Dressed up in an angel costume and just finding out she's pregnant she gets a knock on the door. Opening it she finds trick or treaters that won't talk or leave. She soon discovers they are not children at all. They soon start making her evening a nightmare she won't forget because they really want her baby not the candy. After one of them touches her belly the baby starts growing to full term in one night.This one is not too bad but it does kind of mesh Trick R Treat with Children Of The Corn with a little Ghoulies. Robert Patrick is in this for a bit and I don't know if it's just me but he is looking old these days.Lots of jumps and scares in this one but it lacked a story and even originality. It had those did it happen or didn't it scenes. The cinematography in this is stunning. Some of the backdrop shots were amazing now if only they could get a script.

I just figured it out. I like watching terrible movies. Why else would I do it so often? I like them because they give me so much to rant about on IMDb.com. OK movies and good movies are too boring. Everything is so good and well done, who wants to write about that? Give me the unbearable, give me the laughable; I can write all day about that.This mutilated "Children of the Corn" knock off was about a Gothic, slutty, petulant teenager that gets pregnant and finds out about it on Halloween. While staying at home to sulk about her new, and seemingly baffling situation, she's attacked by (I guess) Hellions. Their name is such a misnomer because they looked like wee little ones in costumes. These annoying little cretins won't stop until they have the child in Dora's belly. For some reason we're supposed to care about little goth girl during her fight for her life. Maybe because she wore white? The entire time the hellions are staging their attack the soundtrack alternated from "Silent Night" to kids chanting and yelling in unison. What Silent Night has to do with Halloween is beyond me, but the kids "singing" wasn't scary it was annoying. This entire movie for that matter wasn't scary. They went for cheap cinematic triggers such as flashes of random images, sepia tones for about a third of the movie and exploding pumpkins. Yes... exploding pumpkins. Because what drums up fear from the depths of your soul more than exploding pumpkins.When I wasn't being assaulted by terrible acting and a worse script I was trying to figure out if she was dreaming or awake because they bounced back and forth between the two so often. Eventually I gave up and assumed I was the one dreaming. I had to be because why would I watch a movie like this? This must be a nightmare.

Hellions (2015) * (out of 4) Seventeen-year-old Dora Vogel (Chloe Rose) learns that she's pregnant on Halloween. After receiving the news she decides to skip a party and stay home where she's soon being terrorized by a group of trick or treaters.HELLIONS got quite a bit of pre-release buzz and the folks at IFC Midnight hyped the film up making people think they were finally going to get another classic that took place on Halloween. The buzz was pretty high for the movie but the end result is somewhat of a joke because I found the movie to be really, really bad on so many different levels. Were horror fans really this desperate for a film set on Halloween that some would praise this thing? There have been several movies based around the psychological issues of a woman who finds out that she is pregnant. That's obviously what this movie was going for but the biggest problem is the fact that the film never really gets inside this character's head and not for a second is there any sort of tension or mind games that scare you. In fact, the "world" created by the various visions here are all rather good looking but they're just flat and contain no energy or scares. THE WIZARD OF OZ these images are not.Another problem with the film is that it's simply deadly dull because there are just so many fake dream sequences that you really grow tired with what you're watching. When your lead character keeps going through a nine month pregnancy over the course of a night you pretty much know what's going on and the eventual twist means zero. I will say Rose was decent in the lead role and it's always nice seeing Robert Patrick but HELLIONS is just a really bad horror film that once again is all hype and nothing else.