HellBent
Encyclopedia
Hellbent is a 2004
slasher film
and queer horror
film written and directed
by Paul Etheredge-Ouzts. It is reportedly the first gay slasher film. Hellbent played the gay and lesbian film festival
circuit throughout 2004 and 2005 before a limited theatrical release in September 2005
.
. A gay couple out on a date are making out in a car when a bare-chested killer in a devil mask suddenly appears and decapitates
them with a sickle
.
The next day, Halloween, finds Eddie (Dylan Fergus) at his job as a police technician talking with his police officer sister. He's asked by the captain to distribute flyers about the murders in heavily gay-populated West Hollywood
. He dresses in his father's old police uniform for a Halloween costume. While distributing the flyers he meets Jake (Bryan Kirkwood), a "bad boy" type who rides a motorcycle, in a tattoo shop.
Eddie meets up with his roommates, Chaz (Andrew Levitas), Joey (Hank Harris) and Tobey (Matt Phillips) and they head for the West Hollywood Halloween Carnival. Chaz insists they visit the murder scene and, as they walk through the woods, the devil-masked killer appears. They think he's cruising
them and they taunt him.
At the Carnival, Eddie spots Jake going into a bar called the Meat Locker and his group goes in as well. Inside, Joey sees Jared, who he's had a crush on for weeks, and offers his phone number but is dismissed. Crestfallen, Joey goes to the restroom with Chaz. Chaz consoles him then goes to wait for him outside. Jared catches up with Joey in the restroom and apologizes. They kiss and Jared leaves. A few moments later, the killer emerges from a stall and decapitates Joey, taking his head as a trophy.
Chaz meets back up with Eddie, Jake and Tobey. Eddie and Jake head back to the Meat Locker. Chaz goes into another club. There the killer catches up with him on the dance floor, slashing his torso and removing his head while the crowd dances on, oblivious.
Tobey, drunk and angry that no one's hitting on him while he's in his Halloween drag, spots the killer, who's still carrying Joey and Chaz's heads in trick or treat
bags. Ironically, Tobey pursues the killer, who also dismisses him. Tobey tosses his driver's license at the killer, who picks it up. When Tobey partially removes his drag, the killer returns and collects his head.
Eddie and Jake arrive back at the Meat Locker but it's been closed following the discovery of Joey's body (although Eddie and Jake do not learn that it's Joey who's dead). Jake hops a fence to retrieve his motorcycle. Eddie goes after him but Jake's circled around and is back outside. Suddenly the killer appears behind Eddie and swings his sickle, but misses. Jake starts to scale the fence but the killer forces him back. Eddie runs and the killer follows. Eddie locks himself in a small enclosure. The killer strikes at him again and the tip of his blade scrapes Eddie's eye. Jake arrives with a cop and the killer takes off.
Eddie and Jake give their statements at police headquarters and Jake learns that Eddie's eye is artificial. They go back to Eddie's place and start having sex, although Jake will not let Eddie kiss him. Jake finds Tobey's license on the floor of Eddie's room with blood on it, but does not understand the significance. Jake handcuffs Eddie to his bed and goes in search of condoms. As he's returning, the killer stabs him and leaves him for dead. Eddie hears the struggle and calls out. As the killer approaches and Eddie struggles with the cuffs, Jake hits the killer from behind with a baseball bat. Eddie slips a hand out of the cuffs, tends to Jake's wound and heads off to call an ambulance, but the killer revives and disables the phone. Eddie runs to the kitchen. He finds a knife but also finds the heads of Joey, Chaz and Tobey. The killer attacks again. Eddie evades him and retreats to his bedroom. As the killer chops at the door, Eddie retrieves his father's gun and some bullets. He gets Jake out onto the fire escape and loads the gun. The killer attacks Eddie yet again, this time sucking Eddie's artificial eye right out of his head and knocking him over a railing. With Eddie dangling from the fire escape the killer returns to Jake. Eddie retrieves the gun and fires, first hitting Jake and then hitting the killer square in the forehead. As they wait for help to arrive Jake at last kisses Eddie.
Jake is packed off to the hospital and Eddie promises to be there when he wakes up. Eddie's sister gloats over the fallen killer, but Eddie realizes that he's still alive. In the final moment, the killer opens his eyes and bares his teeth, disclosing that he still has Eddie's artificial eye clenched in his jaws.
on September 1, 2006, it has also been released on Region 2 subsequently.
bands Pansy Division
, Three Dollar Bill
, Best Revenge
, and Nick Name.
2004 in film
The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
and queer horror
Queer horror
LGBT themes in horror fiction refers to sexuality in horror fiction that can often focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender characters and themes. It may deal with characters who are coded as or who are openly LGBT, or it may deal with themes or plots that are specific to homosexual people...
film written and directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Paul Etheredge-Ouzts. It is reportedly the first gay slasher film. Hellbent played the gay and lesbian film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
circuit throughout 2004 and 2005 before a limited theatrical release in September 2005
2005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
.
Plot
It's the night before HalloweenHalloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
. A gay couple out on a date are making out in a car when a bare-chested killer in a devil mask suddenly appears and decapitates
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
them with a sickle
Sickle
A sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock . Sickles have also been used as weapons, either in their original form or in various derivations.The diversity of sickles that...
.
The next day, Halloween, finds Eddie (Dylan Fergus) at his job as a police technician talking with his police officer sister. He's asked by the captain to distribute flyers about the murders in heavily gay-populated West Hollywood
West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, California, was incorporated on November 29, 1984, with a population of 34,399 at the 2010 census. 41% of the city's population is made up of gay men according to a 2002 demographic analysis by Sara Kocher Consulting for the City of West Hollywood...
. He dresses in his father's old police uniform for a Halloween costume. While distributing the flyers he meets Jake (Bryan Kirkwood), a "bad boy" type who rides a motorcycle, in a tattoo shop.
Eddie meets up with his roommates, Chaz (Andrew Levitas), Joey (Hank Harris) and Tobey (Matt Phillips) and they head for the West Hollywood Halloween Carnival. Chaz insists they visit the murder scene and, as they walk through the woods, the devil-masked killer appears. They think he's cruising
Cruising for sex
Cruising for sex, or cruising is the act of walking or driving about a locality in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, one-time variety...
them and they taunt him.
At the Carnival, Eddie spots Jake going into a bar called the Meat Locker and his group goes in as well. Inside, Joey sees Jared, who he's had a crush on for weeks, and offers his phone number but is dismissed. Crestfallen, Joey goes to the restroom with Chaz. Chaz consoles him then goes to wait for him outside. Jared catches up with Joey in the restroom and apologizes. They kiss and Jared leaves. A few moments later, the killer emerges from a stall and decapitates Joey, taking his head as a trophy.
Chaz meets back up with Eddie, Jake and Tobey. Eddie and Jake head back to the Meat Locker. Chaz goes into another club. There the killer catches up with him on the dance floor, slashing his torso and removing his head while the crowd dances on, oblivious.
Tobey, drunk and angry that no one's hitting on him while he's in his Halloween drag, spots the killer, who's still carrying Joey and Chaz's heads in trick or treat
Trick or Treat
Trick or Treat is a 1952 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon, which takes place on Halloween night, follows a series of pranks between Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie who are aided by Witch Hazel...
bags. Ironically, Tobey pursues the killer, who also dismisses him. Tobey tosses his driver's license at the killer, who picks it up. When Tobey partially removes his drag, the killer returns and collects his head.
Eddie and Jake arrive back at the Meat Locker but it's been closed following the discovery of Joey's body (although Eddie and Jake do not learn that it's Joey who's dead). Jake hops a fence to retrieve his motorcycle. Eddie goes after him but Jake's circled around and is back outside. Suddenly the killer appears behind Eddie and swings his sickle, but misses. Jake starts to scale the fence but the killer forces him back. Eddie runs and the killer follows. Eddie locks himself in a small enclosure. The killer strikes at him again and the tip of his blade scrapes Eddie's eye. Jake arrives with a cop and the killer takes off.
Eddie and Jake give their statements at police headquarters and Jake learns that Eddie's eye is artificial. They go back to Eddie's place and start having sex, although Jake will not let Eddie kiss him. Jake finds Tobey's license on the floor of Eddie's room with blood on it, but does not understand the significance. Jake handcuffs Eddie to his bed and goes in search of condoms. As he's returning, the killer stabs him and leaves him for dead. Eddie hears the struggle and calls out. As the killer approaches and Eddie struggles with the cuffs, Jake hits the killer from behind with a baseball bat. Eddie slips a hand out of the cuffs, tends to Jake's wound and heads off to call an ambulance, but the killer revives and disables the phone. Eddie runs to the kitchen. He finds a knife but also finds the heads of Joey, Chaz and Tobey. The killer attacks again. Eddie evades him and retreats to his bedroom. As the killer chops at the door, Eddie retrieves his father's gun and some bullets. He gets Jake out onto the fire escape and loads the gun. The killer attacks Eddie yet again, this time sucking Eddie's artificial eye right out of his head and knocking him over a railing. With Eddie dangling from the fire escape the killer returns to Jake. Eddie retrieves the gun and fires, first hitting Jake and then hitting the killer square in the forehead. As they wait for help to arrive Jake at last kisses Eddie.
Jake is packed off to the hospital and Eddie promises to be there when he wakes up. Eddie's sister gloats over the fallen killer, but Eddie realizes that he's still alive. In the final moment, the killer opens his eyes and bares his teeth, disclosing that he still has Eddie's artificial eye clenched in his jaws.
DVD release
Hellbent was released on Region 1 DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on September 1, 2006, it has also been released on Region 2 subsequently.
Soundtrack
Hellbent features songs by notable queercoreQueercore
Queercore is a cultural and social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of punk. It is distinguished by being discontent with society in general and its rejection of the disapproval of the gay, bisexual, and lesbian communities and their "oppressive agenda"...
bands Pansy Division
Pansy Division
Pansy Division is an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California in 1991. Featuring primarily gay musicians and focusing mostly on gay-related themes, Pansy Division is one of the more melodic-oriented bands to emerge from the "queercore" movement that began in the 1980s.-Early...
, Three Dollar Bill
Three Dollar Bill
Three Dollar Bill is a band founded by Jane Danger and Chris Piss, in Chicago, Illinois in 1998. The name comes from the expression "Queer as a three dollar bill". The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has never been authorized to print a $3 note. However, before the Civil War, banks operating...
, Best Revenge
Best Revenge
Best Revenge is a queercore punk band from Los Angeles, CA. They were active as a studio and live act from the beginning of 1998 until December 2002.-History and Founding:...
, and Nick Name.
External links
- Hellbent at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...