Hell-Bent – A Short Movie Review
Hell-Bent is a 25 minute short that manages to entertain as a laugh-out-loud comedy. A young writer looking to make his mark as a journalist must create a piece of work that will get him promoted to Assistant-Editor.
Michael is a writer at Brimstone magazine struggling to impress his hard-nosed boss with his writing. His rival writers seem to have wrote him off as competition for the promotion due to his lack of self-confindence which makes Michael even more desperate to prove them wrong. One night while leaving work Michael helps out Agatha, a co-worker at Brimstone magazine who is having trouble with her car. Michael and Agatha assume quite an unlikely friendship, however Michael soon discovers that Agatha has a secret friend, a foul-mouthed demon named Ricky – direct from hell (literally). This gives Michael the ammunition he needs to write his article that will be sure to get his promotion. Ricky and Agatha love the idea of helping Michael and love his article, unfortunately Beth, a rival of Michael’s at the firm, gets a copy of his article and does her best to knock Michael’s confidence in his writing ability. It is down to Agatha and Ricky to believe in Michael and rally him up in order to submit his article and win the promotion.
This was Foster Vernon’s first time in the directors chair but you would never think it with this polished offering. The short is a very well framed piece, it is consistent and well put together. A very mature display from a first time director who manages to get the pace just right, something many people struggle with when it comes to shorts.
Writers Lorenzo Cabello and Shayne Kamat attempted something very ambitious for this project, and while the delivered a very witty and entertaining script, I felt they tried too much with the story. There were many themes covered on this short, but with the limited time available they were lost in translation. Ideas such as confidence issues, self-doubt and even bullying in the workplace become watered down to the point that they lose a lot of impact power within the story. However, these issues do not take anything away from the well written script that was delivered with plenty of witty one-liners, interesting and entertaining dialogue. A well delivered and solid script.
A quick mention should be made of the excellent special effects and make up in the movie. Kailia Bowlby did a fantastic job with Ricky, turning him into a Hellboy-esque red demon.
Justin Andrew Davis plays Michael, the journalist with confidence issues. Justin does an excellent job with Michael, always looking slightly uneasy and uncomfortable, but managing to ease out and relax as his friendship with Agatha and Ricky grows. His awkwardness in the office is clear to see on screen and his uncomfortable interactions with his colleagues only help you to believe in the character. Leslie Lynn Meeker was fantastic as Agatha. Her scene stealing performance jumped off the screen and I thoroughly enjoyed the character. Leslie seemed to be able to downplay her friendship with a demon superbly. She had some really good dialogue to work with and gave a brilliant performance. My favourite Agatha moments had to be her summoning spells. She literally jumped into these and put everything into it, these were great to watch.
However good these two characters were it was Steven Trolinger who stole the show. His portrayal of Ricky could only be best described as “Hellboy meets Beetlejuice”. He commanded attention whenever he was on screen and jump straight off it! I really enjoyed his over the top delivery and overall obnoxious performance of the character, it was well a great contrast to the self conscious Michael. However, the character of Ricky was helped along by the well written dialogue he was given and the great make up work.
Two minor characters that are worth mentioning in the review are Beth, played by Ashley Kelley, and Mr. Bowers played by Timothy J. Cox. Beth is one of those characters you love to hate. Even though she is only given limited screentime she manages to shine and own every second she is given. Her over-confidence is clear to see and her ego seems to shine from her, although Ashley shows her talents when she is overheard with her less-confident voice on the phone discussing her inability to write her article. Timothy J. Cox is an actor we have seen in a number of shorts and he always shines in these roles of authority. He comes across as self confident, self-assured and assertive whenever he speaks, ensuring everyone else takes notice. This is another strong performance to add to his ever growing repertoire.
Overall this is an enjoyable and entertaining movie. Although it tries to pack in a lot to its limited time frame it does come across as a comedy full of laughs, strong dialogue and interesting characters. An excellent team effort by those in front and behind the camera.
