Rent Hellriser (2017)

Not so good, not so bad ... - Hellriser review by NP

It isn’t difficult to understand how this film received various negative comments on its title alone. One letter makes all the difference. To put myself in the position of independent film-makers – if I wanted extra exposure for a production, I would be tempted to give it a name very similar to a well-known franchise in the hope that some would purchase this thinking it was somehow related to the better-known release and hopefully like what they see. I can sympathise with that approach. Clearly, I’d be open to various accusations, but maybe even that would give my film an extra boost.

‘Hellriser’, as its title is supposed to suggest, is actually a parody of other horror films, with various references thrown in. Director/writer Steve Lawson clearly has very little money to play with and while I’m usually a fan of low-budget ventures that people have worked hard on, ‘Hellriser’ sadly doesn’t really succeed.

To be able to poke fun at other franchises, however well meant, you need to produce something of quality to be able to do so, otherwise the audience will spend their time noticing the lack of sets, the varied acting and the meandering story instead of appreciating attempts at comedy (mainly reserved for character names – Locke and Keyes for example, as well as the insane Dr. Unnseine). If you lack a certain sophistication, then either make an outright comedy, or an outright horror and allow that to become the main focus; ‘Hellriser’ tries to be both and ends up being neither, I’m sorry to say. A shame, because it starts off quite well. My score is 5 out of 10.