Rent The Hellion (2017)

Spoilers follow ... - The Hellion review by NP

Two of the most self-satisfied, nauseating people you could ever wish to meet somehow chaperone introverted Alice to accompany them for a drunken weekend in an apartment by the sea. Quite why Alice (Eaoifa Forward) would wish to spend time with these people is my main issue with ‘The Hellion’. Most of the time, Carl and Lizzie are so caught up in each other that Alice may as well not even be there. When they do give her any attention, it is to try and intimidate her with tales of their apparently lurid sex life. Whilst Rachel Warren injects Lizzie (wehay! ‘Any hole’s the goal’, right?) with a modicum of sense, Dan Paton ensures that Carl is the most appalling character I remember seeing in a film for a very long time.

When these three characters appear to be trapped on the top floor of the apartment, it is a huge relief to see the smug grin disappear from Carl’s face, although inevitably, this is replaced by aggressive machismo upon realising there is something occurring outside of his control. It is one thing to be apparently trapped inside a building with no means of escape, but entirely a different level of misery being shut in with this inexcusable, spectacular moron. Imagine how much more shocking his descent into madness would have been if he was a likeable character – or maybe the point of the story is that the three characters are all damaged in some way.

My dislike of Carl throws a heavy shadow over what could have been a more effective film. The intentions of Director and Writer CA Cooper seem to be suggesting horror rather than show it – but that’s not to say we aren’t treated to some truly grotesque behaviour and close-ups. And yet the bigger picture is unclear, or as I’m sure Cooper would prefer, ‘open to interpretation.’ A nightmare attempt at arthouse perhaps, this peels back layers of apparent childhood abuse for the characters, or perhaps revelations of events that have previously occurred in the apartment. Or, as one piece of secret graffiti suggests, ‘this is Hell’.

The production looks great, with interesting techniques used to portray the empty rooms as something evil. Yet for three characters apparently trapped against their will – if it truly is against their will – they make scant attempts to escape. With an ‘open’ ending, ‘The Hellion’ could unkindly be written off as spending a miserable time with horrible people.