NIGHTSTREAM 2020: Bloody Hell
NIGHTSTREAM
Psychotic Nordic families seem to be the vogue in horror right now. Alister Grierson’s Bloody Hell, a twisted horror-comedy produced in Australia, does for Finland what Midsommar did for Sweden. Although it doesn’t have anywhere near the same finesse as Ari Aster’s 2019 sophomore outing, the blue-eyed, blonde-haired villains and disturbing family rituals are shared. Comparisons aside, Bloody Hell never quite transcends its genre trappings but still takes its viewers on a high-energy, wild, and slightly demented ride.
From the first few frames, Grierson plays up the horror elements almost to the point of parody. The score by Brian Cachia sounds like typical fare for a horror trailer, and the dark woods in which a young girl is found running away from mask-wearing sociopaths aren’t exactly new territory to horror aficionados. Although the heightened atmosphere will wear thin viewer’s believability in the world, Grierson never runs too far from the film’s horror roots and straddles the line between straight up-spoof and sincere homage.
After the opening chase, Bloody Hell introduces its protagonist: Rex (a smooth Ben O’Toole). Rex stops a bank robbery in his first scene, but, in one of the film’s more nuanced moments, takes things a little too far when dealing out punishment to the perpetrators. Although the troubled waters below the surface of Rex’s psyche are never entirely explored (the film doesn’t seem too interested in doing so), this is an interesting twist on the usual genre tropes of horror. The hero is already damaged before they fall into the hands of the evil entity.
The film’s greatest strength, and its most constant source of humour, is the device of Rex literally talking to himself throughout the film. Not only is the technical wizardry required to duplicate O’Toole flawless, but Rex’s personality somewhat serves as an audience surrogate. He voices whatever is on his mind and points out the ridiculousness of the situations he finds himself in. Even when the film is at its most cliched, he has some sly comment that elevates the film a little. O’Toole eats up the scenery in this second role, and it is by far the most inspired element of the Robert Benjamin-penned screenplay.
While Bloody Hell’s third act plays out exactly as audiences have come to expect from this type of horror story, there is a sufficient amount of derangement involved to still make it exciting. The kills are unique, to say the least, and one scene shows off a foot fetish that would make Quentin Tarantino blush. The surface-level theatricality on display cannot totally save what is a relatively straightforward horror film, but not for lack of trying.
