Hellbox

I'd heard nothing of this movie previously (now I know why!) but I was drawn to it by the premise and the cover art. Two minutes into the opening scene I was checking IMDB to see what score it had been given, and I wasn't surprised. It all looked and felt so fake. The costumes and props were unconvincing; the acting and script were equally poor giving the whole thing a real amateur feel as if it was a first project by students in a film school.

The premise is an evil box which is passed on through history, with a warning not to open it, while bad guys try to get possession of the box or get someone to open it. Sound familiar? Though this box looks more like a coal scuttle than anything with a sinister back story.

The acting didn't get much better passed the opening scene; it was as if the actors were waiting to deliver their lines rather than listening and being immersed in the scene. It all seemed very superficial. The pace was slow and the plot jumped around to the point of confusion in places.

There were lots of horror movie clichés. Waking up from a nightmare that also turns out to be a nightmare. Men in dodgy looking masks and gowns. People having the same dreams. Patients with mental health issues. Finding video camera footage. Poor and comic looking special effects that amused more than frightened. It even had the "shadowy looking guy across the road who disappears after a tram goes by" cliché.

The big reveal at the end didn't really reveal anything about the "shadowy conspiracy against humanity that stretches across five centuries" in the synopsis. Maybe it went over my head. Or maybe I'd just stopped paying too much attention by that point.

I did watch the whole movie and admit that I wasn't bored but maybe this one falls into the "so bad it's good" category. Afterwards I just kind of wished I'd watched Hellraiser again instead.