Hellions

It's Halloween again and my thoughts about this film, which I saw at TIFF 2015, are as mixed as ever. Bruce McDonald's art-house take on Halloween horror is terrific until the frustrating non-ending. I was loving the eccentric direction, off-kilter cinematography, sympathetic performances, mysterious killer kids, end the whole dream-or-reality puzzle. But then...

I suppose the short run time should be a hint this is an unfinished movie, but honestly what were the producers thinking, letting this be released? Why not sit down with the director, point out this glaring problem, and offer to scare up funds for some additional writing and shooting to finish a potentially worthy follow-up to his great Pontypool.

All that said, I still can't recommend against watching it; you don't want to miss what there is, but be prepared to imagine a third act.

This movie popped up in an email from Netflix as "something you may enjoy". Netflix, you couldn't have been more wrong.

To be honest, I'm still not sure what the hell I just watched. I thought it started out decent. It felt like I was watching The Strangers, but with children; home invasion and children, two very creepy things in my opinion. The movie quickly turned into "demons from hell" type movie, which I could get on board, if it weren't for the quick turn it made into that direction.

Some people say it's a pro-life propaganda movie, which I could kind of see, but that also may be reaching a little bit.

I thought the acting was good in some spots; I thought the music was definitely creepy (Christmas sounding music with a child like tone); and I thought some of the visual effects and costumes were cool.

What I didn't like were the lingering effects in scenes that looked choppy (the constant shot of her in the hanging sheets). I thought some of the dialogue was extremely lame. And, because the movie kind of goes by so quick, it's really hard to pin down what is actually happening. I felt like the film maker had a bunch of different good ideas in his head, and instead of picking one and running with it, he crammed everything into one movie.

Overall I think the movie could have been so much better. There are definitely good elements there, they just need to be justly presented.

Boring, clichéd teen ghost story/slasher that is more of an exercise in how to recycle tired elements such as overused sound effects, children being creepy, and the whole unborn demon pregnancy angle.

What's worse is most of the movie is filmed in this gross purple-pink filter, which doesn't make sense... and as expected, the main character makes several unrealistic, irrational choices that help escalate the situation she's a victim of.

I feel for Robert Patrick, who now seems relegated to playing the generic role of a small town cop in lame horror movies. His minimal screen time suggests he probably did not earn much for this appearance, though he is or was always a relatively dignified actor.

This movie made me roll my eyes so hard that I could hear it, and incidentally it was the first time I jumped.

Really weird surrealistic scenes. Sometimes really nice. Totally absurd though . No story line and cause its over the Hill artistic iT never gets scary .

Yours truly is a diehard horror fanatic, but also a sucker for mushy traditions. During the Christmas period I seek out holiday-horror with psychotic Santa's or demonic elves, and on All Hallows' Eve I like to stay in theme as well. And, since you can't watch John Carpenter's "Halloween" every year, it's good to have some alternatives. "Hellions" isn't nearly as good or entertaining as, say, "Trick 'r Treat" or "Tales of Halloween", but I'm nevertheless glad that I watched a genuine Halloween flick with spooky seasonal decoration, gruesome costumes and lots & lots of pumpkins! Perhaps I'm being too generous here, as I was in a festive mood, but I think "Hellions" is a solid film for a mere two-thirds of the running time. Bruce McDonald, director of the - in my humble opinion - heavily overrated "Pontypool", creates an ideally sinister atmosphere and comes up with an efficiently unsettling premise. The rebellious but troubled 16-year-old Dora Vogel finds out she's pregnant, so she's pondering alone at her house while the rest of her family goes out trick or treating. Eerie kids with seriously terrifying masks and outfits soon come knocking at her door, but these little monsters aren't satisfied with regular candy. They want Dora's unborn baby, and anyone who tries to protect her won't survive the night! The set-up of the plot is great, the little demon-kids look petrifying and Chloë Rose is a persuasive young actress. So far so good, but admittedly Bruce McDonald has no idea where his surreal storylines are going or how to lead everything towards a credible finale. The skies over Dora's isolated little town suddenly color purple and pink, along with various other surreal and inexplicably bizarre phenomena, which causes us to suspect that McDonald tries to cover for the lack of content and/or continuity with visual distractions. Nice try, but horror fans really aren't as dumb as some people think, you know! I'll remember it for the handful of authentic frights, but "Hellions" definitely won't become a cult classic.