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HELLBREEDER
Produced, Directed, and Written by James Eaves and Johannes Roberts
Edited by Peter Dobson
Directors of Photography - John Raggett and Alex P. RyleAline - Lyndie Uphill
Det. Weiss - Dominique Pinon
Sam - Darren Day
Isabela - Azucena Duran
Evil Clown - Harold GasnierAlice has lost her son to a maniacal killer. She has shunned all of society to hunt down the man she knows killed her son. She was there when it happened and bears the terrible scars of the savage attack. Detective Weiss has been keeping a close eye on Alice. He believes that her determination will bring him closer to the monster that has been terrorizing his town with a series of brutal slayings. All of the victims have been children and nothing is bringing him closer to a suspect. There's only one problem. Alice is chasing the wrong man. Actually, the man she believes is the killer is actually hunting his own prey. A creature known as HELLBREED!
Now I have to admit that when I first laid eyes on this little gem I was ready to blow it off. I mean, didn't Stephen King already give us the final word on killer clowns? Especially, killer clowns that only kill children. It seems that I must learn to keep my mouth shut until the final credits roll.
HELLBREEDER is a taut, eerie thriller. It gives us a central character that is drop dead gorgeous and nutty as a fruitcake. She has constant conversations with her husband and in laws about what a horrible parent she is. Even though they aren't there. Every night she has the same dream, reliving the murder of her son. She even remarks to him once that he always seems to be in a hurry to get to his demise. The scene is always heart wrenching and painful to watch. This is emphasized when we get our first nude scene. Alice takes off her shirt in front of the bathroom mirror. Your initial response is 'Alright!'. Then you see the massive scar that runs the length of her chest. A deep, angry scar that actually does very little to detract from her inherent beauty.
Dominque Pinon (Delicatessen, City Of The Lost Children) as Detective Weiss is part bulldog. He knows that Alice holds the key to solving the murders, but has a hard time accepting the supernatural reality of the situation. And Darren Day as Sam, hunter of the Hellbreed, walks the fine line of insanity and determination. His character isn't very sympathetic, but with what he has seen while tracking this beast it's forgivable.
In the end, HELLBREEDER is a film that takes a standard plot and gives it a different twist. All of the actors bring believable characters to the movie and make it a suspense filled ride. One flaw? The clown never really appears in a scene with any of the actors. It's like they shot a bunch of reaction shots of the guy in the clown suit and edited them in where it was necessary. More annoying than bad it would have been better for the monster to have more physical interaction with the rest of the cast. Other than that HELLBREEDER is definitely worth a look.
Bio Info for Douglas WaltzIn the spare time afforded him between a full time job for the local phone company, Douglas is happily married with five, that's right five, children. He is a staff writer for the Print magazine Cult Cuts and does work for the webzine (www.cultcuts.net). He also publishes his own small press zine called X-Ploitation. In addition to that he's working on an annual publication of short stories from various writers called On The Night Highways. And if that wasn't enough he's about to shoot his first short film, Phone Sex, sometime this summer.