Hellions (2015) 4.4
A teenager must survive a Halloween night from Hell when malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door. Director:Bruce McDonald |
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Hellions (2015) 4.4
A teenager must survive a Halloween night from Hell when malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door. Director:Bruce McDonald |
|
Watch Trailer 0Share... |
Credited cast: | |||
Chloe Rose | ... | ||
Robert Patrick | ... |
Corman
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Rossif Sutherland | ... |
Doctor Henry
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Rachel Wilson | ... |
Kate Vogel
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Peter DaCunha | ... |
Remi Vogel
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Luke Bilyk | ... |
Jace
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Emir Hirad Mokhtarieh | ... |
Buckethead
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Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Nicholas Craig | ... |
Pinocchio
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Sydney Cross | ... |
Raggedy Ann
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Stephanie Fonceca | ... |
Rat King
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Adelaide Humphreys | ... |
Lionhead
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Aliyah Jhirad | ... |
Riding Hood
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Victoria Obermayer | ... |
Sidney
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Devon Phillipson | ... |
Skeleton Kid
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Joe Silvaggio | ... |
Baghead
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A teenager must survive a Halloween night from Hell when malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door.
Hellions is the latest film from Bruce McDonald who helmed Pontypool (2008), a film which showed that he was a director who was not afraid to approach old ideas in new ways. With Hellions, it could be said that he is adopting the same philosophy. Its story focuses on a teenage girl who lives in a town famed for its pumpkin crop. On Halloween night she discovers she is pregnant to her boyfriend and very soon finds herself home alone and terrorized by strange, costumed, demonic children who seem to be after her unborn child.
To be honest just going by the synopsis you could be forgiven for thinking this is going to be no more than a routine horror outing with little to differentiate itself from the pack. But in practice it's a whole lot better than that. This is mainly on account of the stylised manner in which its story has been brought to the screen. Once our heroine is in the midst of her struggles, lots of colour filters are used to create a weird Halloween fantasy land which creates quite a nice off-kilter atmosphere. Not only that but this is one of the few recent horror films that actually makes an effort with its soundtrack too; the score by Todor Kobakov and Ian LeFeuvre is a consistently inventive, layered and spooky concoction. Rounding things off there is a strong central performance from Chloe Rose and decent support work from Robert Patrick.
Content-wise, there's nothing especially new here but the manner in which it is brought to the screen shows considerable care and effort. There's quite a lot to appreciate in the visuals and soundtrack in particular, while the creepy kids are donned out in some imaginatively sinister costumes. This one successfully creates its own distinctive ambiance and that seems like a pretty good enough achievement to me.