The Helpers

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with a scene of newspapers and news broadcasts describing an orphanage which was burned down, resulting in several deaths. It then turns to seven friends as they start out on a road trip to Las Vegas, with Phil (JoJo Wright) recording the trip for his girlfriend Julia. The group hits a road block en route to their destination, prompting them to take a detour that results in several flat tires. The group decides that the women will remain behind to watch the truck while the men go to look for help. The men eventually come across a rest-stop motel that sells tires, introducing themselves to the gas attendant Brad and the shop owner Steve (Braxton Davis) and Norah (Dallas Lovato). Steve offers to not only fix the truck and pick up the girls, but to provide free alcoholic drinks, in addition to letting the group stay at the neighboring motel for the night. One of the group members, Todd (Dustin Harnish), is originally hesitant about the proposition, but eventually agrees to it. After a wild night of drinking and partying, the group falls asleep in the motel.
The group eventually wakes up the next morning/afternoon. At first everything appears normal, but it soon becomes clear that Steve and his cohorts are nowhere to be found on the premises. None of the friends remembers much about what happened the previous night. And four of the friends (Jordan, Brandy, Ryan, Andy) wake up realizing they're tied up or otherwise physically incapacitated. Jordan is tied up to a chair in the bathroom next to the bathtub, with a bucket on his arm and an electric wire tied to his hand. Brandy is tied up in the bathtub. Ryan is tied to a chair in his room, and Anna is tied up on the bed, at her hands and her feet. At first the friends believe this to be some sort of bad joke, but when Todd and Claire witness Phil being intentionally decapitated by Brad, it becomes clear that Steve, Brad, Norah and Chloe are actually cruel, sadistic sociopaths, (who call themselves "the helpers") intent on torturing and murdering the group. Claire (Kristen Quintrall) and Todd are locked in their motel room and are forced to watch while their friends get murdered one by one. The helpers go into Anna and Ryan's room and reveal that each end of Anna's body is chained to a car, and they will drive the cars and rip her body in half. They do so, while Ryan is tied up and unable to stop them. They then go into Jordan and Brandy's room and explain that the wire attached to Jordan's arm will be lowered into the water in the bathtub by placing rocks in the bucket hanging from his arm, electrocuting Brandy. Brandy is killed from being electrocuted four times, while Jordan's arm with the wire was forcibly placed in the water. The men remove Brandy from the tub and leave Jordan with Norah. Norah taunts Jordan, who then pushes Norah into the tub and electrocutes her with the wire, killing her. Todd and Claire also manage to successfully escape from their room. However, Todd and Claire are caught while attempting to flee and are brought back to the complex. The helpers bring out Ryan (still tied to the chair) and shoot him dead in front of the others, and then chain Claire to the cars as they did to Anna, threatening to rip her body in half, unless she admits that her father was the abusive owner of an orphanage. She admits that her father was indeed the owner of an orphanage. It's eventually revealed that the three murderers used to live in an orphanage run by Claire's father where they were terribly abused and beaten, with the murderers intentionally setting the group up to come by the motel. They found the motel/gas station, killed the employees, and took it over. Then they placed road detour signs on the road, and placed sharp objects to puncture the cars tires. It is also revealed that before they left the orphanage, they burned it down, as the news described in the opening scene of the movie. Hence, the murderers main motive for their barbarism is revenge against Claire's father. They knew that the group was going on a road trip because Phil's girlfriend, Julia, was one of them. Jordan, Todd, and Claire manage to escape. The film ends with a scene "six months later" where "the helpers" are working at another gas station, asking their customers if they need any help.

Tags: sadist, revenge, cult, violence, flashback

Review:
If you decide to watch this movie you will understand.
This movie seems to be a collection of Vacancy, The Hitcher, and Saw. Not very creative and someone should help the cast to acting lessons.
I am writing this to be helpful to the next potential victim of this movie.
Help me get away from this bad movie!.
Bad acting, bad plot, and stupid inconsistencies made this drivel a waste of 90 minutes of time better spent.
Heading off on a road-trip, a group of friends get stranded near a roadside motel and decide to stay the night only to awake in the morning tied up and being forced to undergo grueling, brutal tortures for a past revenge and must find a way to battle their captors to escape alive.For the most part, this one wasn't all that great.
The shots of them sitting around partying and hanging out at the motel before it all goes down, and it makes for some rather cool times with their ability to keep this section of the film quite interesting.
With them really running through some solid tortures in the various rooms as in them being tied up to trucks or strapped into chairs above bathtubs filled with water holding a live wire above it, the ideas behind them are kinda cruel and makes for some chilling moments as there's a nice sense of twisted brutality to their madness which is rather fun to watch and sets up the finale nicely as there's plenty of fun chasing and brawling occurring throughout that makes for quite a fun and really enjoyable time throughout here.
The main issue to be found here is the fact that there's just absolutely nothing about the villains that makes them someone to be feared or scared of, being the usual assortment of wackos that are simply in the position of power through drugging everyone and it really seems like a situation where it would be quite easy to get the upper hand on them if an actual, honest attempt at putting them away were tried, and as they go for the tormenting and torture route this doesn't get any better.
Then to top if off there's the utter gall of the film to try to tie in their actions with the backstory delivered by them which is so utterly obnoxious, condescending and truly pathetic that it never once comes across as anything but a total joke.
Based on such a lame reasoning in the first place at wanting to find revenge on the guilty party only for that to be the tie into the simply most ridiculous manner of carrying it out which has no need to ever be attempted here truly turns this whole part of the film into quite the pain to get through trying to rationalize the true nature of what's going on which is quite pathetic.
This here makes this one such an utterly torturous watch that it really overcomes many of it's positives otherwise.Rated R: Extreme Graphic Language, Graphic Violence and Brief Nudity..
I have just finished watching this film and to be honest I was very impressed.
The acting was better than average and the plot kept me watching till the very end.
I must add though that the film is very sick but if you like that sort of thing you should be OK.
Having watched a lot of the b rated horror movies lately for example Hold your breath which in my opinion was utter rubbish, the acting was atrocious and the storyline appalling.
Please watch this movie(The helpers) as it is well worthy of only 77mins of your precious time..
So I was little surprised when I watch it that it wasn't but how the rest of movie is basically same plot at vacancy that meet the cast of Hotel.I was bored with this movie, I could not get into these movies at all, the death in this movie were so carbon copies of other deaths in other horror movies.
Good and scary, could have done more with more length to the movie, below 80 minutes is not enough.
This movie is disturbing and scary at some scenes, and boring as hell in other scenes, even when it is the climax, only torture scenes are suspenseful and scary, some other scenes towards the end, give you the feeling of lack of settlements, some jump scares, the writer would've explained more, but the movie is impressive, but not great, smart but not intelligent, scary but not horrifying, it is just an average horror movie with lack of good presenting, but still a good movie with great plot and kind of good acting, still underrated a lot!!!Rating 6.3/10 = 6/10 on IMDb Reviews ratingsI think that this movie is not that scary compared to V/H/S The movieThe movie in not that gory such as SAW franchise The movie is not eroticallysilly such as Piranha 3D in a comedic way The movie so unsettling such as Paranormal ActivityI think the cast and crew will make something great in future, maybe a sequel or prequel?
Yes there is gore so for those who enjoy that there are a few specific scenes .The begin shows news footage of an orphanage burning down A group of friends are travelling to Las Vegas for a holiday, whilst driving the tyres pop.
As morning hits some are up and ready to leave but others are tied up in torturous positions, and try to break free and save each other.The ending has a decent twist possibly predictable if you payed attention at the beginning but regardless watchable at the best.
And their backstory regarding why they're like they are doesn't really hold up.Then, to add final insult to injury, the film-maker includes many sections of 'found footage.' If you don't know what that is, then you obviously haven't been watching enough low budget horror movies these days.
It's basically the most overused technique in film-making that allows a slender budget to try and be stretched to the breaking point.The Helpers adds nothing new to the horror genre.
The 'victims' are stupid; the killers are stupid.How can 78 people give this movie a 10/10?
Their car tyres get a puncture and yes you've guessed it they go off wandering for help.THIS, the movie tells us, will be their downfall.After walking a little while, they meet up at a roadside motel and gas station.
It's like Saw and Vacancy rolled into one, except the majority of the acting sucks big time.Ultimately it's very forgettable..
*** WARNING: RAMPANT SPOILERS ***OK, there's some acting ability amongst the cast, and there was some (but only some) decent filmmaking on display here (camera work, lighting, etc., good in places but not always), and a few scenes were disturbing, so I could almost give it a 3, but it was just SO DUMB in SO MANY PLACES that I had to go with a 2.NONE of the following problems should have survived into the film; they should all have been resolved prior to shooting:* protagonists got off course too easily; none ever heard of a map?* all 4 tires should have blown, not just 2* even with "only" 2 simultaneous blowouts, nobody went back to see what had caused them* nobody was suspicious/bashful about all the freebies* there was a debate (albeit tiny) about whether to stay, but no alternative suggested...
but only back into the buildings, allowing further attacks {facepalm}This is TERRIBLE writing -- and I stopped there only to save time.This movie has a lot of 1 and 2 star reviews.
The above list should help provide clues for the few reviewers who remain in need of them.There's nothing essential in this film, unless you just need a Dallas Lovato fix or something.
This movie starts off with a pretty typical horror plot, a group of young friends is traveling (by car in the middle of nowhere, of course) to Las Vegas for a weekend trip.
Right from the beginning all of the characters are so unbelievably stupid it makes you want to quit watching there.As the movie progresses it just gets worse.
Nobody has even the slightest bit of a realistic personality, and in the end the motives don't really make much sense either.Isn't one of the main points of a horror movie to make you scared?
But when a movie seems totally fake, lame, just generally unbelievable and you know nothing like this could ever happen in a million years, what is scary about it?
And as others have already mentioned, it brings nothing new to the table, it has all been done before.Maybe some people will enjoy it just for the fun if they're into the torture stuff, but anyone else will most likely find it too stupid to bear, it's almost embarrassing.
I guess if you're really bored, a one time watch won't kill you, otherwise steer clear..
It started off not too bad but very quickly became unbelievably stupid and moronic.
The couple who "escaped" only to meet the proprietor of the establishment on the road and actually believe he didn't have a hand in what was happening was the final nail in this movies coffin for me.I'm getting increasingly tired of Horror movies with zero substance, incredibly stupid characters and a plot which makes no sense what-so-ever.Please, someone make a decent Horror film soon.
I'm no fan of torture porn movies in the first place, but there was practically no suspense provided here, which would have helped.
I've only walked out of one movie in my life (The Barbarian Brothers) but I would have been tempted with this one.As another reviewer had pointed out, better writing would have at least made it tolerable.
The first victim is a film geek who is so offensive that there is no possible way a gaggle of "cool" types are driving with him to Las Vegas.
Her character is undeveloped, her nude scene (the only nudity in the movie) is completely throwaway - as if they could cut it and achieve a better MPAA rating?
Spoilers Ahead!This has got to be one of the most convoluted and idiotic plots I have ever come across in a low budget horror flick: 7 friends -3 chicks & 4 dudes - travel through the desert en route to Vegas, encounter a detour that sends them down a side road only have both rear tires blow out.
and none these idiots think that's just a bit strange.) As it turns out, the people running the joint happen to be a gang of nut-jobs who know one of the girls in the group of friends (we'll call her Twit) and they staged this elaborate scheme to lure them all into the desert to kill them because her daddy ran a mean orphanage that the nut-jobs lived in while they were kids (which they subsequently burned to the ground).
How did the bad guys know that the friends would be traveling through the desert and happen upon their motel?
The only two people NOT tied up to be tortured and killed is Twit and her stupid boyfriend.
Near the end of the movie, it's revealed that they hit a tire trap - the kind the police throw across the road to blow out your tires - that only blows out the rear tires and NOT all 4 - what?
And nobody in the group (not even the Marine, who should have been on his guard) thinks to go back and try to find out what suspiciously blew out both tires which seem to be pretty brand new.
So the guys - ALL of them - decide it's a good idea to leave their ladies in the vehicle on a deserted desert road so they can walk off several miles to find help...
even a Marine would have suggested at least one of the guys stay behind with the ladies - and he would have been the smart choice since he's combat trained and can protect them.There are way too many more flaws in this crappy movie to go on anymore.Come on people, can't you put together a better story than this?
I'm a screenwriter and I've had a hard time finding financing for 4 movie scripts that have way more depth and character development...
Maybe I'm just getting old, but really, do we need another film about people being murdered in various "inventive" ways?
"The Helpers" is another of the "Saw" type of film, where people are victimised, traumatised and eventually killed.
While clearly there is a place for many different types of movies to appeal to different people, I feel this type of film simply panders to twisted individuals who get off on seeing others suffer.
If that sounds like your kind of movie, then go ahead and watch, otherwise I would suggest as a MUCH better alternative, "In Cold Blood [1967]", a well acted and gripping tale, which while shocking in its own right, is not gratuitous..
Great torture film....
Im so glad that I watched this film and didn't look at all the bad reviews as I would have not bothered to watch it.....
I don't understand why so many people have rated the film in a negative way.
I truly enjoyed this film and to be honest in my opinion it's one of the best horror films I've seen in a long time, the film has elements of saw, hostel and no vacancy but it brings that little added extra that makes the film fresh and enjoyableThe film centres on a group of friends whose car breaks down the boys of the group leave the girls in the car to find help and they find a car shop which is next to a motel the locals seem very friendly and they let the group stay the night at the motel free of charge so far it's a typical storyline but then the torture starts as the friends wake up the next morning tied up in rope and all linked to various traps and torture I don't want to give too much away so I won't describe the torture you will have to find out for yourself :)To sum up the whole film the acting is pretty decent and I actually felt sorry for the characters and at the end emphasised with them and in a horror film you have to have a bond with the characters and actually care for them to enjoy the film and keeps interested the storyline adds everything into the mix from saw to no vacancy and it's keeps you on the edge of your seat and in some scenes it truly made me cringe to finish off just ignore the rubbish reviews and give the film a chance Im a true an of the horror genre and have seen nearly every horror film and trust me this ones a one to watch.
This film starts off pretty basic and then gets ridiculous as most movies of this genre do.
I am a fan of movies of this genre if they can do it correctly.
It starts off alright but then it goes to your basic protagonists acting stupid and you not caring about them at all.
The acting and effects were fine for a low budget film such as this, but the writing was terrible.
Kill her, let's move on I kept thinking to myself.Once the film did tie together to that orphan thing..."Really?
The first title (used in UK) was "The Helpers" which actually related to the film, even though it lacks any horror factor.
The US title, "No Vacancy" is a better horror title (We don't get a picture of little fuzzy chipmunks trying to help people) but it doesn't relate to the film other than the fact it has a motel in it, which BTW always had a vacancy.
With "Motel Hell" already taken, the pickings are slim.Some attempt at dark humor like "House of a !,000 Corpses." If you need a slasher film fix, you could do worse.Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex, nudity (Rachel Sterling- Juggy dancer on "The Man Show").
I saw a trailer for this ages ago and was actually pretty excited to see what it was going to be like.
Personally I'd sense there was something a little too good to be true, in this case they're going to try and mundanely kill you off.
The ending was rash and you don't even find out if the survivors got away, it just goes to the usual cliché scene which is "OHH THERE'S GOING TO BE A PART 2".
(Warning: do NOT drive when either drinking this or you have a chain attached to someone's legs.)Despite the unoriginal concept, I actually enjoyed this tidbit of a horror film that supposedly "based on actual events." The music was incredible, the acting decent – mostly by the Sheri Moon Zombie-like Dallas Lovato and the fact there were so many players involved it kept me involved.Vegas-bound clichéd characters get (ah-hem – again, so banal,) detoured to Motel Hell and there, they're bound in traps in somewhat unique ways.
They were offered the too-good-to-be-true kindness of strangers and readily, or stupidly, accepted.At only an hour and 17 minutes, it's a quick ride of horror and that was appreciated.
Will this land on my top one-hundred horror film list?
Or holiday-themed horror films..
This film was the typical horror- someone's car breaks down and then they search for help- a motel where everyone was overly-friendly.
The torture scenes were not only disturbing but it was obvious what would happen,and that nearly all of them would end up killed.
The acting was bad, however towards the end it started to get interesting, when you find out why they want to kill all the kids- for revenge on Claire's father.
The torture scenes were quite scary, the type where you have to cover your eyes or look away.