Hellbent
Tags: violence, horror, murder

Plot synopsis:
The night before Halloween, a gay couple are making out in a car when a bare-chested killer in a devil mask appears and decapitates them with a sickle.
Halloween, finds Eddie at his job as a police technician talking with his police officer sister. He distributes flyers about the murders and dresses in his father's police uniform for a Halloween costume. While distributing the flyers he meets Jake in a tattoo shop.
Eddie meets with his roommates, Chaz, Joey and Tobey, and they head for the West Hollywood Halloween Carnival. They visit the murder scene, the devil-masked killer appears and they taunt him because they think he's cruising them.
At the Carnival, Eddie spots Jake going and his group goes in as well. Joey sees Jared, who he's had a crush on for weeks, and offers his phone number but is dismissed. Joey goes to the restroom with Chaz. Chaz consoles him, then goes to wait for him outside. Chaz takes ecstasy and leaves when he sees a good looking guy. Jared catches up with Joey in the restroom and apologizes. The killer emerges from a stall and decapitates Joey, taking his head as a trophy.
Chaz goes into another club and the killer catches up with him on the dance floor. Chaz becomes hazy and doesn't realize that the killer is slashing his torso. Then he removes his head while the crowd dances on.
Tobey, drunk and angry that no one's hitting on him while he's in his Halloween drag, spots the killer, who's still carrying Joey and Chaz's heads in trick or treat bags. Tobey pursues the killer, who also dismisses him. When Tobey partially removes his drag, the killer returns and collects his head.
Eddie and Jake arrive back at the Meat Locker, but it's been closed following the discovery of Joey's body. Jake hops a fence to retrieve his motorcycle. Eddie goes after him but Jake's circled around and is back outside. The killer appears behind Eddie and swings his sickle, but misses. Eddie locks himself in a small enclosure and the tip of the killer's blade scrapes Eddie's eye. Jake arrives with a cop and the killer takes off.
Eddie and Jake give their statements at police headquarters and Jake learns that Eddie's eye is artificial. They go back to Eddie's place and start having sex. Jake handcuffs Eddie to his bed and goes in search of condoms. As he's returning, the killer stabs him and leaves him for dead. Eddie hears the struggle and calls out. As the killer approaches and Eddie struggles with the cuffs, Jake hits the killer from behind with a baseball bat. Eddie slips a hand out of the cuffs, tends to Jake's wound and heads off to call an ambulance, but the killer disables the phone. Eddie runs to the kitchen. He finds a knife but also finds the heads of Joey, Chaz and Tobey in a closet. Eddie evades the killer and retreats to his bedroom. As the killer chops at the door, Eddie retrieves his father's gun and some bullets. He gets Jake out onto the fire escape and loads the gun. The killer attacks Eddie yet again, this time sucking Eddie's artificial eye out of his head and knocking him over a railing. With Eddie dangling from the fire escape, the killer returns to Jake. Eddie retrieves the gun and fires, first hitting Jake and then hitting the killer square in the forehead.
Jake is packed off to the hospital and Eddie promises to be there when he wakes up. Eddie's sister gloats over the fallen killer, but Eddie realizes that he's still alive. In the final moment, the killer opens his eyes and bares his teeth, disclosing that he still has Eddie's artificial eye clenched in his jaws.

Review: Four gay men are out for a night of fun at the infamous West Hollywood Halloween Carnival but make the big mistake to moon at a muscular fella wearing a horny mask.
They are fun loving young men celebrating who they are (as opposed to so many miserable gay characters of the past struggling with their sexuality) and witty as hell, which makes for some funny lines here and there.
Not because it was a gay slasher film, but because I was worried that the characters weren't going to be portrayed as real people, but rather caricatures of gay stereotypes.
and thankfully, with Hellbent, I did.What I got in this film was a really solid slasher flick that was really fun from beginning to end, with beautiful cinematography, plentiful gore, and a very fun locale.
While the killer has no direct motive, it works within the context of the story and the movie never gets bogged down with pacing problems.The characters, while an eclectic bunch, are all believable and keep the story moving along.
The fact that the central characters are gay quits being a gimmick after the opening scene.Judging from other reviews here, it appears as though a lot of people didn't care for this film, but I really did have a good time with it.
I saw Hellbent near the end of the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
Four gay men go out in West Hollywood on Halloween night to have a good time, unaware that the previously mentioned psycho slasher has his eye on them.
Matt Phillips is particularly effective, funny and even touching, showing the vulnerability of his character even through drag.I had the opportunity to meet Paul Etheredge-Ouzts and Matt Phillips at the film festival.
I rented this movie last night with friends and at first we were looking for a really bad movie with half naked men in it....actually looking for a homo-erotic horror by David DeCouteau.....what we found was Hellbent.....A really good horror movie....I got scared....it wasn't too campy it wasn't over the top gay....though as in most horror movies the characters sometimes do things...well quite often do things that make you say "why are you parking there?"...or .."Don't go near him."...it was just a group of gay guys ( very attractive gay guys) being stalked and I thought it was great.
I'd recommend it to any horror fan looking for a good slasher flick....the acting is decent and the effects are very well done..
The characters (a group of young gay men celebrating Halloween in West Hollywood)are well-drawn and likable.
The first gay slasher film--too bad it's not really good.
Being a gay man and a horror movie fan I was really looking forward to seeing this...but it's really not that good.Film begins with two men making out in a car--until they are attacked and beheaded by a guy in a Satan suit.
They all fit the typical slasher film stereotypes: the nice guy (Dylan Fergus); the innocent, nervous guy (Hank Harris); the party animal (Andrew Levitas) and the one who wants to be loved for his mind NOT his body (Matt Phillps as a drag queen).
And the dialogue is just dreadful--no gay man (or straight man) talks like these guys.But, all in all, it was fun seeing a slasher film with gay men and showing off some nice partial nudity (no frontal but the guys are shirtless 90% of the time and there is a group butt shot).
I'm giving this an 8 because the guys were just incredible and gave good performances...but I can't say I loved this.Recommended for gay men and horror movie fans who have no problem with gay guys.
It is time for them to "come out" and make a truly gay horror film like this one.
Yes, it is about a serial killer on one Halloween night in West Hollywood, but it also seems to be a light-hearted takeoff on all the silly teenage massacre horror films.
First gay slasher movie ever: Fun, gory, and scary.
Etheredge-Ouzts, who I met at the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, directs the first gay slasher movie ever, a fun and scary film that has nothing (other than the gay angle) original about it, but also doesn't pretend to be original.
A serial killer in West Hollywood develops a taste for hunky gay men and sets his focus on a group of gay kids attending a Halloween festival.
If this is any indication, then there will definitely be more gay slasher films (HELLBENT 2 anyone?).
Hellbent is the first gay slasher movie and it's great fun.
A hunky slab of beef is running around on Halloween killing cute young men who're having too much fun, and he's keeping their heads as trophies in this fast-moving horror flick that was surprisingly good.The lead character is a gay wanna-be-cop named Dylan who, despite his hunkiness, has a solid reason why he's not allowed to be a boy in blue (which I will not divulge here).
From the moment the lights went down this film kept the sold out crowd on the edge of their seats.The story follows a group of friends in West Hollywood at a Halloween gathering, and is well written with some predictable yet well executed plot twists.
Filmed on location during West Hollywood's annual gay Halloween parade, this gives the film a freaky feeling of even though you are surrounded by lots of people, you are still very much alone when a crazed psychopath is on the loose!!
Fun Halloween setting in West Hollywood gives the perfect opportunity for four hot guys to be beheaded at the hands of a 'horny' devil.
HELLBENT is gay-themed "mainstream" horror (from the makers of HALLOWEEN and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) that doesn't pander to a homosexual demographic and "fun for the whole family" despite its R-rating, if you know what I mean.
It's a slasher movie where the characters just happen to be gay.
He didn't care if the characters were gay, but I'm sure he thought it would be a novel selling point.Like all good slasher movies Hellbent draws you in with engaging characters, some decent plot development and good death scenes and received a broad UK release through TLA Releasing, specialists in indie and homosexual interest films.
while i applaud the effort to make a "mainstream" horror film with a gay "edge", i have to honestly warn others of the absolute horribleness of this movie.
Take a mindless, murderous psycho, throw in copious amounts of beautiful men, put them all in the West Hollywood Halloween festival, and you've got "Hellbent" - truly a superb gay slasher flick!
Enter our hero, Eddie, with a heart of gold and a weakness for rough trade, and his friends Joey, Chaz and Tobey, who are planning their night out at the West Hollywood Halloween festival.Parking at the very spot where the two guys were killed the night before, they encounter the psycho on their way to the festival, and unwittingly make themselves his obsessive targets.
We follow them (while the killer follows them as well) as Joey searches for his jock crush, Tobey explains to everyone he doesn't usually dress in drag, Chaz parties very hard, and Eddie tries to connect with Jake, the bad boy he wants to get to know better.
Don't go in expecting a backstory on the killer, or why he's out stalking gay men, or too much depth overall - it is, after all, just a quintessential, formulaic slasher flick, just with a queer twist.
It's also fun (without being campy), the acting is good, the boys are hot, and it's a suspenseful and thrilling film that takes itself seriously as a real slasher film.
Hellbent Regency 2004 Color 85 minutes Gay-Horror Dylan Fergus, Bryan Kirkwood, Hank Harris, Andrew Levitas, Matt Phillips and John P.
A traditional tthrowback to the heart of the genre a film that generates goose bumps, laughs, sex appeal and good old fashioned slasher/horror!
there is almost a porn feel to it (or it could be that i've seen too much porn) and i'm getting confused.I wouldn't sell this an seminal gay movie but it's good to see something which is like a mainstream movie in which instead of a girl in a bra running away from the killer you get to see a cute guy scream and run away like a girl, *smile*.
My reason for watching Hellbent is because I love slasher movies, the good, the bad and the ugly.
There simply isn't any other possible way to describe HELLBENT than by saying it is the first gay slasher-movie.
I can imaging a conversation between the producer (P) and director (D), that lead to the making of this film, going as follows:P (enthousiastic): Let's make a slasher-flick and let's make it gay!
While there are low production values (you can see a PA in one shot making room in a crowd scene for the entrance of the four hunky lads walking into the Halloween Carnival), one can appreciate the B-movie flavor of America's first gay slasher film.
If writer-director Paul Etheredge-Ouzts had cast more talented actors willing to imbue their characters with the slightest bit of believability as WeHo gay guys, this movie might have had some credibility as the "first gay slasher" movie.
The film wasn't at all camp, (something one naturally would expect from a gay horror movie) in fact, it was pretty darn intense.
"Hellbent" is a more than entertaining slasher with a new twist to the story.**SPOILERS**Out on Halloween night, Eddie Fitzgerald, (Dylan Fergus) warns his friends Toby Weatherton, (Matt Phillips) Joey, (Hank Harris) and Chaz, (Andrew Levitas) that a serial killer may be on the loose that is targeting homosexual men.
This is a low budget, slasher film set in West Hollywood on Halloween.
That was more suspenseful and more thrilling than "1408" and "Vacancy" combined.In the end, like any slasher film, the killer survives, and I hope there's a sequel set in New York on Halloween.
But for what will more than likely be the very first slasher film with an all-gay cast of characters to hit the mainstream, it's pretty freakin' GREAT!
Having an interest to see a Slasher movie perhaps take a different route from the norm,I was surprised to recently find out that 2004 had been the year when the first ever Gay Slasher film had been made.Intriged by seeing the genre's supreme producer Joseph Wolf connected to the film,I decided to take a look at a movie which would hopefully look at the Slasher genre from a refreshingly different point of view.The plot:With the famous West Hollywood Carnival only a day away,the local police start to suspect that a serial killer is planning to turn the Carnival into a bloody mess,when the bodies of two men are found beheaded in a park.Not wanting to ruin his friends plans for the carnival,officer Eddie decides that he will keep his eyes wide open for the serial killer during the celebration,who will end up getting Eddie and his friends to paint the West Hollywood Carnival blood red.View on the film:Whilst the characters of Slasher films are seen (sometimes wrongly) as being a bit stupid,writer/director Paul Etheredge-Ouzts sadly makes Eddie and his pals some of the dumbest characters that I have seen in any film!.Despite the best efforts from the charismatic cast,Ouzts makes it almost impossible for any emotional involvement with the characters,due to their level of stupidity being miles away from the normal behaviour of having a serial killer constantly trying to chop your head off,with a number of Eddie's friends seriously asking the masked knife welding psycho if he wants a date for the night!.Although his screenplay is a disappointing,first time director Outzts keeps the movie moving at a quick pace and also shows a real flair for the set-piece murder scenes,with a brutal murder taking place in a toilet featuring an impressively done final shot,and a savage killing at a disco being extremely distinctive thanks to Ouzts wonderfully stylised directing..
But I just thought that this movie could have pushed the boundaries a bit more, as it doesn't feature any sex scenes which did kind of disappoint me in a way, but I still found this movie really fun and entertaining and the set pieces were shot brilliantly, like the carnival, the nightclubs and the final chase were all made decent good use off.Another factor that I liked about this movie was the decent cast that could have easily been one dimensional typical gay characters that feature in TV shows but gladly they weren't they were well rounded and well written firstly there was Dylan Fergus who plays the obvious final boy Eddie was just heart-warming and lovable, well at ease in his role and someone to root for in the end.
And finally Matt Phillips as the drag queen Tobey, who to be honest annoyed me at first, I dunno maybe it's the fact that we never see him out of the drag costume, but I warmed to him as the movie went on, okay his acting wasn't perfect but he still had great chemistry with the other cast members.All in all "Hell-Bent" is a fun enjoyable movie that although doesn't offer new (apart from the gay angle) to the slasher genre or change your life in any way, it's still entertaining..
Four homosexual friends take to the streets during Carnival on Halloween night in West Hollywood as a buff serial killer(with a silver devil mask), who uses a sickle to attack victims(taking their heads after decapitation), follows close behind, waiting to strike each one when they are off by themselves.
HELLBENT is probably my first male gay slasher flick and this, I figure, will be a strike against it because homophobes will find it hard to sit through as the movie emerges us into gay culture during a festive, energetic night on the streets where male homosexuals come out to enjoy the Halloween season with grand enthusiasm.
His presence and mask are pretty bitchin', to tell you the truth, and when he appears all you can really say is "Oh, sht!" While I mentioned that homophobes may find HELLBENT maybe hard to adapt to, there's an atmosphere and style I thought earned the movie brownie points; slasher fans, especially gay males, might consider this an underrated gem of a movie considering the genre hasn't too many flicks where the heroes are homosexual men.
OK, so the plot wasn't amazing, and you knew pretty much who was gonna live and who was gonna die, but you know what, that didn't matter - a gay horror flick is just what the genre needed...The direction was good, the actors not bad (although would have been nice to see Matt Philips (Toby) out of drag - damn he's hot), and I would LOVE to see a sequel...
Yeah, yeah, another slasher film with a killer killing people.
It's great that the movie centers around mostly a gay cast and I did enjoy some of the twist and turns, some scares and gross outs, and the acting, but you would think that by today's standards, in the era of the 'smart' horror film, we would get an answer as to why the killer is killing and who is he.
I felt just like the guy at the beginning of the movie who was getting a you-know-what, when the film was just about to reach climax, it cut its own head off!!!.
Billed as 'the first gay slasher film', Hellbent basically takes every genre trait it can and tries to combine them into a singular movie.
I had heard good reviews before finally seeing this movie and am already a fan of the horror genre.For a gay slasher film it was done tastefully.I like a movie like this that is more realistic instead of being b-rated and campy.I am glad the gay characters were more normal instead of showing all the negative stereotypes that a lot of TV shows and movies show.It's refreshing to see a regular gay movie about ordinary(but pretty)people in realistic circumstances.In some ways it's just eye candy since every character was cute and sexy,but no different then a lot of other movies.This movie has a good story,good actors,and nice effects with the right amount of suspense,gore and humor.It is very well directed,produced as well as acted.I hope a sequel is made to understand the motive to the killings and to see who is behind that demonic mask.
**WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND!**I had a very strange reaction while watching 'Hellbent' last night: I was kind of excited to see a horror movie that was made by an openly gay director, and had played to some fanfare on the festival circuit.
Quite a lot of people around here are referring to "HellBent" as being a genuine throwback to the 80's horror sub genre of slashers, but it isn't one, really.
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the whole point of slasher-movies the guessing along for the killer's identity and the search for a link between him/her and the people that got killed?
The film profiles itself as the very first gay slasher movie (although that's debatable) so that's exactly what happens!
HellBent, judging by the title and the fact it's some dude dressed as the devil killing gay guys, is probably meant to be a bit of a send-up of Christian fundamentalism as well as 80's slasher films.
Instead the film, written and directed by Paul Etheredge-Ouzts, mostly plays like any other slasher movie with a young, good-looking cast.Eddie (Dylan Fergus) is a hesitant fellow that really wants to go after this handsome guy (Bryan Kirkwood) he spies at the tattoo parlor.
For a movie that bills itself as "The first ever gay slasher film," one would think there would be something in the film to reflect some aspect of homosexual identity.