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Bloody Hell (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Bloody Hell' is a 2020 Australian horror comedy film directed by Alister Grierson and written by Robert Benjamin (in his screenwriting debut). It tells the story of a man with a mysterious past who flees from his homeland to escape his own personal hell - to unknowingly experience something even more sinister and hellish. The film stars Ben O'Toole, Caroline Craig and Matthew Sunderland.
The film premiered in Australia on October 8, 2020, and in the United States a day later at the Nightstream Film Festival.
Plot
Rex (Ben O'Toole), a veteran and resident of Boise, Idaho, visits a Boise bank to see a teller named Maddy who he has a crush on. While the two are flirting, a group of armed robbers storm the bank; Rex instructs Maddy to run and prepares to hand over his wallet. Another customer's spilt open purse reveals a firearm which Rex debates using to take control of the situation.
Flashback sequences reveal that Rex was able to successfully secure the bank by dispatching the armed robbers one at a time. Unfortunately, an innocent bystander was killed in the process when Rex maimed a surrendering robber at the behest of his sadistic subconscious, who he subjectively sees as a separate physical entity. The reception of Rex's actions is mixed with some believing him to either be a heroic vigilante, while others view him as a psychopathic murderer. Rex goes back and forth with his attorney before his trial, where he can either take a plea deal and serve 8 years in prison or try and prove his innocence but serve 20 to life if he is found guilty. Rex takes the plea deal and serves 8 years in prison.
Upon being released, the media harasses Rex as he enjoys some small luxuries of freedom like grocery shopping and eating a burger. He then returns to the bar where he was previously employed and speaks with another bartender. They banter back and forth and Rex explains that he has made a "calculated decision" to get away to Finland (shooting a spitball at a map while in prison).
Rex is shown at the airport being adorned by an obnoxious fan who compares him to John Wick. He is also uncomfortably stared at by an elderly Finnish couple who mention something in Finnish about capturing him. Another Finnish passenger attempts to warn him, but Rex doesn't take him seriously. He boards his flight, sarcastically remarking at his luck when he notices the airport codes for Boise to Helsinki, Finland are Boi to Hel (Boy to Hell). Upon landing, he quickly enters a taxi but during the journey sleeping gas fills the back seat. Rex awakens in an underground torture chamber with one of his legs amputated at the knee and his hands bound to the ceiling. He works with his subconscious to deduce as much information about his predicament as possible. The two quickly discern that Rex is being held captive by a family as there are various toys around the room, however, Rex is unable to escape his binds. The audience learns that Rex is in the basement of a large family estate in rural Finland.
A young boy from the family is wandering around the house and enters the basement to find Rex being held hostage. Rex's subconscious tells him that he can hold the boy - "Olaf" - hostage as an insurance policy to be set free from the family. Rex lures Olaf closer, quickly incapacitates and traps him between his legs. Olaf's older sister Alia then goes searching for him. Rex negotiates with Alia to free him in exchange for not killing Olaf, but bickers with his subconscious, snaps, and loses his hold on Olaf. Alia is able to retreat with a wounded Olaf upstairs. To protect Rex, she claims he "fell out of bed" and the family drives the unconscious Olaf to the hospital. She then fantasizes about being married to Rex and comes back downstairs to clean and dress his wound, professing her affection for Rex.
Alia explains that her family, particularly her eldest brother Pati, are cannibals who will eat Rex piece by piece (explaining his missing leg). The family, unable to find a substitute for human flesh, have resorted to kidnapping and butchering American travelers for Pati. Alia is an outcast among her family, especially her mother, for her non-violent tendencies and has attempted to escape unsuccessfully. As punishment, she is groomed to be Pati's new handler/feeder. Alia refuses to help Rex escape as she is confident that Rex cannot stop her family. Rex and Alia bond over their traumatic pasts, and Alia leaves Rex with a small knife to cut his ropes.
The doctor confirms Alia's mother's suspicions that she lied about Olaf's "fall". The family furiously return home. Rex is unable to cut himself loose and is injected with drugs by the father of the family, losing consciousness. While unconscious, a flashback is shown recounting the events that took place during the bank robbery. Rex frees the hostages, taunts a dying robber and mercilessly shoots another in the groin, causing him to collapse and discharge his gun into a hiding woman. The robber he shot had held Maddy hostage, who Rex managed to save by claiming to not value her life. A censored version of the bank's security footage is released on YouTube, with various people watching and championing Rex. During his trial, Rex shows no regret for his actions, claiming the robbers were violent and he didn't want the one he spared to be able to reproduce. In another flashback, Maddy visits Rex in prison asking to be left alone so that she can recover from the trauma she experienced. Rex is then shown talking to his cellmate in prison who explains that he cannot outrun his problems and must accept fate. Rex is shown having actually shot 3 spitwads at the map when deciding where to live, each one landing on Finland.
Rex awakens to find Uncle Arto starting to saw off his remaining leg, however, Rex is able to unsheathe the knife from Alia and stab Uncle in the head, killing him before the operation is complete. Rex is then able to free himself and begins searching the basement for objects he can improvise into weapons, finding a flare gun, a large knife, and other various items. After stumbling up the stairs with a golf club as a makeshift prosthetic leg, Rex realises it is now morning. He and his subconscious debate whether to save Alia or not before escaping, with Rex seeming reluctant to try and help another woman when it ended tragically last time. In the time he was unconscious, the two brothers had gone to bed, Alia had been imprisoned and the parents had left again.
After the parents return home, they realise Rex has escaped and debate fleeing should the authorities show up, with the father claiming Rex will likely die to his wounds or wild animals prior to reaching them. While debating a course of action, the father and one of the brothers mysteriously die, with small wounds erupting through their chests; Rex is shown beneath the table with a nail-gun. A fight erupts, with Alia strangling her mother and Rex throwing knives into the second brother's chest, killing him. Pati is drawn out of hiding due to the chaos and is revealed to be a grotesque giant. Rex shoots Pati with the flare gun, which merely bounces off of him. In his battle with Pati, Rex finds his severed lower leg in the family's refrigerator with the jagged leg bone still intact. While being grappled by Pati, Rex is able to jam the foot and sharp bone into Pati's throat, killing him. Alia explains they are now safe and the two share a moment as she drives them away. Rex is praised by his subconscious, who ultimately realizes he is no longer needed and disappears. Alia and Rex discuss recovering Olaf from the hospital and are later shown as a couple back in the United States with Rex explaining to his friends at a party how they met. Alia turns out to be potentially psychotic when a woman at the party puts her hand on Rex's arm and Alia imagines herself killing the woman with a meat cleaver. When Rex mentions he killed Alia's entire family, everyone in the room stares at him in shock, except for one man who smiles and gives a thumbs up. Confused by the tension, Rex says, "what?" Olaf is later shown with a picture of his former family, explaining it may be time for an "American banquet" ("banquet" being one of the few English words he knows, taught to him by Alia earlier in the film). Upon inspecting the family portrait, it's clear the older brothers were part of a set of triplets, not twins.
Cast
* Ben O'Toole as Rex Coen
* Caroline Craig as Mother
* Matthew Sunderland as Father
* Travis Jeffery as Gael / Gideon
* Jack Finsterer as Uncle
* Meg Fraser as Alia
* David Hill as Olli
* Joshua Brennan as Pete
* Ashlee Lollback as Maddy
* Sophia Emberson-Bain as Olivia
* Russ Gallagher as Robert Bell
Release
'Bloody Hell' was selected at the 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) in South Korea, held in July 2021. It was showcased in the World Fantastic Red section of the festival.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 91% based on reviews from 56 critics. The site's critic consensus reads, "For genre fans in the mood to watch some darkly funny mayhem, 'Bloody Hell' lives up to its title in all the best ways."
Accolades
Brad Shield was nominated on his work for best cinematography at the 10th AACTA Awards. At the 2021 APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards, composer Brian Cachia won Best Film Score of the Year. It was also nominated for a Golden Trailer award for best motion poster.References
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