Bloody Hell (2020) is what Evil Dead Rise should have been. It’s a darkly comic horror movie that is a mash-up of multiple tropes: crazy family in the woods, bad people messing with the wrong person and a hero that is as warped as he is effective.
Bloody Hell is directed by Alister Grierson, an Aussie who worked with James Cameron on Sanctum (2011). It’s written by Robert Benjamin, who has mainly dabbled in short films. Despite minimal credits, Grierson and Benjamin display more than minimal talent. We aren’t talking Spielberg or Mamet here, but they put enough spin on a standard story to keep it interesting.
Bloody Hell Breakdown
Non-spoiler plot summary: a man thwarts a bank robbery, but it does not come without a cost. Once he is released from prison, he visits Finland and clashes with a weird family.
What sets Bloody Hell apart from similar films is its quirkiness. Everyone is goofing off, but they aren’t goofing on the audience. Quipping has gotten to the point in movies where it seems like everyone holds what they do in disdain, and they want to undercut sincerity. The people in Bloody Hell aren’t quipping. Their jokes have a degree of satire to them, and they want the audience to be in on it.
Likewise, commentary shows up here and there. Is Bloody Hell for or against armed citizens taking the law into their own hands? Both sides of the coin are shown. The question is not foolishly reduced down to “guns are bad.” Rather, it becomes a question of response level.
Commentary also exists with the weird family. They aren’t merely crazy. Ultimately, their motivation is caring for their children, but their behavior brings up the question: can caring simply be enabling? In their case, yes, but the movie invites contemplating where the line exists.
It is subtle stuff like this that separates Bloody Hell from its peers, and if it throws in a Family Guy-style gag of a man dancing happily with his own amputated foot, well, why not? The movie has already shown it is not brainless, so it has earned these asides into absurdity. Meanwhile. Evil Dead Rise had lots of blood and a wood chipper. Yippee.
Bloody Hell Cast
Bloody Hell stars Ben O’Toole as the hero. He’s had supporting roles in Hacksaw Ridge and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. O’Toole does not achieve anything that will be regarded as a cult-classic performance. Part of the reason for this is that the dialogue lets him down. Like a lot of films, Bloody Hell doesn’t know how to use the “F” word. The expletive simply becomes a crutch to show how upset a character is rather than by having them act.
On the other hand, non-dialogue writing does help O’Toole. Similar to William Hurt as Kevin Costner’s Id in Mr. Brooks, O’Toole has a conscience that is shown within the movie as an actual figure. In this case, it is O’Toole in dual roles. While the real O’Toole is immobilized and alone, his conscience walks around the room and plots ways to escape. It works quite well as a storytelling device and adds a triangular conflict to what would otherwise be simple two-character interactions.
Meanwhile, Meg Fraser stars as the unwilling daughter in the weird family who may or may not be on O’Toole’s side. Much like the actresses in Evil Dead Rise, she also has minimal credits and is Australian. Fraser does a lot better than her counterparts, though, because Bloody Hell has a more fleshed-out plot and allows her more room to roam as a character.
The rest of the cast is filled out by actors and actresses you might recognize or you might not. They mainly exist as cannon fodder.
Bloody Hell Summary
Bloody Hell is not a classic, and it died at the box office. It made $60,283 in the US. Meanwhile, Evil Dead Rise took in $97.5 million so far. It pays to have a brand name. Regardless, Bloody Hell is the better movie. It should be noted for the pedantic folks out there, that I am not saying Bloody Hell is an Evil Dead movie. It does not contain copious amounts of gore or demons. No supernatural element at all.
What Bloody Hell does contain is a quirky tone, a house in the woods, a put-upon hero and other similarities I will not go into for spoiler reasons. In other words, Bloody Hell has ELEMENTS of an Evil Dead movie, and it did a better job utilizing those elements than Evil Dead Rise. I reckon Evil Dead’s influence is apparent on Alister Grierson and Richard Benjamin, and they used that inspiration to create their own unique thing.
It’s similar to how music works. Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver and Paparazzi by Lady Gaga are two completely different songs, yet they use the same chord progression.
So, let’s sum it all up and get back to watching funny cat videos. Bloody Hell is a little film that surprised me with its pluckiness. It’s not exactly my cup of tea (I don’t like crazy family movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Wrong Turn), and I won’t be forcing it upon any loved ones, but horror aficionados out there might be interested in checking it out.
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