Hells Bells — Hells Bells ( Blu Ray)
Hells Bells is a 2020 screwball horror comedy written, directed and starring Jim O’Rear (Torture Room, Nightblade and Scream Farm) and Scott Tepperman (Nightblade and the Cruel Summer movies). Starring alongside them we have Marc Price (Trick or Treat, Killer Tomatoes Eat France! and Little Devils: The Birth), Rebecca Erb (Kill Dolly Kill, Idle Girl and Death Care), Paul Von Scott (Cruel Summer, The Uncivil War: American Divided and Strange Love) and Jimmy Maguire (Unbillievable, The Mother God and Frenzy Moon).
Amateur metal band, Devil Music, have been playing together for 15 years, yet have never tasted any sort of success. They play the same hole-in-the-wall gig every month, they’re stuck in a rut, and they’re broke. Band leaders Arthur and Herb(O’Rear and Tepperman, respectively) are stuck working dead-end jobs packing shopping at the local supermarket, and their wives are becoming ever more frustrated. Along comes a manager, Kaleb (Tom Komisar, House of Whores, Blood Moon River and Cheerleader Camp Elimination), who has unwittingly signed a contract with the devil that allows him to achieve his wildest dreams until such a time that the devil returns to collect his soul, and those of anyone who benefits from his success. Kaleb turns up when Arthur and Herb are at work and asks them to sign with him, and he’ll make them rock stars. Hells Bells sign with Kaleb and their fortunes start to change, that is until the devil returns looking for his return favour.
Hells Bells is as cheap as they come, the filmmaking is very basic, the acting talent is lacking, and the dialogue is abysmal, yet somehow this trashy movie is quite enjoyable. After ten minutes, I wanted to turn it off, it starts to grow on you, and you want to see how it all pans out. Hells Bells is most notable for some absolutely tragic wigs that are worn by the main characters and some entry-level heavy metal music, but despite everything, you still manage to enjoy it. The humour is hit and miss, and alas, quite a bit of it misses the mark. If you can imagine a bunch of amateurs remaking Wayne’s World on a budget of £10 and a packet of Haribo, you won’t be far away from what this is all about, however it still has some sort of charm that drags you in. It’s never going to be a cult classic in the vein of Trick or Treat (of which Mark Price also stars), but it does have something that I just can’t put my finger on.
The new Blu-ray from SRS also features an audio commentary from O’Rear and Tepperman, trailers, a behind-the-scenes documentary, bloopers and a music video. Overall, this is a decent package for such an obscure title, and yes, while it’s cheap and cheerful, it’s also not the worst way to pass 80 minutes. If you enjoy bad movies, then give this one a chance. I can’t guarantee you’ll enjoy it, but I got enough fun from it to keep me watching.