Born For Hell is a terminal grim, at points downright troubling to nasty character study–come-psycho thriller set during the Northern Ireland troubles of the 70s.  It charts the steady descent into madness and violence of a Vietnam veteran who comes ashore in Dublin. The film has a gritty fly-on-wall quality, and as it progresses it slow-but-surely edges up the intensity and feeling of sweaty unease, with jarring moments of misogynist & sexualized violence. The film was a re-telling of the Richard Speck case- where in 1961, the acne-scared loner killed eight nurses in Chicago. Here from Severin is a Blu-Ray release of film, with a new 2k scan of the film, and a selection of extras.
 

Appearing in the year 1976 Born For Hell(  aka Naked Massacre) was a Canadian, French, Italian, and West German production. It was directed by Montreal-born Denis Héroux- who has fifteen feature-length credits to his name. These take in the likes of affair-focused drama Initiation(1970), comedy I’ve Had It( 1973), and cat-focused horror anthology  The Uncanny (1977). Born For Hell rather sits in a strange place genre-wise, as for its first three thirds it plays as a grim character study, then in the last quarter switches to nasty and sleazed exploitation.
 
The film follows polite-if-glumly troubled Vietnam veteran Cain Adamson(Mathieu Carrière) as he lands up in Dubin, when trying to make his way back to the USA. He sets down right in the middle of the troubles in Northern Ireland- where the city is very much on edge, with soldiers on the street carrying guns, random bombs exploding, wrecked and boarded up buildings, and the general feeling of tension within the cites people. For the first three-quarters of the film Adamson wonders around the stark and wrecked streets, gets covered in dust/ mortar when a bomb explodes in a church where a few people are killed,  spends time in a small bar playing pinball, and sleeps in a crowded & bleak hostel. During his grim and chain-smoking days, he notices a house where a group of seven nursing students live.
 
Towards the mid-point of the around hour and a half film, he knocks on the back door of the nurses' houses- here he meets brunette Amy(Carole Laure) who he claims looks like his wife- she gives him food, chats with another housemate, and leaves. Adamson's only friend in the city is a twenty-something Asian man, who is sleeping in the bed next to him in the hostel- it’s suggested he’s homosexual and suggests going to the mainline UK to pimp out the Vet- who of course is none to keen on the idea.
 
In its last quarter, the film takes a decidedly uncomfortable and at points rather unpleasant turn, as one night Adamson breaks into the house to cause sleazed torment, terror, and even bloody death. With things really going from bad to worse for the student nurses. As the film moves towards a  very grim resolve.
 
Carrière plays well the at first troubled, later sweaty psychotic veteran. The nurse students are all fairly good and believable too, with a good mix of different types of personalities,  with of course some given more depth than others. European arthouse fans will recognize Eva Mattes, who appeared in both the films of Werner Herzog( most notably in Stroszek as troubled prostitute Eva) and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. And she has a rather effectively unsettling interaction with the Vet.
 
Born For Hell is certainly effective in its grim and troubled tone- though those expecting sleazed nastiness from the off will be disappointed, as most of the film is glum drama come character study. With the roughie side of things only really appearing in the last quarter of the film.
 

Moving onto this region free Blu-Ray. It features a new 2K scan of the film, and this is largely clean ‘n’ crisp- I’d previously seen the film as part of a 50 horror film collection, and this new print is a great improvement. Otherwise, we get a few interesting extras- The Other Side Of The Mirror (14.14) a  zoom interview with actor Mathieu Carriere- he discusses acting in the film to hand, as well as a few other key roles he played in other films. Nightmare In Chicago(12.52) zoom interviews with local filmmakers John McNaughton and Gary Sherman, discussing their personal memories of the Richard Speck case that inspired the film. A New Kind Of Crime (38.24) an interview with podcaster Esther Ludlow, who details the Speck case- discussing how/ why the loner went on to kill the eight nurses. Bombing Here, Shooting There(17.02) a video essay by Irish filmmaker Chris O’Neill- who discusses the relevance of the film in wider Irish Cinema. Artist Joe Coleman On Speck( 14.21) which finds the artists talking about the Speck case. Inside The Odditorium With Joe Coleman(9.25) which shows the artists showing us around his studio. Lastly, we get the US cut of the film under its Naked Masscure cut of the film, which runs just over the hour and twenty-five minutes mark

Born For Hell will appeal to those who enjoy stark character studies-come-troubling and nasty psycho thrillers. It’s a well-acted and well-scoped film, but it’s certainly a  grim ride. This Severin release offers up a good new print, and a good selection of interesting extras.