Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.0

Born for Hell Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 26, 2021

Even if this film was released in a truncated version on video under the title Naked Massacre, it's obvious that co-writer and director Denis Héroux had more on his mind that making just another exploitation outing featuring a psychotic serial killer taking out a bunch of (often topless) women. Severin Films is offering Born for Hell in its original theatrical version for the first time on home video (the Naked Massacre version is also included as a supplement), and this release may well afford the film a bit of a reassessment, since it was evidently not widely seen during its initial theatrical exhibition. If Born for Hell isn't a "typical" slasher or even serial killer film, it may suffer from a bit of "reach exceeding its grasp" syndrome, as Héroux and his collaborators sought to transport the horrific mass murder of student nurses in Chicago at the hands of Richard Speck to the wartorn region of Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Héroux further attempts to inject a bit of contemporary sociopolitical commentary into the mix by having the perpetrator in this story, an unbalanced guy with the "meaningful" name of Cain Adamson (Mathieu Carrière) be a Vietnam War vet, one who is obviously suffering from his own kind of post traumatic stress disorder.

There are a number of rather interesting elements at play in Born to Hell, but I almost wished they had been divorced from a fictionalized retelling of the Speck murders, something that gives this outing an undeniably exploitative edge, despite its apparent nobler intentions. While sporting one of the more ridiculously "on the nose" names for a character, Cain is nonetheless often well written, and Carrière, while not especially artfully dubbed in the English language version, brings a chilling authenticity to the character. There is a probably unavoidable misogynistic aspect to the character (aside and apart from his ultimately accruing body count of females, pay attention to whom he chooses to "save" after a Belfast church bombing), and there are at least hints of homoeroticism in interchanges Cain has with another guy at a homeless shelter, not to mention a rather disturbing interchange with an older (female) prostitute.

You can feel Héroux looking for ways to make "comments", and in fact use of actual news footage of "the troubles", as well as some sad images from Vietnam, sometimes come with commentary courtesy of inserted "newcasters" or "interview subjects", but it's here that Born to Hell may actually falter, at least insofar as it tries to conjoin the hideous murders of a gaggle of young nursing students with symptoms of societal violence in general courtesy of things exactly like what was going on in both Belfast and Vietnam at the time. The film might arguably have done better to have gone ahead and presented Cain's character pretty much as he is in the film, but not to have relied on the shocking link to the Speck murders. This seems especially odd when even some of the supplements on the disc mention how the setting of the film ostensibly in Belfast really does nothing for things in terms of the Speck murder angle, though the mere setting does give the film a distinctive and disturbing air.

Born for Hell Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Born for Hell is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The back cover of this release states this was "scanned in 2K from an uncut 35mm print discovered in The National Archive of Canada". There are some obvious limitations in the source element which are probably most problematic in some of the dark material, where a "dupey" quality is evident, including lack of shadow definition and crushed blacks. In other, better lit, moments, things can look considerably better, but the entire presentation has a kind of wan look that, if not desaturated in the traditional sense, isn't especially well suffused. The outdoor material perhaps understandably looks best, and in these kinds of scenes, detail levels are commendable and things like Cain's green army jacket pop decently enough. There are changes in clarity and color temperature on hand, and some of the location moments in Belfast are a little rough looking. Grain is a bit gritty, per the source element, but resolves naturally. While not overly problematic, there are certainly signs of age related wear and tear here, including scratches and the like, some of which can be gleaned in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review.

Born for Hell Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Born for Hell features English and French language tracks, each presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono. There's an almost comical description of the many nationalities involved in the production during the credits, and what that means is no matter which track you choose, you're getting dubbed performers, and so as probably should be expected, "sync is loose" and lip movements are sometimes comically out of whack with the sounds emanating from them. I didn't notice any huge differences between the tracks other than the voice actors, and both provide clarity with regard to dialogue. Optional English subtitles are available.

Born for Hell Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Other Side of the Mirror (HD; 14:14) is a newly done interview with Mathieu Carrière, and is the first of several supplements on this disc to start with a warning about technical limitations since Covid forced interviews to be conducted via Zoom. This is an interesting career overview of sorts, not necessarily relegated to just this film.


• Nightmare in Chicago (HD; 12:52) offers interviews with Chicago based filmmakers John McNaughton and Gary Sherman, who offer their remembrances of the Speck murders.


• A New Kind of Crime (HD; 38:20) features podcaster Esther Ludlow, who evidently hosts a show called "Once Upon a Crime", discussing Speck, his life, and his killing spree.


• Bombing Here, Shooting There (HD; 17:02) is an interesting video essay by Chris O'Neil that seeks to contextualize the film in terms of what was happening in Northern Ireland at the time. O'Neil revisits several of the shooting locations in both Belfast and Dublin to document how much the environment has changed in the intervening years. This piece also discloses how, while there were brief location scenes shot in Belfast, many of the supposed Belfast locations were actually in Dublin, including kind of hilariously the opening shot which features a huge water tower like structure emblazoned with the word "Belfast".


• Artist Joe Coleman on Speck (HD; 14:21) is a frankly kind of creepy piece which might suggest Coleman needs a better hobby.


• Inside the Odditorium (HD; 9:41) offers more of Coleman discussing his "museum", which again suggests he may need a better hobby.


• Naked Massacre (HD; 1:25:43) is the slightly redacted video version of the film.


• Italian Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:58)

Note: Severin has had this disc authored just a little strangely, so that it isn't possible to chapter skip through any of the supplements, aside from the Naked Massacre video version of the film. The Main Menu button also doesn't function during playback of any of the supplements, though the Pop Up Menu will still allow access to either the Main Menu or the Bonus Menu.

Born for Hell Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Born for Hell seems to want to suggest that its titular location isn't just a description of war, but of all sorts of nefarious human behavior, and if that's an arguably trite thesis, the film almost pulls everything off. Some may feel, as I do, that linking the ideas in this film to a fictionalized depiction of the Speck murders may not have been a wise idea. Video encounters some hurdles due to a problematic source element, but audio is fine, and the supplements quite interesting, for those who are considering making a purchase.