5.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.1 |
The Augustine Interfaith Order of Hellbound Saints, a team of blasphemous ministers who live in a constant state of debauchery, work to drag the worst of demons back to Hell.
Starring: Clifton Collins Jr., Clancy Brown, Robyn Rikoon, Andre Royo, Dan FoglerHorror | 100% |
Comedy | 38% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 MVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Blu-ray 3D
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
The Catholic Church has not had an especially good few years with regard to reports coming out about rampant forms of abuse by various priests around the world, a situation made even worse by the fact (or at least the perception) that the Church itself was not all that concerned by this abuse for far too long, and not only turned a blind way, in many cases appeared to actually aid the abusers by simply transferring them to new positions (where of course the abuse simply started over again in a new location). And so with that in mind, it may seem a bit unseemly, if not downright distasteful, that Hellbenders 3D is built upon a conceit of a bunch of rogue priests who are actually out to break as many Commandments as possible. The film is played for raucous, almost National Lampoon's Animal House-esque laughs, along with a certain kind of faux sci-fi fantasy ambience which may in fact remind many of Ghostbusters, but anyone who has either read or seen any of the innumerable news reports about actual miscreant priests over the past several years may find it hard to laugh that hard at this lo-fi affair. As intentionally potty-mouthed as Hellbenders is, and as potentially off-putting due to its bad boy priest conceit, what really ails this admittedly fitfully amusing tale is a certain slapdash quality where one bit may land relatively well, while the next simply lies there like an errant demon, waiting to be put out of its misery.
Hellbenders is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. This
Red Epic shot feature is hampered somewhat by director J.T. Perry's decision to film almost all of the big demonic set pieces
in very dim lighting, perhaps to hide his less than fulsome special effects budget. This leads to a kind of murky
overall appearance (with occasional spikes of minimal noise), less than substantial shadow detail, and occasionally
unappealingly low contrast. Even the (few) brightly lit scenes seem to have been desaturated or otherwise color graded in
post, leading to general loss of fine detail. The film has a number of faux "documentary" sequences, including clips
from supposed films of exorcisms as well as first person confessionals or interview segments, and those have been treated
to intentionally look distressed.
The 3D experience here is surprisingly good, at least given the built in constraints that this often low light experience
affords. Perry and cinematographer Ryan Samul are very good about framing scenes with foreground objects delivering an
instant sense of depth and dimension. As with the 2D experience, the film's overall darkness is its biggest detriment. It's
quite simply hard to make out spatial planes when things can hardly be seen in the first place. When things are relatively
well lit, like an early scene of Larry lighting up a joint while it's aimed squarely at the audience, things pop surprisingly well.
Hellbenders's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 has some requisite surround activity in a couple of the exorcism scenes, though even these don't have the thundering low end that some might be expecting. (It doesn't help that it's fairly obvious the demon voice has been post-looped, with less than adequate lip synching on occasion.) A late in the film conflagration affords some good low end along with nice use of the surround channels. Dialogue is cleanly presented and fidelity is excellent throughout the film. Dynamic range is perhaps unexpectedly narrow.
Hellbenders has a decent—if patently sacrilegious—concept, and for those who don't mind nonstop F-bombs, not to mention litte moments like a demon chewing off its own fingers and then chewing off a priest's toes, the film may deliver a decent amount of gore along with a few laughs. But the humor here is too inconsistent to ever really take hold. The performances are generally quite good, and J.T. Perry keeps the pace nicely brisk throughout. The film is damnably hard to see at times, which makes its 3D presentation somewhat problematic.
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