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A Review of Horror Soap Opera ‘Hell Town’

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Hell Town Poster

Steve Balderson’s Horror Soap Opera

Hell Town

Presented by Scream Queen Debbie Rochon

Now Available on Cable VOD and Digital HD

From Gravitas Ventures

Hell Town

  • Release Date: August 23rd on VOD
  • Written By: Steve Balderson, Elizabeth Spear
  • Directed By: Steve Balderson, Elizabeth Spear

From The Press Release:

Los Angeles, CA – Steve Balderson’s festival favorite Hell Town is now available to rent or own starting August 23rd on Dish Network, Cox, Charter, Verizon Fios, iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play, Vudu and more from Gravitas Ventures.  Presented as three episodes of a sadistic twist on Masterpiece Theater, Balderson (Firecracker, The Casserole Club) and co-director Elizabeth Spear have carved up a serialized story filled with catfights, cliffhangers, broken hearts and murder.

Since the world premiere sponsored by the Austin Horror Society and Alamo Drafthouse, Hell Town has made audiences and critics laugh and scream, picking up awards for Best Feature at Colorado Horror-Con, as well as a Best Feature and Best Actress win for Amanda Deibert, with nominations for Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography, at the Crimson Scream Horror Film Festival.

Debbie Rochon (Model Hunger, Return to Nuke ‘Em High, The Theater Bizarre) headlines as the hostess of the three surviving episodes of “Hell Town”, following the melodramatic, small-town and potentially short-lived lives of Krysten Day, Amanda Deibert, Owen Lawless, Ben Windholz, Jennifer Grace and Balderson muse Pleasant Gehman.

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Synopsis:

Hell Town follows the melodramatic antics of high school seniors clashing over love, sex, and betrayal. In the middle of all the everyday drama of one-sided infatuations, backstabbing bitchiness, bottled-up sexuality, sibling rivalry, and general small-town angst, the Letter Jacket Killer is killing students in a variety of sadistic ways. As the body count rises and the blood pools closer to home, it becomes clear that one of our main characters is the killer. Everyone, from the prom queen and shirtless jock to the nosy geek and the super bitch, are all suspects in the carnage.

 

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The film began with an introduction by Debbie Rochon, and I was digging it, I immediately received an Elvira and Rhonda Shear (USA Up All Night) vibe! A part of me wanted to see much more of Debbie. However, I was curious as to what was going to happen next.

Setup like a soap opera, Hell Town is a comedy horror spoof, directed by Steven Balderson and Elizabeth Spear. With the rest of the television series lost we see three episodes from Season 2, Episodes Seven, Eight, and Nine. The hell you say? How can we jump right in the middle of something like this? Don’t worry; the show has you covered! Enough backstory is brought to light that the episodes make sense, and everything flows quite nicely. The story focuses on the Gable and Manly families and is full of stereotypical scenarios and clichés that we have all come to recognize and love over the years. I was expecting to be surrounded throughout the film with unlikeable characters. However, the majority presented themselves to be very likable which was odd for a parody film.

The main synopsis of the film’s episodes is on a stereotypical super bitch Prom Queen type, Trish Gabel (Krysten Day). The Letter Jacket Killer, a crazed serial killer has decided to kill off anyone that comes in contact with this beautiful vixen, including an extensive list of gentleman that she needs to choose from for her prom date. Trish Gabel reminded me so much of a Marcia Brady type.

If this had been a typical horror film, the ending would have angered me and I would have felt cheated, however with the replication of daytime television; I felt the ending was perfect, and I was content. The only disappointment was this was not a continued series, and I was stuck imagining what future episodes might entail.

If you have a good sense of humor and are looking to have some good gory fun, Hell Town is the gem for you.

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Hell Town Official Website                    Order Hell Town on iTunes

Hell Town – Teaser Trailer Below:

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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