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Hellions
Canada 2015
produced by Paul Lenart, Frank Siracusa, Janina Barrett (supervising) for Storyteller Pictures, Whizbang Films
directed by Bruce McDonald
starring Chloe Rose, Robert Patrick, Rossif Sutherland, Rachel Wilson, Luke Bilyk, Peter DaCunha, Emir Hirad Mokhtarieh, Nicholas Craig, Sydney Cross, Stephanie Fonceca, Adelaide Humphreys, Aliyah Jhirad, Victoria Obermayer, Devon Phillipson, Joe Silvaggio, Karlo William
written by Pascal Trottier, music by Todor Kobakov, Ian LeFeuvre
review by Mike Haberfelner
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It's Halloween ... and 17 year old Dora (Chloe Rose) learns she's
pregnant - which is nothing if not a big shock for her, so big indeed that
she can't even tell her mother (Rachel Wilson) who's less than pleased
about her daughter's boyfriend Jace (Luke Bilyk) as it is ... but mum's
out for the evening, and Jace will come pick Dora up later on when she'll
tell at least him. Only instead of Jace, only a bunch of trick-or-treaters
stop by her place at the appointed hour, and looking into their bag, she
actually finds ... Jace's severed head. Dora calls the police, and because
of cramps connected to her pregnancy also her doctor of trust (Rossif
Sutherland) and she locks herself into her house ... but apparently the
trick-or-treaters outside increase in numbers steadily, and they want into
her house, and have her baby - which grows inside her body much faster
than it's supposed to. Eventually, the doctor is brutally killed, but the
local sheriff (Robert Patrick) fights by her side bravely, as his wife was
taken from him in a similar situation, as absurd as it might be - but do
they have the slightest chance against these weird and violent
trick-or-treaters ... Hellions is a movie that seems to
play entirely in a league of its own as it spins a grotesque, surreal and
absurd yarn that plays with genre conventions only to eventually break
them, and it relies on a logic all of its own, a logic that the film
manages to transmit to its audience though without relying on long-winded
explanations and the like, but just through the dynamics of its story. The
result is quite fascinating, also thanks to a terrific and wildly inspired
directorial effort and a first rate cast. Quite impressive, actually!
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