I watch a lot of B-movie horror films and normally the characters are pretty forgettable. They're all cliches or annoying, or both! In 'Hellblazers' the plot is nothing new - basically a big monster is stalking a small-time American town. However, what puts this head and shoulders over almost all others in its genre, is the writing and characters.
Most modern films seem to go on too long and feel like they're outstaying their welcome. But this time I actually would have preferred 'Hellblazers' to be remade into some sort of ten-part Netflix series. Every character is interesting and distinctive. None of them are particularly unlikeable - even the one who is (and he instantly redeems himself by knowing he's not very nice and leaning into it!) and play off each other well. The dialogue has a natural feel to it and characters chat to each other about things that have nothing to do with the overall story. This kind of 'extra' dialogue almost gives the film a 'Tarrantino-esque' feel to it.
The movie clocks in a one hour twenty-four minutes. I happened to pause it at forty-four minutes in. That's basically over halfway through and I have to admit, not much had actually happened by that stage. Normally, I'd say that's a drawback, but I'd enjoyed the characters so much, I really wasn't that bothered.
It's not beyond criticism though. The film-makers managed to cast legendary Tony 'Candyman' Todd in it (you'll probably notice him in ALL the marketing!) yet his role is little more than an extended cameo, which is a shame as he would definitely have made the film - even - better being in it for longer.
For the first half I was impressed with how characters act sanely (not always common in a horror/slasher film!), but - unfortunately - some tend to make silly mistakes in the second half simply to move the plot to where it needs to go. Plus the monster isn't on screen for very long, but it's a nicely gruesome masked man in a costume, so I guess it's forgivable due to budget.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. I'd loved to have seen it as a 'Twin Peaks' style miniseries, but I'll take what I can get!
7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that
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