Hellbent

Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: September 27th, 2016.
Director: Richard Casey
Cast: Phil Ward, Lyn Levand, David Marciano, Steve DeVorkin, Darcy Nichols, Brad Slaight, Cheryl Slean
Year: 1988
Purchase From Amazon

The Movie:

The second feature film directed by Richard Casey, 1988's Hellbent tells the 'story' of a man named Lemmy (Phil Ward). He's a rocker, and he and his rocker pals make up a punk band called The Mynde Paracytes. They've got the drive and they've got the talent to make it, but the scene is just so unforgiving that they really haven't had that big break that feel they need. This is taking its toll on Lemmy, but his luck starts to change after he meets Mr. Tanas (David Marciano). He offers him the chance to play at his hot new club.

Soon enough, Lemmy and his bandmates aren't getting along, Tanas (spell it backwards) may or may not be after the guy's soul, things get dicey with his lady friend Angel (Lyn Levand) and he winds up taking a lot of cough syrup. Before it's all over with Santa Clause gets trashed, there are UZI's all over the place and Casey gives the music industry the middle figure in about a hundred different ways.

It doesn't always make sense and it doesn't always work, but Hellbent is definitely an interesting cult curiosity item. The message is made loud and clear - the music industry will swallow your soul if you really want to succeed - but aside from the overly obvious statements that the picture makes there's some interesting stuff here. The music used in the film is definitely of its time but it works in the context of what Casey is trying to do and some of it is kind of great. The performances are often one note and kind of off but you sometimes wonder if Casey wanted it this way. Phil Ward is likeable enough in the lead and he carries the picture, so some credit is due his way.

The movie is also a pretty great time capsule, documenting the Los Angeles punk scene in its own way. As a piece of outsider art the movie is kind of interesting. Don't go in expecting much from the narrative, look at it more as a pastiche of a scene that once was from the skewed eye of a man who is clearly intending to both document it and question what it all means from both a commercial and artistic standpoint. On that level Hellbent is kind of cool. There's no shortage of eighties punk fashions on display throughout the movie, which gives things a fairly colorful vibe. There are also some awesome locations captured in the film, like a basement club covered in spray-paint as well as some scuzzy flop house type joints and hey, even some suburban bliss locales that contrast with the grubby tone Casey sets down for us.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Hellbent debuts on Blu-ray “Scanned and restored in 2k from the original 35mm negative” in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.85.1 widescreen. There is some minor print damage here and there but it's never distracting, it's all very minor stuff. This one looks a lot more polished than the director's earlier Horror House On Highway 5, and given that it was shot on 35mm it's not as grainy or as harsh looking. Colors, which are frequently garish and over the top, are nicely reproduced and black levels are good. Skin tones look fine and there's decent detail and texture throughout.

Audio is presented in English language DTS-HD Mono with optional subtitles presented in English only (selectable from your remote but not off of the main menu). Sound quality is fine, is low-fi in nature. Dialogue is easy to understand and the film's awesome soundtrack. There are no problems with any hiss or distortion and while this still sounds like a low budget 'rough around the edges' feature the audio is fine.

The main extra on the disc is a commentary track with director Richard Casey who spends a good deal of time talking about how and why this movie came to exist. He clearly had a lot of connections to the Los Angeles music scene of the time and was keen to exploit those in the film. He also talks about a lot of the influences that come into play with this picture, how and why the different cast and crew members involved with the shoot came to be, what the film actually means and a fair bit more. Casey's an interesting cat - he delivers this with a sense of humor but never really delves into silliness, though there are times you can't help but wonder if he's messing with us.

Also on hand is A Little Chaos, a featurette that runs fifteen minutes or so and features interview snippets with director Casey alongside a few crewmembers and cast members such as Phil Ward, David Marciano, Steve DeVorkin and Brad Slaight. The cast members share some interesting stories about shooting their various scenes without really knowing where any of this was going while Casey talks about different receptions the film has received over the years.

Menus and chapter selection are included and as this is a combo pack release, the clear keepcase, which includes some very cool reversible cover artwork by Cody Brown, also holds a DVD version of the movie (with extras that mirror those found on the Blu-ray release).

The Final Word:

Hellbent doesn't make a whole lot of sense but it is a pretty enjoyable piece of artsy trash that works both as a cult oddity and a time capsule of late eighties era Los Angeles. Vinegar Syndrome have done their typically fine job bringing this picture to Blu-ray and DVD for the first time, offering it up in nice shape and with a few solid supplements too.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!