“Hellbenders”
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The Augustine Interfaith Order of Hell bound Saints are a group of ministers and priests who specialize in exorcisms. They believe that through discipline and remaining in a state of constant sin and disgrace, if a demon they are exorcising is too strong, they will be morally compromised and can therefore invite the demon into themselves, commit suicide and drag the demon to hell with them. The Hell bound Saints now face closure by the church as they encounter their strongest foe.
While this is billed as a horror comedy, the comedy part tends to feel forced and fall just shy of successful. There are certainly scenes that are irreverently humorous and nearly made me laugh. The story concept was intriguing and had the writers stuck more with the horror and tried a little less with the humor it would have been a more solid film.
The dialogue was meh. The characters should have had good chemistry, but not enough effort was given to developing the characters to create that. The exceptions are the talented Clancy Brown, as Angus the very driven leader who’s faith never waivers nor does his state of disgrace, and Clifton Collins Jr., as Larry the excommunicated, adulterer who hasn’t been quite sinful enough. The rest of the characters just didn’t exhibit the feeling of camaraderie that one would expect from relying on each other in such intense situations.
Overall, this was a bit of raunchy fun. I gave this 2 glasses of red wine.
