Hellmouth is a movie I came across that was streaming for free on Tubi. The storyline depicts a graveyard grounds keeper about to retire, played by Stephen McHattie, that is drawn to hell to save the soul or a young lady. The movie is filmed in a Sin City format that is very fun and well done. The storyline and character delivery is a bit uneven, but the scenery and setting make up for it. The movie is far from perfect but is definitely worth your time. I'd give it a 6/10.
18 Reviews
Had potential but...
thrax-233162 July 2020
This could have been a good flick but the story was too muddled. At the end of it, I find myself asking, what was the point of it?!
The CG / effects are hair better than a typical SciFi channel movie; with a bigger budget, the film's visuals could have been outstanding. As it is, sometimes they're interesting and other times they're almost distractingly bad.
As far as the acting, Stephen McHattie certainly stands out in a good way, but the rest of the cast are pretty standard and not all that interesting. Unfortunately, McHattie can't make up for the film's drawbacks, and ultimately what drags the film down is any lack of coherence or depth to the plot. The teaser "Hellmouth is about a gravekeeper who is drawn into a hell dimension to save the soul of a beautiful woman" sums the film up completely, and sadly, there's not really any depth to the story beyond this statement. This is one of those films that felt like it could have had real vision, but failed due to a lack of focus by the film maker.
The CG / effects are hair better than a typical SciFi channel movie; with a bigger budget, the film's visuals could have been outstanding. As it is, sometimes they're interesting and other times they're almost distractingly bad.
As far as the acting, Stephen McHattie certainly stands out in a good way, but the rest of the cast are pretty standard and not all that interesting. Unfortunately, McHattie can't make up for the film's drawbacks, and ultimately what drags the film down is any lack of coherence or depth to the plot. The teaser "Hellmouth is about a gravekeeper who is drawn into a hell dimension to save the soul of a beautiful woman" sums the film up completely, and sadly, there's not really any depth to the story beyond this statement. This is one of those films that felt like it could have had real vision, but failed due to a lack of focus by the film maker.
It thinks weirdness is substance
Wizard-826 January 2016
I picked up this movie from my local library without knowing anything about it other than the brief plot synopsis on the back of the DVD case. While it's not one of the worst movies I have ever seen, it's definitely one of the strangest I have seen. And that explains the main problem I had with the movie - it is so determined to be strange and murky that it doesn't give the audience anything to hang on to. The characters are vague; you hardly learn a thing about them. And it doesn't take long for the plot to become all but incomprehensible. As a result, it was hard for me to care about what was going on. Sure, it's visually striking at times, as well as being fairly slick despite what had to be a really low budget. I just wish that the filmmakers had put as much work into the script as they did with the visuals. It didn't come as a surprise when the end credits revealed it was a Canadian movie - it has that Canadian feel as well as pretentious attitude you often get in Canadian cinema. (Though at least the Canadian government's film funding agency didn't waste any of my tax dollars on this particular movie.) Maybe this might have worked as a short subject, but as a feature film it's pretty deadly.
Green screen adventure
Leofwine_draca24 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
HELLMOUTH is one of those films shot entirely against a green screen with all of the backdrops added in afterwards. It's similar to THE SPIRIT and the SIN CITY films in that respect. Personally I find all this CGI work more than a little distracting, but there's not much story here to distract from in the first place. A man enters a hellish dimension to save a woman's soul, and that's about it. Things are overly simplistic and cliched, and aside from Stephen McHattie showing up, it's all rather amateurish.
Digital Eyesore
betsypj21 August 2020
Why not?
carsonferguson4 April 2021
An excellent vehicle for Stephen McHattie
filmeuro19 February 2019
I knew within the first five minutes of watching this move that it was something really unique. Not really a horror movie, which the name and poster suggest. First of all there is Stephen McHattie, who is a seriously underrated actor. Second, the visuals and filming of the movie are really quite unique. It wanders a bit as the movie progresses, but is well wroth watching. Fantastic.
It's like Sincity had a baby and turned it into a horror film.
dlmyst-2981329 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
An 80% CGI dark moody atmospheric film with shades of Diablo and Dante's Inferno. I think the casting was perfect. While the setting was stylized, everyone was believable. It's a fun ride throughout the movie. Definitely recommended for fans of dark realities and unlikely heroes. The ending though, could of been expanded a bit more. With the current ending they gave us I can draw a good conclusion (he's free) and a bad one (history repeats itself). I'm leaning a little bit to the later due to the color shift at the end.
A Gravekeeper Goes to Hell, Convincingly.
haskellhello27 July 2020
I'm not a professional but I think this review is fair.
*Zero spoilers*
The film reminds me of Dante's Inferno. The main character gets dragged confusingly into Hell, and he basically stares each demonic figure in the face and says "I dont know why Im here, but you dont scare me." The main character definitely hogs the limelight, but he is the perfect person for the role. The pacing is good. What I really liked this movie for though is it's sense of setting. This movie stands out as one of the best uses of budget CGI I've ever seen. I think this movie had almost no budget whatsoever- I saw that their Indiegogo (kickstarter) raised some $2,000 with a $45,000 goal. They got pennies. I couldnt see more info than that because I dont have imdb pro (yeehaw), but they really went all out with the CGI regardless, never shying away from animating some ludicrous demon on screen. That's always a peeve of mine- when they hide the epic monsters in the shadowy bushes etc and try to use the excuse of "oh its all mysterious bc you cant see it yet," when theyre obviously just cheaping out.There were literally only 2 times that I would call the CGI bad: one being some blood against metal (again, only one time this happened), and the other being sadly right at the end, where the greenscreen was painfully obvious. I was really disappointed by that, how they left one of their worst greenscreen shots in right at the end. There was also one small issue with props selection, but Im not going to spoil what it was. Youll probably know when you see it. Other than that though, the CGI is extremely effective dollar for dollar, and it's easy to feel like they really shipped this man and a camera-strapped drone to Hell to shoot these scenes. I also thought the ending itself was kind of bad for being too sudden and how they got there to be the most confusing part of the entire movie, aside from the final scene itself and brief soliloquy which was pretty good. I'd give this movie 7.5, and if you enjoy things demonic then you'll definitely find this a good watch. I didn't think it was too confusing, and it isnt aimless. If nothing else, it was a well visualized journey to the depths of Hell, featuring one bad ass old man, a pretty girl, some interesting villains, and a handful of demons.
The film reminds me of Dante's Inferno. The main character gets dragged confusingly into Hell, and he basically stares each demonic figure in the face and says "I dont know why Im here, but you dont scare me." The main character definitely hogs the limelight, but he is the perfect person for the role. The pacing is good. What I really liked this movie for though is it's sense of setting. This movie stands out as one of the best uses of budget CGI I've ever seen. I think this movie had almost no budget whatsoever- I saw that their Indiegogo (kickstarter) raised some $2,000 with a $45,000 goal. They got pennies. I couldnt see more info than that because I dont have imdb pro (yeehaw), but they really went all out with the CGI regardless, never shying away from animating some ludicrous demon on screen. That's always a peeve of mine- when they hide the epic monsters in the shadowy bushes etc and try to use the excuse of "oh its all mysterious bc you cant see it yet," when theyre obviously just cheaping out.There were literally only 2 times that I would call the CGI bad: one being some blood against metal (again, only one time this happened), and the other being sadly right at the end, where the greenscreen was painfully obvious. I was really disappointed by that, how they left one of their worst greenscreen shots in right at the end. There was also one small issue with props selection, but Im not going to spoil what it was. Youll probably know when you see it. Other than that though, the CGI is extremely effective dollar for dollar, and it's easy to feel like they really shipped this man and a camera-strapped drone to Hell to shoot these scenes. I also thought the ending itself was kind of bad for being too sudden and how they got there to be the most confusing part of the entire movie, aside from the final scene itself and brief soliloquy which was pretty good. I'd give this movie 7.5, and if you enjoy things demonic then you'll definitely find this a good watch. I didn't think it was too confusing, and it isnt aimless. If nothing else, it was a well visualized journey to the depths of Hell, featuring one bad ass old man, a pretty girl, some interesting villains, and a handful of demons.
Stephen McHattie, is one of my favorite
Wikkid_Gamez23 June 2019
Underrated actors... I was not sure about trying this movie at first and it was mainly due to him that I did but I am glad that I did! This was a great little find! As others have said, if you were not a fan how movies like Sin City were done then you may not be fond of this. I actually find that I like this style a lot, and found this movie to be visually stimulating as well as entertaining. Watched it late at night and was glued to it until the end. Yes, the overall story outline was simple but that doesn't mean it wasn't good. I would definitely watch this again and would suggest it to others that can appreciate it as a visually artistic piece of entertainment. The acting was excellent all the way around, they nailed that 50's film noir feel completely! Loved it!
A Fairy Tale or Allegory
captainpass19 June 2020
I expected to dislike this movie after the first ten minutes and almost bailed. I'm glad I did not. I am not a fan of the "Sin City" brand of cinematography (short depth-of-field actor shots combined with post-production film noir digitization), and originally was turned-off to see it here. However, the story won me over.
Really, this film is a rather traditional fairy tale or allegory set within a digital landscape: that of the Seeker, a man who does not quite know who he is but has been given one last task--here, the order to fill in for another caretaker at another cemetery--that allows him to journey to find himself. Along the way he meets what he thinks is his real purpose--the saving of a ghostly damsel in distress--only to find by the end of the movie that his purpose is much more complicated than that.
The last twenty minutes or so reminded me quite a bit of Bergman's work--"Wild Strawberries" especially--and were well-done in making their philosophical or allegorical "point." Having said all that, I do think this is a movie that could be hard to follow if you just "watch." The post-production digitization is impressive at times, but can also distract from the story-line. I almost feel that this film could be easily adapted for the stage where it would be even more impressive. It really takes place in only four "locations," and would be easier to follow from a dialogue point-of-view.
At any rate, I highly recommend this movie and am considering a purchase for my collection. Stephen McHattie is simply excellent in the title role. As he is the "straight man" to the otherwise purposely "flat" or characterized acting of the others, his was the role that truly mattered. And he was simply excellent.
Really, this film is a rather traditional fairy tale or allegory set within a digital landscape: that of the Seeker, a man who does not quite know who he is but has been given one last task--here, the order to fill in for another caretaker at another cemetery--that allows him to journey to find himself. Along the way he meets what he thinks is his real purpose--the saving of a ghostly damsel in distress--only to find by the end of the movie that his purpose is much more complicated than that.
The last twenty minutes or so reminded me quite a bit of Bergman's work--"Wild Strawberries" especially--and were well-done in making their philosophical or allegorical "point." Having said all that, I do think this is a movie that could be hard to follow if you just "watch." The post-production digitization is impressive at times, but can also distract from the story-line. I almost feel that this film could be easily adapted for the stage where it would be even more impressive. It really takes place in only four "locations," and would be easier to follow from a dialogue point-of-view.
At any rate, I highly recommend this movie and am considering a purchase for my collection. Stephen McHattie is simply excellent in the title role. As he is the "straight man" to the otherwise purposely "flat" or characterized acting of the others, his was the role that truly mattered. And he was simply excellent.
Constantine meets Sin City
tabuno28 January 2019
This Constantine (2005) meets Sin City (2005) is a mostly black and white, graphic novel approach to hell. It's glaringly stark cinematography adapts well to the horror filled nightmares of children and the black despair and creepiness of hell. Strangely simplistic in its approach, the fifties element of the despondent detective in the form of a aging, dying, close to retirement grave-digger is caught up in a wrenched dilemma of perhaps having to continue dig his own grave on his terrible, nightmarish job until he dies (his dream of more sunny retirement Florida seemingly beyond his reach). This movie may have been much more effective had it been directed and scripted as an R-rated feature film so that its graphic profanity of a hellish nature and sexual emotional bonding could have enriched and enlivened the movie even more so. The somewhat soft ending can be taken either as a cop out or a refreshing little breath of mental sunshine, probably left up to the viewer. Nevertheless, this movie borders on the ranks of What Dreams May Come (1998) and to a lesser epic extent The Lord of the Rings (2001) in an epistemological (inner knowledge or truthful way).
A must see
maartendierckx8 July 2015
A gripping, beautiful tale, full of dark humor and great performances. Watching it is like having a twisted dream. An inevitable cult favorite, it's difficult to understand why it has been overlooked so far.
For one thing, the poster does not do it justice. The title of the movie is also perhaps a bit deceiving. This is not a B-horror movie at all: I almost skipped it because of that poster which screams hatchet killer. I wouldn't even call it a horror movie, though the thematics are most definitely not for younger viewers.
Other than that I don't see anything wrong with this masterpiece.
I'll spare you any more words: just watch it already.
For one thing, the poster does not do it justice. The title of the movie is also perhaps a bit deceiving. This is not a B-horror movie at all: I almost skipped it because of that poster which screams hatchet killer. I wouldn't even call it a horror movie, though the thematics are most definitely not for younger viewers.
Other than that I don't see anything wrong with this masterpiece.
I'll spare you any more words: just watch it already.
I adored this movie
Cr0wgrrl3 April 2021
Stylized, surreal and thoroughly captivating. If you're looking for a scary horror movie, this isn't it. But if you are looking for something oddly charming, memorable and creepily funny that makes you ask, "Wait, what?!" with each new turn of the plot, this movie has much to offer. (Fans of Dellamorte Dellamore will probably enjoy this.) In my opinion, the only thing that could have improved this movie was a soundtrack by Danny Elfman.
Acid trip into Hell
urbanspider6 February 2021
Marvel and join the ride...
leon-smoothy24 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is a strange movie, a blend of several genres and could well have been directed by Guillermo del Toro or any of his likes.
It holds you in a tight grip from the beginning when it is very influenced by 40-50's noir or horror movies, to develop into something else more grandeur about halfway in. It is not easily understood or clear what is real and what is dreaming, psychological terror or supernatural terror. But terrifying it is, and made with references to classical themes about death, madness and heroism found in the ancient tales. It is about the grave digger Charlie Baker and his contract to tend to a graveyard for 6 months, because his predecessor "has gone AWOL" as is described in the film, when it is actually supposed he is to retire. He is left with no option, sick, and with threat from his boss to loose all his life pension and few belongings, he is forced to take the deal.
But on the way home/there, things become strange and obscure, and he finds himself in a world not like his usual one, forced to deal with different terrifying individuals and occurrences.
Masterful effects, well crafted characters and good storytelling make this a movie well worth watching, especially if you are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary...
It holds you in a tight grip from the beginning when it is very influenced by 40-50's noir or horror movies, to develop into something else more grandeur about halfway in. It is not easily understood or clear what is real and what is dreaming, psychological terror or supernatural terror. But terrifying it is, and made with references to classical themes about death, madness and heroism found in the ancient tales. It is about the grave digger Charlie Baker and his contract to tend to a graveyard for 6 months, because his predecessor "has gone AWOL" as is described in the film, when it is actually supposed he is to retire. He is left with no option, sick, and with threat from his boss to loose all his life pension and few belongings, he is forced to take the deal.
But on the way home/there, things become strange and obscure, and he finds himself in a world not like his usual one, forced to deal with different terrifying individuals and occurrences.
Masterful effects, well crafted characters and good storytelling make this a movie well worth watching, especially if you are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary...
'Hellmouth': Enter. All exits are final.
strogunn22 March 2015
This is a visually striking Grimoire of historical evil- supremely well crafted. Visual references run the gamut from camp horror classics of the 50s & 60s to the eery twilight glow of El Greco's Renaissance paintings and back again to 40s film noir. If William Burroughs didn't deride organized religion so much I would say that this patron Saint of junkies was successfully summoned by Hellmouth's creators to cross Time and engage Dante in vigorous congress until a post-everything version of 'The Temptation of St. Anthony' was in the can. Stephen McHattie's performance is nuanced and dependably solid as ever. Supporting roles are expertly carved out by Murphy, Millen, Gibson, Richings et al.. See IT. Feel IT. Believe IT...If you dare! (As ever, 'IT' depends on what your definition of 'IS'IS')
A Horror With Imagination And Stephen McHattie
ladymidath20 May 2022
The both together make for a great horror/fantasy movie. The movie is very much done in the style of Sin City, with very striking visuals and odd splashes of colour. And sepia tones. This actually works here as it goes with the fantasy elements of the film. The story and acting are very good with a strong script, a good music score and of cause great acting all around. The special effects looked good and went well with the overall tone and feel of the film.
It probably won't appeal to a few viewers but if you like your films a little more artistic, this is for you.
It probably won't appeal to a few viewers but if you like your films a little more artistic, this is for you.
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