I caught this title a while ago as I became quickly intrigued for obvious reasons namely an all male cast and the fact that it's the first gay slasher movie, I caught the trailers online and became quickly interested, even though "Hell-bent" offers nothing new or original to the genre, a pretty much by numbers a routine slasher movie, but with a fresh approach. Although there have been gay characters in other horror movies, this is the first time that a movie centres round a group of gay men. For the movie itself, it's very well made nothing groundbreaking though and plus it's full of classic clichés and an interesting group of characters and a decent cast.The beginning we have the cliché couple making out in the car and then quickly killed off, quite violently but fun none the less and as the movie goes on its a pretty simple straight forward movie that never gets over complicated . But the fact that the killer's motive is never revealed seems rather lazy and uninspired, and the dialogue at times seems inane, and plus it lacks tension in certain places and the killer wasn't scary looked more like a gay porn star, I was more like falling in love than fearing his presence, but he did do some pretty decent kills, quite slick. But I just thought that this movie could have pushed the boundaries a bit more, as it doesn't feature any sex scenes which did kind of disappoint me in a way, but I still found this movie really fun and entertaining and the set pieces were shot brilliantly, like the carnival, the nightclubs and the final chase were all made decent good use off.Another factor that I liked about this movie was the decent cast that could have easily been one dimensional typical gay characters that feature in TV shows but gladly they weren't they were well rounded and well written firstly there was Dylan Fergus who plays the obvious final boy Eddie was just heart-warming and lovable, well at ease in his role and someone to root for in the end. Bryan Kirkwood who plays the love interest to Eddie was rugged and cool in his leather jacket and made the romance sub plot interesting and wanting more. Hank Harris who plays the shy boy Joey whose in love with the football player was very likable and gave a quite touching performance, definitely one of those characters that you'll miss. Andrew Levitas who plays the slutty character Chaz was a definite stand out for me, he oozed charm and worked well with the material he was given. And finally Matt Phillips as the drag queen Tobey, who to be honest annoyed me at first, I dunno maybe it's the fact that we never see him out of the drag costume, but I warmed to him as the movie went on, okay his acting wasn't perfect but he still had great chemistry with the other cast members.All in all "Hell-Bent" is a fun enjoyable movie that although doesn't offer new (apart from the gay angle) to the slasher genre or change your life in any way, it's still entertaining.

Four homosexual friends take to the streets during Carnival on Halloween night in West Hollywood as a buff serial killer(with a silver devil mask), who uses a sickle to attack victims(taking their heads after decapitation), follows close behind, waiting to strike each one when they are off by themselves. Eddie(Dylan Fergus), whose daddy was a policeman, is overly protective of his friends, and takes a liking to a biker in a leather vest(a manly gay man), always worried about his boys' safety because of the psycho running around(he saw the crime scene photos of the gay couple beheaded at the opening of the film, enough motivation to strike fear inside, or, at the very least, warranted caution). Bryan Kirkwood is Eddie's love interest, Jake. Hank Harris, Andrew Levitas, and Matt Phillips are the three pals of Eddie's who become targets of the killer. HELLBENT is probably my first male gay slasher flick and this, I figure, will be a strike against it because homophobes will find it hard to sit through as the movie emerges us into gay culture during a festive, energetic night on the streets where male homosexuals come out to enjoy the Halloween season with grand enthusiasm. Shot digital with the killings quite sadistic as the psychopath collects the heads of his victims! The killer's face is never shown and his motives are never clear. His presence and mask are pretty bitchin', to tell you the truth, and when he appears all you can really say is "Oh, sht!" While I mentioned that homophobes may find HELLBENT maybe hard to adapt to, there's an atmosphere and style I thought earned the movie brownie points; slasher fans, especially gay males, might consider this an underrated gem of a movie considering the genre hasn't too many flicks where the heroes are homosexual men. While we never see an actual beheading on screen, I felt that director Paul Etheredge uses impressive sound effects and camera work(not to mention buckets of blood)to compensate. We do see the bodies absent heads which are rather gruesome and the scene where the sickle's point isn't able to penetrate Eddie's glass eye is a showstopper. While the digital may seem grainy, I think Etheredge captures an authentic feel that works to the movie's advantage. You know, the activity on the streets, all the people, the crowds on every corner, packing clubs, it's a playground for a killer to inflict serious damage to whoever he so wishes to harm. There's one scene, for instance, where the killer is able to butcher a victim in a club with strobe lights protecting his identity. You just have to tolerate dudes kissing from time to time. I often get to see chicks engage in lip lock so it's only fair that guys do the same, even if I prefer the former, there are those who desire the latter and rarely get it..HELLBENT gives gay men just that, and the heroes are their own.

I had heard good reviews before finally seeing this movie and am already a fan of the horror genre.For a gay slasher film it was done tastefully.I like a movie like this that is more realistic instead of being b-rated and campy.I am glad the gay characters were more normal instead of showing all the negative stereotypes that a lot of TV shows and movies show.It's refreshing to see a regular gay movie about ordinary(but pretty)people in realistic circumstances.In some ways it's just eye candy since every character was cute and sexy,but no different then a lot of other movies.This movie has a good story,good actors,and nice effects with the right amount of suspense,gore and humor.It is very well directed,produced as well as acted.I hope a sequel is made to understand the motive to the killings and to see who is behind that demonic mask. The music was fantastic and I wish there was a soundtrack.I have never heard of most of the artists but like their music.I really like how it has a Halloween theme.The costumes were outrageous and the party blew me away and looked like a lot of fun.This is a nice alternative to watching Halloween on Halloween night(even though i'm a huge fan of J.Carpenter's film)because it gives you a choice between them.Of course I will watch them both personally.

This so called gay slasher horror film is non of the 3.It is so darkly lit & with constant facial close-ups,you cannot tell what is happening. SPOILER ALERT, as soon as I saw one guy in flamboyant Drag & a cute young guy, I felt that they would be victims,It was also filmed in West Hollywood, It sure did not look like the West Hollywood I know so well.I feel sorry for those that spent $ 11:00 or more on this in the theatres. I saw this on NETFLIX so my cost was very reasonable* 1/2 out of 4 36 points out of 11 2 IMDb