Hellbent, 2004

Written and directed by Paul Etheridge, Hellbent is billed as the first, true gay slasher film. Now, those that have been following along with me here know that the first gay slasher film was the second Nightmare on Elm Street film, but we’ll let Etheridge take the crown. To be honest, Hellbent doesn’t have much beside that crown to boast. The quality of most aspects of Hellbent are cringeworthy, and the slasher elements were nothing new for the time. Zachary Paul of halloweenlove.com adds this:

“Despite programs such as Will & Grace and more fringe output like Queer as Folk coming to the end of successful television runs, mainstream gay cinema was still relegated to overly self-important Oscar bait (The Hours, Kinsey). Things were progressing, but when a high profile, albeit still extremely low budget indie, gay horror film was announced – it was headline news in many circles. HellBent was the film we needed, entertaining schlock featuring gay characters that wasn’t actually about them being gay. It was time we got our own generic slasher franchise. Well, it was a nice thought.”

So, Hellbent isn’t exactly a beloved classic, but some viewers and critics are able to see past its faults. Trace Thurman of Bloody Disgusting is one example:

“Hellbent is a slasher film that definitely looks and feels like it was made on a shoestring budget, but I was not able to appreciate that all those years ago. Looking at it now, it’s actually kind of admirable that writer/director Paul Etheredge-Ouzts was able to pull this off. What is so great about Hellbent is how it turns all of the standard heterosexual horror tropes into gay ones.”

I don’t have too much else to say about this one, and I can’t say that I would recommend it to anyone. Fun Fact: if you Google “gay slasher film,” Hellbent comes up as the default search result. I think we’re overdue for another attempt at a gay slasher.