DRIVING MISS CRAZY

2 hours ago
4 min read

HELLCAT (15)

Director: Brock Bodell

Screenplay: Brock Bodell

Starring: Dakota Gorman, Todd Terry, James Austin Johnson

Running time: 91 minutes

Shudder

Review: RJ Bland

It was only a couple of weeks ago (during the review for The Last House) that we referenced the potential increase in the number of self-contained horror stories. Since Covid-19, we've not really had many of these, and it may be because there's not been an appetite to rekindle the lockdown angst that we all experienced. But as we know, the genre often reflects the worries of the time – even if they are a little delayed. And facing our fears through film can be pretty cathartic too. So there's every chance we could see a rise in claustrophobic, single-location horror, and for indie film-makers this could be a potential fillip, because this suits low-budget film-making. Pontypool (2008), Skinamarink (2022), Paranormal Activity (2007) and Resolution (2012) are all great examples where scripts eke out maximum tension from their claustrophobic settings. Bigger-budget films like Escape Room (2019) have also tapped into the intrigue of being stuck in a singular space and having to figure a way out. Rodrigo Cortes' Buried (2010) also does this... although it's a little too grim and suffocating for our tastes! Brock Bodell's feature debut, Hellcat, isn't set in a coffin buried 10 feet underground, though. This time we're in the back of a rickety camper van with no obvious means of escape...

A young woman named Lena (Dakota Gorman) wakes up in the back of a moving camper trailer with a nasty gash on her arm and absolutely no idea how she got there. She's understandably freaked out to discover that the doors are locked, her belongings are nowhere to be found, and she's completely at the mercy of the unseen man driving the truck that's towing her. Through an intercom - which, rather bizarrely, speaks through the mouth of a stuffed wolf's head - the driver introduces himself as Clive (Todd Terry) and insists that he's actually trying to save her life. Apparently, Lena has been infected by something, and if she doesn't get to a doctor within the hour, the consequences could be horrific. Sounds reassuring, right?

Naturally, Lena isn't entirely convinced. She doesn't remember meeting Clive, let alone agreeing to take a road trip with him, and there's something decidedly suspicious about being locked inside a trailer in the middle of nowhere. Clive, meanwhile, seems almost annoyingly calm about the whole situation, repeatedly insisting that he's a good man and that everything he's doing is for Lena's own benefit. As she searches the trailer for a way out, however, she begins to uncover clues that suggest there may be considerably more to her predicament than Clive is letting on.

Things become further complicated when some of Lena's memories begin to return, while the effects of the apparent infection begin to take hold. Is Clive really the well-meaning rescuer he claims to be, or has Lena been kidnapped by a complete lunatic? And what exactly is happening to her body?

With time running out and her condition deteriorating, Lena must figure out who she can trust before it's too late. But there may be rather more at stake than simply escaping from the trailer...

Hellcat starts off with promise and director Brock Bodell wastes little time, throwing us right into the mix from the off. The classic old ticking clock device is established early and a few minutes in, the film has laid most of its cards on the table and spends the next hour or so teasing you as to what few remaining cards it has left in its hand. The problem here however is that it's quite a long wait for just a couple of cards. And when they are revealed, their the equivalent of a 6 of spades and a 5 of Hearts. Where's the ace? Or the joker!? Ok, so it's obvious that I have no real concept of card games, but hopefully you get the point. Hellcat generally does an ok job at stringing out some of the tension in its first forty minutes or so, but when the answers do come, they are a little predictable and somewhat unsatisfying.

There are some intriguing elements that help keep us engaged for the first half though. The driver of the campervan, Clive, doesn't appear menacing in an obvious way. He tries to reason with Lena and keep her calm and seems to be positioning himself as someone that is helping her. But he's just a voice and she's still effectively a prisoner so we're never quite sure what his intentions actually are. Either he's lying to her and he's got something insidious planned (and some of the things Lena discovers in the trailer do indicate this may be the case) or he's telling the truth and she's infected with something unexplained and potentially life-threatening. Either way, it's bad news and Lena's anxiety and fear is obvious and warranted. Dakota Gorman does a fine job of harnessing this angst and delivers an impressively visceral performance. Single-location stories must have a compelling central character and Bodell at least gives us that.

Bodell also does a decent job behind the camera, building a palpable sense of energy and claustrophobia. It almost feels feverish in the back of that campervan. But as the story opens up and new characters and narrative threads are introduced, this vehicle hits a few hard bumps in the road and is forced to slow down before eventually grinding to a halt (seriously, I am lame at these vehicular metaphors). The direction of travel becomes increasingly obvious the further it goes, while the conclusion lacks any real sense of weight, significance or, indeed, excitement. It's all a bit tame by the end. A lack of emotional investment in certain characters doesn't help matters, either. Nor does the decision to split the story's focus in the second half, which ultimately dilutes what initially made it so compelling.

All in all, an ambitious, initially engrossing but ultimately flawed debut feature. Still, there's enough here to make us curious about what Bodell does next.