Movie Breakdown: Bloody Hell

Pre-Screening Stance:

I’ve never seen anything directed by Alister Grierson and I have no idea who Ben O’Toole is, but Bloody Hell looks like a big ball of dumb that’s could be a lot of fun. Let’s go!

Post-Screening Ramble:

Bloody Hell is what I thought it would be – a very silly but entertaining experience. Rex (Ben O’Toole) has just been released from prison and he’s having a rough time. Not so much because he’s a convicted convict, it’s more due to him being both famous for violently thwarting a bank robbery and infamous for getting an innocent person killed during said rampage. So, with no peace in sight, he decides to flee the country in search of a place where no one knows him. He gets there, but unfortunately there is a basement with a crazy set of captors that are slowly hacking off his limbs.

Ben O’Toole is really good in this. He actually plays two versions of the same character – there’s the Rex that can be seen by everyone, and then there’s an imaginary version of himself that only he can see. It’s a really fun setup, and their back and forth is so kinetic that it carries the movie all on its own, which is saying something when you consider that everything else around the duo is pretty bonkers. If anything trips up Bloody Hell, it’s the ending. It bowls forward so aggressively that you think it’s going to wrap in some massive, drawn-out way, but there’s just a quick blast of action and then it’s done. Then again, maybe being left wanting more isn’t all that bad of a thing?

I can’t say that Bloody Hell is a perfect movie, but with O’Toole’s over the top performance and a slew of fun moments, I do think it’s worth your time.

One Last Thought:

Movies like Bloody Hell really make me miss the theater. This thing is fun as is, but with a big crowd constantly going wild? Oh boy. That would be a blast.