We’re inching closer and closer to our favorite holiday (Halloween, obviously), so I was in need of a good ol’ haunted attraction where kids get slaughtered. Enter Hellbilly Hollow, a spooky flick that takes backwoods clowns, paranormal happenings, and a carnival haunt and smears blood and guts all over it.
A group of paranormal YouTubers venture into the Alabama backwoods to film a haunted attraction on Halloween Eve. What begins as staged entertainment becomes a deadly nightmare.
Hellbilly Hollow, IMDB
Welcome to Hellbilly Hollow, the haunted carrnival where the ghosts are ghastly and the deaths are a’plenty. Ally joins a group of paranormal investigators on their trip through rural Alabama, seeking out haunted locations in hopes of getting their next big viral moment. They come to a small, podunk town that happens to be home to a pretty wild haunted attraction. Full of menacing clowns, a haunt that lets tourists take control, and rumors of people going missing, they stay for the ride. But the longer they stay, the more the scares get real, and the insane crew of Hellbilly Hollow doesn’t let too many people leave unharmed — especially those who have done them wrong.
I actually did a trailer reaction to this a while back and was super excited to get some haunted attraction action via clowns and some spectral ghosts. While I’m not scared of clowns myself, I can certainly see why some people would be. Pair that with ultra violence and ultra gore, Hellbilly Hollow was bound to be a fun watch. We start with some backstory, then make our way straight into the gore. Hellbilly Hollow managed to spruce up these scenes with audience participation, which was a cool concept; knowing how believable things are when you’re scared and breathing in fog fumes all night, I didn’t mind that the crowds were letting people die right in front of them. I probably would’ve thought it was part of the show too! Just one more thing to make our cast more and more scared.
If you’re a fan of blood, Hellbilly Hollow‘s got it. I don’t know what the ratio of CG to practical was here, but either way, some scenes are drenched in red viscera. The kills are creative, with one scene involving a pretty demented Whack-A-Mole game.
As we moved further into the story, we get an unexpected plot addition. And this is where Hellbilly Hollow surprised me, because this movie went from Candy Corn to The Skeleton Key by way of voodoo magic and ghosts. I was wondering what those spectral mists from the trailer were, and it turns out to be related to magic and main character Ally, who has paranormal powers of the “speaking to the dead” kind. While I loved the addition to the standard “clowns and evil theme park” trope, I must say that it did take a second watch to fully understand what was going on.
Hellbilly Hollow has a lot of ingredients in the pot — fiendish carnies, ancestral magic, gore and gags — but it does require you either (1) pay ultra good attention, or (2) watch it again to fully grasp the entire story. I don’t know if there were some scenes left on the cutting room floor that would’ve helped set the story a little bit straighter, but no mind — Hellbilly Hollow‘s got some fun tricks that are sure to please the crowds. It may be a little nonsensical at times, but it’s a fun step away from the many others in the same genre.
Hellbilly Hollow is now playing in select theaters. For more visit the movie on Instagram, YouTube, and web.
