eat my brains header graphic
RSS  l  Facebook  l  Twitter  l  About Us  l  Contact Us  l  Link to Us    
    Home    News    Reviews    Features    Top Ten    Zombie Club    Competitions    Links        
latest reviews Back | Next   

Hellbride

Director
Pat Higgins

Cast
James Fisher
Rebecca Herod
Cy Henty
Eleanor James
Natalie Milner
James Cavaz

Rating



Runtime
75 mins

Genre
Comedy / Horror

Available From

Amazon UK
Amazon US

Click on the icons above to purchase this title and support Eat My Brains!


Hellbride (2007)

2nd Nov 07





Plot
After happily accepting a clumsy wedding proposal from boyfriend Lee Parker (James Fisher), Nicole Meadows (Rebecca Herod) finds her perfect bubble suddenly popped when her doting daddy goes and does something rather silly, like shoot someone in the head, and she has to help dig him out.

Matters get more complicated when it appears that the engagement ring Lee has bought her is in fact cursed. Consequently she is stalked by a rather annoyed ghostly bride by the name of Josephine (Eleanor James). Josephine had been jilted before her wedding and rather selfishly considers ruining that special day for any other bride that ends up wearing her ring.

Review
The third film from Pat Higgins and his production house Jinx Media, following TrashHouse and KillerKiller, sees the writer / director venture into a less serious mode. Out goes the mood and gore of his previous offerings and in comes a more light-hearted and comical approach. In doing so Higgins has made his most satisfactory offering to date.

The acting is above par for such an offering with James Fisher, who also turned in a good performance in The Zombie Diaries, proving a likeable and engaging lead. Higgins obviously thought so too as he has cast him in his next project The Devil’s Music. Fisher is well supported by the two lead girls, Rebecca Herod playing bride-to-be Nicole Meadows and her friend Carly (Natalie Milner). The characters are generally well drawn and feel real, even if the penning feels too keen to get a laugh at the expense of anything else in places.

It’s just as well that there is humour layered throughout the script as it plays better than the horror. It’s no accident that Higgins has cast a number of stand-up comedians in key roles which explains why the fellas playing the security men were a dab hand at delivering their lines.

Hellbride has you sitting up taking notice by employing a narration over the opening (and closing) of the movie accompanied by illustrations that are genuinely impressive. The narration is a nice touch and its one of many which balances the final verdict to a positive. Who would have expected to watch a low budget genre picture and be impressed by the songs written on the soundtrack? Even the dodgy night-club scene has a tune composed that is daft enough to probably get a few drunken lasses bouncing round their handbags.

Where Higgins still hasn’t quite grasped things is in the allocation of his tight budget. As he did in TrashHouse he employed ideas within the story that the budget could not realistic stretch too. This meant that for all his hard work his finished product becomes slightly undone by appalling effects and a wedding set that really needed a proper set or to be filmed outside. Rather than find a way round his limitations Higgins dives in and exposes them.

In watching lower budget fare you are prepared to make allowances for the odd bit of duff acting or some cringe worthy effects, however the set used for the wedding is so badly conceived that it lets the climax down badly. It’s so frustratingly artificial. Also it doesn’t help that the pace flags as we reach the scene with much of it feeling rushed and the humour forced.

By Higgin’s own admission, the wedding was what he considered to be the most ambitious scene to shoot and it shows. It just doesn’t work. Still at least he gave it a go.

The script also quite glibly covers over the disappearance of Carly’s partner and he is never really mentioned again. Given that he vanished during the night without taking his car you would expect someone to at least mention him in passing, if nothing else, but they never do. The movie could have done with a tighter running time, feeling rather loose and padded at seventy five minutes. An hour could have improved the pace considerably.

There is enough good in Hellbride to mark out Pat Higgins as a name to watch. A much more confident piece than his 2005 debut TrashHouse, his improvement bodes well for his next venture The Devil’s Music. Watch this space!


Visit the official website at www.hellbride.co.uk/ to see the trailer.

For more information on Jinx Media, visit their website at www.jinxmedia.co.uk/.

Posted by
S Cockwell



Return to Reviews Index

comments powered by Disqus
Troll Hunter

20th Apr 12
If you go down to the Norwegian woods today you’ll be sure of a big surprise.
Troll Hunter
The Cellar Door

21st May 08
We’re back in “The Serial Killer Lives Next Door” territory.
The Cellar Door
Top Ten Zombie Club Actors
20th Oct 08
You don't have to be the best actor in the world to get any special accolades at Zombie Club, you know.
Top Ten Zombie Club Actors
latest news
Review - You're Next
17th Feb 14

Review - World War Z
27th Sep 13

Review - Remains
26th Sep 13

Review - From Beyond
1st Sep 13

Feature - Prometheus: Your Questions Answered
16th Jul 13

Review - Knightriders
6th Jun 13
More...
latest Zombie Clubs
You're Next

17th Feb 14
I'm next? Shit, I'm outta here.

World War Z

27th Sep 13
The most expensive zombie movie ever isn't actually that bad.

Remains

26th Sep 13
Zombies attack a casino in Reno. Whatever next?

From Beyond

1st Sep 13
So there you are mucking about stimulating the pineal gland and the next thing you know your dead colleague returns from beyond.

Knightriders
6th Jun 13
Megan is Missing
29th May 13
latest top tens
Prometheus: Your Questions Answered
16th Jul 13
Prometheus, then. That was a bit confusing, wasn’t it? Worry not – we can explain everything. Kinda.

FrightFest Glasgow 2013 - Day Two
4th Mar 13
Dumb movies are a lot easier to have fun with when they drop the rape.

FrightFest Glasgow 2013 - Day One
3rd Mar 13
Another sunny, snowy February in Glasgow and another rollercoaster of a line-up from Frightfest team

Interview with The Revenant's David Anders
22nd Jun 12
We talk to David Anders about this absolute gem of a cult classic in the making

Film4 FrightFest Glasgow 2012 - Day Two
11th Mar 12
Film4 FrightFest Glasgow 2012 - Day One
3rd Mar 12
More Features...
    Home    News    Reviews    Features    Top Ten    Zombie Club    Competitions    Links        

Reviews

You're Next
World War Z
Remains
From Beyond
Knightriders
Megan is Missing
Friday the 13th Part 2
Bait 3D
Motel Hell
Delirium Photos of Goia
Friday the 13th
Lisa and the Devil
Piranha 3DD
Black Sunday (Blu Ray)
Zombie Apocalypse
Django, Prepare a Coffin
Zombie Flesh Eaters (Blu-Ray Steelbook)
Phenomena
The Return of the Living Dead
The Devil Rides Out


Features

Prometheus: Your Questions Answered
FrightFest Glasgow 2013 - Day Two
FrightFest Glasgow 2013 - Day One
Interview with The Revenant's David Anders
Film4 FrightFest Glasgow 2012 - Day Two
Film4 FrightFest Glasgow 2012 - Day One
Going off on one about Gremlins with Anthony OD
Glasgow FrightFest - February 2011
I SPIT ON YOUR COUNCIL: THE ROUGH GUIDE TO FRIGHTFEST 2010
Talking of Torment : In Conversation With Andrew Cull


Top Ten

Top Ten Films of 2011
Top Ten Essential Takashi Miike Works
Top Ten Great Moments from Overlooked 2010 Movies
Faking Fear: Top Ten Mockumentaries
Top Ten Alternatives to The Exorcist
Top Ten Nightmarish Moments on Elm Street
Top Ten 2009 Genre Movies You Might Not Have Seen But Really Should
Top Ten Movies to watch this Halloween
Top Ten Frightfest Moments
Top Ten Defining Friday the 13th Moments


Zombie Club

Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors
Vigilante Night
Deodato Night
Peter O'Brian Night
Strike Commando Dawn
George Kenne-Day
Ninja Ninja Ninja Night
Juan Piquer Simon Night
Panther Night
Klaus Kinski Sci-Fi Night
Revenge Night
Sergio Martino Night
Monsters and Dinosaurs Night
Trollogy Night
Italian Post-Apoc Night
Late Fulci Night
Warrior Women Day
Ozploitation Night
70s Kidnap Night
Chinese Super Ninja Night


              All written material © Copyright EMB 2003-2017       

Giallo GoblinHundreds of reviews of both classic and more recent sci-fi movies and DVDs, plus articles, message boards, dozens of clips and trailers, downloadable scripts, upcoming movie previews and more.
View the Frontier(s) website as hosted on Eatmybrains.comJust keep saying to yourself...