Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Brock Brodell
Starring: Dakota Gorman, Todd Terry, Liz Atwater, Jordan Mullins, James Austin Johnson
Hellcat takes the setup of 10 Cloverfield Lane - a woman held captive by a man who claims it's for her own good - and puts it on the open road. Its premise is also initially similar to the recent German thriller Trunk, in which a woman wakes up in the trunk of a moving car headed towards a sinister destination. Here it's Lena (Dakota Gorman) who comes to in a moving camper trailer with no clear idea of how she got there.
Lena has a nasty wound on her arm that has been amateurishly bandaged. Ominously, the veins of said arm have turned a deep black. After investigating the camper Lena realises she is securely locked in, and unlike the heroine of Trunk, she doesn't have convenient access to a phone. The driver pulling the trailer is Clive (Todd Terry). Initially we merely hear his voice as he speaks with Lena via an intercom. Clive claims that she has become infected and he is driving her to a hospital for treatment. He implores Lena to calm down after she trashes his camper, claiming that her infection makes her a risk to the public and so he can't set her free.
Hellcat begins as a straightforward abduction thriller and slowly teases its way into the horror genre. By letting us know that this journey is headed towards an inevitable supernatural destination, the movie creates enough doubt in our mind regarding the veracity of Clive's claims and fears to keep us guessing as to whether he's Lena's saviour or her greatest threat. There are various twists that I don't want to spoil, and with each new revelation the film takes us closer to a familiar horror staple in a way that feels fresh and original.
With most of the action consisting of Lena speaking to a disembodied voice, writer/director Brock Bodell finds clever ways to keep this setup visually engaging. As Lena begins to piece together her fractured memories, Bodell eschews the obvious choice to insert flashbacks, instead projecting her unreliable memories into the interior of the camper. It's a technique taken from the stage, yet it ironically helps prevent Hellcat from feeling stagey. When speaking through the intercom, Clive is represented by the mounted fox's head in which he has placed a speaker, a touch that adds extra menace to his words.
Often when a movie plays most of its drama in a single location and then opens up in the final act, it can feel like an anti-climactic cheat. But when Hellcat takes us outside the camper for its climax it only serves to expand the world it has created. Like the recent under-rated supernatural road thriller Passenger, that world is one of nomads on America's backroads. An Art Bell-inspired paranormal radio phone-in show helps create the illusion that Clive and Lena are merely part of something greater, a nocturnal world that exists while most of us are asleep. It all wraps up neatly while leaving enough room for a potential sequel, which horror fans will likely welcome.
Hellcat is on Shudder and UK/ROI VOD from August 14th.
