Horror Movie Review: Bloody Hell (2020)

Bloody Hell is a 2020 Australian-British action horror film directed by Alister Grierson and written by Robert Benjamin. It tells the story of a man with a mysterious past who flees from his homeland to escape his own personal hell – to unknowingly experience something even more sinister and hellish. The film stars Ben O’Toole, Caroline Craig and Matthew Sunderland.

Rex (Ben O’Toole) is at the bank when masked individuals suddenly barge in and demand money. The crisis activates his fight or flight mode, and after several gunshots, he successfully secures the entire establishment. Unfortunately, one of the recipients of his bullets is an innocent bystander and before he knows it, he is tried and imprisoned.

After doing his time, he moves to Finland, hoping to start a new life. Unbeknownst to him, someone is still waiting to exact revenge on him for what he has done. In an effort to survive this new horror, he turns to his personified conscience, and he must race against time to free himself from a twisted cannibal family hiding a very dark secret.

Can Rex save himself from this family of cannibalistic psychos or is he doomed like all the rest?

Bloody Hell was one hell of a pleasant surprise. To start off I have to mention how truly fantastic Ben O’Toole is. He absolutely makes this movie. His portrayal of both Rex and his imaginary split personality is amazing – the difference between them is very clear and separate. Bloody Hell has a wicked comedic edge, that O’Toole performs perfectly.

I also enjoyed the family, they were highly entertaining but could have been less one dimensional. How they’re dispatched was so clever and unexpected, albeit underwhelming as we didn’t learn too much about them.

I loved the whole morality of this film. In both the bank robbery situation and the kidnapping, Rex feels he must take it to extremes. It’s whether or not you feel he’s justified and both situations pose reasons for why he should have just left it alone and minded his own business.

The gore is realistic and gruesome, although there could have been a little more. Bloody Hell is definitely an anti-kidnapping/robbing movie. You never know what kind of psycho you might have chosen.

Overall, Bloody Hell is an entertaining, wickedly funny journey. A pleasant surprise all round and definitely one I would watch again.