Shudder Saturday: Hellcat (2025)

I can see why writer-director Brock Bodell thought Hellcat would work well for his first feature. It's a twist on a familiar scenario, it mainly features two characters together in one location, and the focus stays on dialogue ahead of any gore or set-pieces. Unfortunately, it's not very good.

Dakota Gorman plays Lena, the young woman who wakes up in the back of a spacious vehicle being driven by Clive (Todd Terry). Lena is understandably upset and afraid, but Clive keeps trying to reassure her that he's only trying to help her. She's been bitten by something, and Clive aims to get her to a medical professional. There's no reason to trust Clive, but his actions generally seem to back up his claim of not wanting to hurt Lena. 

There are a number of ways to take Hellcat, considering the material. On one level, it's a straightforward thriller with a dangerous man having kidnapped someone who has to fear for their life. On another level, it's exploring some well-known horror lore, and seeks to play around with a couple of tropes on the way to a risibly awful ending. And in some ways, it's another one of those recent movies that shows a figure being proven right in some belief he has that would be derided by the vast majority of the population. Maybe I'm giving it too much credit with that interpretation, but I can certainly say that no one version of this tale is presented in a satisfying way.

Gorman and Terry both do well enough in the lead roles, but they're at the mercy of a screenplay that forces them to go round and round in circles for the majority of the runtime, only verbalising a number of truths when it's time for the plot to creep forward as slowly as if it's being pushed through thick molasses. Jordan Mullins plays a cop who seems immediately untrustworthy, and Liz Atwater is Clive's daughter, Ollie. Both are fine, but neither get to do enough to make their inclusion truly worthwhile. It's almost as if Bodell came up with a lean, and fairly simple, premise and then didn't have faith in his ability to hold the attention of viewers with just two main cast members and his one main idea at the heart of the story.

I had my concerns about this as soon as I started it, but I was still hoping for the best. Sadly, this isn't one to recommend to most people. It's just not strong enough, nor is it helmed by someone capable of making up for the weaker elements. And I cannot stress just how bad the final scenes are. It's enough to undo any good feeling created by the rest of the film, and I'm surprised at just how much Bodell seems to pile one bad creative decision onto another, like some unstable Jenga tower of incompetence.

I hope he does better with whatever he may have lined up next. He can't do much worse, but if enough lessons were learned then I'll still make time for any upcoming features. 

3/10

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Netflix And Chill: Aftermath (2021)

Ashley Greene and Shawn Ashmore play Natalie and Kevin Dadich, a married couple who are trying to make things work after Natalie had an affair. They're dealing with the aftermath of it all. Kevin also has a job at which he cleans up the mess left by crime scenes. He deals with aftermath there. Plotting a fresh start, the couple buy a house that was the site of a grisly murder-suicide, but it soon turns out that perhaps the blood and guts at the scene wasn't the only aftermath. I think you can see how the makers of this film decided on the title. Strange things start happening once the couple have moved into their new home. Noises make it sound as if someone is in the house, things go missing and then reappear elsewhere, and deliveries of porn start turning up that Kevin swears he never ordered. There are also adverts placed online that put the couple at risk of harm, which escalates things to the point where they end up dealing with local law enforcement, specifically Officer Richardson (Sharif Atkins).

Directed by Peter Winther, and written by Dakota Gorman, Aftermath is the kind of enjoyable thriller that will be predictable to anyone who has seen one or two notable thrillers from the past few decades. It's pretty obvious from the start where things are going, and viewers will remains a few steps ahead of the main characters. Which isn't to say this is bad. There are a few set-pieces scattered throughout this that are genuinely creepy, and impressive in the way they're executed. This is a thriller that creeps very close to horror territory at times, and the third act is enjoyably satisfying and tense. Considering the relatively small filmographies belonging to both Winther and Gorman, this may stand out as the best from both of them. It's easy to dismiss as slick nonsense, especially when characters keep wandering around in the dark, but it's bloody enjoyable nonetheless.

Greene and Ashmore do well enough in the lead roles, fairly believable as the married couple with a very strained relationship. Atkins is solid in his role, Jamie Kaler and Travis Coles lighten things up slightly, playing workmates who help to clean up crime scenes with elbow grease and gallows humour, and Diana Hopper plays Avery, a classroom partner who is there to add potential strain/temptation to the central relationship, although she gets to show quite early on that she's just a good friend. Britt Baron is a highlight, playing Natalie's sister, Dani, and I'll happily watch any film that gives her a decent amount of screentime (having been a fan since enjoying her work in GLOW).

Set up at the very beginning as "based on a true story", be sure to take that with a pinch of salt and just enjoy the whole thing for what it is, an effective thriller that does enough right to make you overlook the more implausible moments. It gets a bit darker than you might expect, and is all the better for it. A perfect film to stick on for an evening when you want a few goosebumps.

7/10

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