Review by Quin
In general, I am not a fan of blending comedy and horror. I think horror is best when there is non-stop tension with as little relief as possible. Now of course there are many exceptions to this rule. I enjoy comic relief when it’s used sparingly, and the more subtle it is the better. I can think of very few films that are completely humorless with no relief – and most of the ones that come to mind aren’t even horror. Something I really have a hard time with are horror comedies and even worse – horror spoofs. I want to take a second to differentiate between them. A horror spoof is something like the Scary Movie series or the 1990 Exorcist sendup Repossessed starring Linda Blair and Leslie Nielsen. If you haven’t seen or even heard of the latter, it probably sounds good, right? Well, there’s a reason it’s been forgotten. Nobody cares to remember a possessed Linda Blair on a televised exorcism program that looks like a game show while an aging Leslie Nielsen carries out the rest of his days, doomed to make these kind of movies until the day he died. A spoof directly parodies another film. The films that combine horror and comedy – I like to divide up into two different groups: horror/comedy and comedy/horror. As you might guess, horror/comedy focuses more on the horror (something like Fright Night) and comedy/horror focuses more on the comedy (movies like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.) Hell Baby does something a little different and manages to be all three, and it does it really well.
Jack (Rob Corddry) and Vanessa (Leslie Bibb) are a young couple expecting twins. They have just purchased and moved in to a new, old home in New Orleans. Their first evening in the place is interrupted by nosy neighbor F’resnal. He provides most of the film’s jump scares, because what’s a horror comedy/spoof without those? He also tells them about the history of their house. The locals call it Maison de Sang, which translates to House of Blood. He goes on to say, “But nobody’s been murdered here in a long time…actually there have been recent murders, but not in this calendar year.” The film then moves to The Vatican, where we meet Father Sebastian and Father Padrigo. They are kind of the Blues Brothers of priests that specialize in performing Exorcisms. The duo is played by comedians Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. They also wrote, directed and produced the film. Their tough guy, no nonsense approach to fighting the devil is hilarious. This is evident in such lines of dialogue like, “Between you and me and the crucified guy on the wall – this is the work of the devil…the devil is real and he’s a dick.”
It doesn’t take long for spooky things to start happening around Maison de Sang. But it takes Jack way more time than the viewer to realize that strange things are afoot. Even after his wife vanishes while in the shower, he just kinda shrugs and goes on with his day. Soon after she is exhibiting the kind of behavior we associate with people who are possessed. She can even talk to dogs. In one of the film’s many running gags, the big dog from The Omen keeps appearing. When Vanessa scares it away, Jack says puzzled, “You speak Bull Mastiff?” To which she replies, “Rottweiler.” Another one of the sillier running gags is all of the startling. People are constantly jumping out, but it’s played more for laughs than scares. In one of the more subtly brilliant lines, Jack yells out, “I am so sick of being startled!” This is dialogue that should be required in most big budget Hollywood horror productions.
I’ve already mentioned that this film borrows from The Omen and The Exorcist, or pays homage rather. It also references Poltergeist, The Shining and Rosemary’s Baby. Even the title and structure of the plot are direct references to Rosemary’s Baby. Much like the Polanski film, this one focuses on the events leading up to the birth rather than the child itself. The film’s poster is rather misleading. You see it and think it’s going to be a demonic Look Who’s Talking. Jokes aside, there is some genuine horror and frightening imagery in the film. It feels more like comedic actors were dropped into a horror film. This actually makes them smarter than the average horror character and it makes them react in ways that go against what we have come to expect. It’s the way the film gets its laughs. Luckily, the writers haven’t gone in a direction that pokes fun at the fans of horror. They seem to embrace the genre, while pointing out its flaws and clichés. But even with a mere $2 Million budget, they deliver on some impressive and gruesome effects. Although for me, I’d have to say the grossest scene in the movie involves a group of guys eating sandwiches.
Going into this film, my expectations were super low. Even though I knew it had comedians from Reno 911 and MTV’s 90’s sketch comedy show The State, and I think Rob Corddry is one of the funniest comedic actors working today. I just had a bad feeling about it. But almost immediately, I knew I was going to enjoy it. There are a few scenes that feel like SNL sketches, but overall, the tone remains consistent and follows some established rules, but never feels less than bonkers in the writing of the material. As an added bonus, you get to see Riki Lindhome naked again (way better than her nude scene in the Last House on the Left remake). Also, if you saw the awful A Haunted House from earlier this year, Hell Baby will restore your faith in combining horror and comedy, and you’ll have a great time.
Hell Baby had a theatrical release in early September and is available now on VOD. It will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray in the US on December 31st.