Review by
Musanna Ahmed
Directed by: Chris Baugh
Starring: Jack Rowan, Nigel O’Neill, Louisa Harland, Michael Hough, John Lynch, Fra
Fee, Andrea Irvine, Robert Nairne
Some weeks after the Shudder release of the terrific horror
Caveat, North American audiences got to enjoy another Irish surprise on the
specialist streaming platform in the form of
Boys from County Hell. UK/ROI viewers will have an even better deal when this horror comedy
hits cinemas on August 6th. With its entertaining ghost train approach to
a story based on cultural folklore, it’s an ideal film for the big screen,
especially when the novelty of returning to theatres after so long is
still being felt a couple of months after they reopened.
Writer/director Chris Baugh, who’s kind of carving his niche as a
local Jeremy Saulnier with this film and the criminally underseen thriller
Bad Day for the Cut, takes inspiration from iconic compatriot Bram Stoker to craft this
Derry adventure of a crew of road workers who find themselves hunted by
Abhartach, a legendary Irish vampire who supposedly served as the
inspiration for Dracula, after they reawaken him in the middle of a
drunken stupor in which they pollute his cairn with blood.
We begin in media res with a gory scene of a chatty elderly couple whose
conversation comes to a frightening halt when their eyes and noses start
to bleed like rivers. They’re approached by a monstrosity who devours them
(something left to our imagination) as the film cuts back to the present
day where Eugene (Jack Rowan) and his father Francie (Nigel O’Neill) orient us in the bare rural lifestyle of Six Mile Hill. It’s a perfect
first impression of the sort of craftsmanship on display here –
Boys from County Hell has excellent practical and special
effects, skillfully weaved through Ryan Kernaghan’s effective
cinematography, Steve Lynch’s atmospheric score and
John Leslie’s immersive production design.
Together, the strong technical elements render a tone that is both
familiar and enjoyable for genre fans – it very much feels like the sort
of small-town, survive-the-night monster movies of pre-cellphone times
like From Dusk Till Dawn and The Lost Boys. In the thick fog of streaming cinema, Baugh’s film may never attain the
sort of same cult status of these classics but those who seek it out will
be rewarded.
However, it should be noted that the horror comedy marketing label is
fairly simplistic. Don’t expect many laughs. There’s certainly some humour
but it’s not necessarily something in the same vein of
Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland, two prominent horror comedies that had broad jokes and lampooned their
genres. This movie grounds its premise in reality, so it can’t really
afford to be as outlandish as the aforementioned examples. However, the
devotion to realism pays off in two ways.
Firstly, it allows us to meaningfully engage with the scenario – the
backdrop of Six Mile Hill and Abhartach’s presence within this dead town
give the film a sense of being lived-in, as if it’s been actually shot on
the same land where the vampire once dwelled. It doesn’t feel like any old
place and is embedded with a real sense of culture and history. Secondly,
the protagonists are naturally realised, avoiding the sort of stock
character work that plagues so many horror films. You won’t be shouting at
the group for making foolish decisions and you’ll be just as surprised as
them when the vampire doesn’t behave like one thinks it would.
Boys from County Hell is on UK/ROI
VOD now.
