TFFF: Hellbreeder Synopsis

The Final Film Festival 7-9 Aug 26
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Hellbreeder (2004)
Five years ago Alice saw her son murdered; now every day is consumed with the need to find his killer. In the sleepy town of Ludlow, the arrival of the mysterious stranger who Alice suspects of being the killer of her son coincides with a renewed spate of horrific child murders. Now a weary detective must uncover the truth behind the killings before another child is killed; and Alice must face the unbelievable truth behind the death of her son before insanity, grief and guilt break her mind.

Johannes Roberts and James Eaves' Hellbreeder is a very-under seen British indie horror feature bristling with genuine movie and horror geek enthusiasm that's perhaps unfairly maligned due to its outlandish premise and imagery. Underneath the halloween-store production design is a genuinely well crafted and unusual horror film, equal parts uncanny and creepy. Processed on Kodak reverse stock, the film exceeds in atmosphere and aesthetics, drenching the viewer into a chaotic, nightmarish reimagining of something along the lines as Stephen King's It. At TFFF, one of our curiosities in these repertory genre slots is how they seemingly come from a netherworld of pop cultural memories; the tropes are all here but bent and refracted by limitations in budget into something wholly unique, and it's our pleasure to be platforming a film such as Hellbreeder in theatres for the first time in decades.

This screening will be preceded by an intro.

- Kit Ramsay