Title: Hellcat
Describe This Movie Using One Stripes Quote:
CAPT STILLMAN: Sergeant, we’ve traced the EM-50 to Germany. They’re probably heading for East Berlin.
SGT HULKA: Sir, if you’ll take my advice, there’s a crack squad in the 42nd. It can link up with the air recon. We’d have that EM-50 back here in this side of 24 hours.
Brief Plot Synopsis: Anybody remember Art Bell?
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 3.5 Landmasters from Damnation Alley out of 5.
Tagline: “A Shudder original.”
Better Tagline: “Eh, I’ve had worse trips through Tennessee.”
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: Lena (Dakota Gorman) is feeling a bit discombobulated. You would too, if you’d just woken up in a moving camper and a voice over the intercom told you’d been infected. That’s the bad news. The worse news is: she apparently has less than an hour to get to a doctor. The worst news is: she’s also pregnant. The unseen driver, who goes by Clive (Todd Terry), implores her to keep her heart rate down (a little difficult, given the circumstances) or Bad Things will happen.
“Critical” Analysis: It’s hard to know what to make of Shudder these days. The all horror/all the time channel started as a standalone streaming service before AMC+ absorbed it in 2022. Their catalog includes a rotating lineup of occasionally classic films, along with original productions. The latter run the gamut from legitimately good (Beach House, When Evil Lurks) to abysmal (Superdeep, Faces of Death). Still, they never lack for quantity. And part of the fun is stumbling upon a hidden gem.
Which brings us to the unfortunately titled Hellcat, written and directed by Brock Bodell. Bodell is previously known as the editor for Dead Water (which I haven’t seen but looks a hell of a lot like a ripoff of Dead Calm). In spite of that, it’s a real treat. What the movie lacks in flash it makes up for in Andrew Duensing’s brooding cinematography, a fully realized (mostly) single location setting, and solid performances from its leads.
Hellcat spins its narrative in such a way that you’re never sure what to believe. Lena’s undoubtedly in trouble, not just because she’s been abducted, but also thanks to the infection clearly advancing through her blood. Does Clive really intend to help? Maybe, but that’s difficult to reconcile with the blood-soaked mattress and manacles Lena discovers in the camper. To say nothing of the other young woman seemingly imprisoned in a locked room.
“Less is more” isn’t just a quote by Gandhi (don’t fact check that), it’s a solid filmmaking philosophy. This is especially true for someone working on a shoestring budget, which Bodell clearly was. Everything about Lena’s situation is conveyed through her terse conversations with Clive, which also gradually reveals his own background. His trailer is also a nice time capsule representing his own past.
Bodell isn’t very interested in mythology, aside from a few strategically placed books. The immediate effects of Lena’s infection come mostly in the form of hallucinations and flashbacks. Hellcat begins life as an abduction thriller, but develops into something more thanks to upending genre expectations and allowing the captive/captor relationship to evolve.
Everything’s anchored by a powerhouse performance by Gorman, who sweats and contorts her way through Lena’s … transformation? Becoming? She’s resourceful and intelligent, immediately springing to action once she assesses her situation. It’s inspiring to watch, even if her ultimate fate may be out of her control. Clive also isn’t your typical kidnapper, and Terry shows us someone genuinely conflicted about how to make things right.
As for the ending, well … it’s something. I’d encourage you to look past the occasionally unfortunate effects to appreciate the unlikely humanity of what is ostensibly a horror movie. It may start that way, sort of, but Hellcat has a lot more going for it than a goofy name.
Hellcat is streaming on Shudder now.
