Summary
It is a standard religious horror with a twist that isn’t that engaging. Kowalski’s direction was strong in the first half, but the story wasn’t strong enough. It fizzles in the end, even though the creature that comes out of it looks interesting.
October 2022 saw the release of the Netflix horror film Hellhole — this is our official spoiler-free review.
In 1987 Poland, a police officer investigating mysterious disappearances infiltrates a remote monastery and discovers a dark truth about its clergy. The horror film, Hellhole, was co-written and directed by Bartosz M. Kowalski, and he creates a sinister atmosphere from the very beginning of the film. We see a priest about to kill a baby with an odd mark on his chest. From that scene, we know that the baby will be special, and like all religious horror films, there’s a tie to the devil.
Kowalski then flashes forward to the present day in a Sanitorium. A new priest named Marek (Piotr Zurawski) goes to the clergy because they are looking for an exorcist. The Sanitorium is known for exorcism, and they vet the priests coming into the area.
The lighting in Hellhole is dark, and it feels eerie when they walk through the halls of the Sanitorium. The priests all come together to eat in the main hall and serve something rather disgusting. Marek doesn’t take well to the meal, and weird things start happening to him when he’s alone in his room. He doesn’t digest the food properly, and he starts hallucinating. We find out that Marek is an undercover cop sent to investigate the Sanitorium because eight women have gone missing due to exorcisms. The only way the cops would be able to get in and talk to Prior Andrzej (Olaf Lubaszenko) is by pretending to be a priest. He finds out the issues with this clergy and how unconventional their methods are.
It’s interesting to see how the priests conduct these exorcisms because they look different than others we’ve seen on screen. The practical effects in Hellhole worked for the most part, as the young girl thrashing about while chained to the bed was scary. Even the perspective change with the video camera to show the footage of her possession was an interesting choice.
Even though we can commend Kowalski for making something interesting, the investigation was a bit dull as the story moved slowly. Malek also finds out that the exorcisms are fake, which makes everything even more suspicious.
Some great moments will make you feel gross because of what happens to Malek each time he eats a meal with them. But by the time we find out that Malek is the chosen one and the clergy wants to perform a final ritual, it’s too late in the film for the pieces to work.
Towards the end of Hellhole, the clergy becomes more sadistic and does perform the ritual on Malek. The creature design looked great, and seeing something like that coming from the depths of hell to tie the film together in its religious themes worked as well. It is a standard religious horror with a bit of twist that isn’t that engaging. Kowalski’s direction was strong in the first half, but the story wasn’t strong enough. It fizzles in the end, even though the creature that comes out of it looks interesting.
What did you think of the Netflix horror film Hellhole? Comment below.
