MovieChat Forums > Hell (2012) Discussion > I wanted to like this movie.

I wanted to like this movie.

posted 11 years ago by psull48
4 replies | jump to latest

I really wanted to. I genuinely enjoyed the beginning, even if it all seemed a tiny bit off somehow. A lot of the outdoor shots were obscured/blinded by flickering sunlight, but I actually liked that. I even liked the high-pitched noise that played whenever they went from a dark area to a sunny area. I liked the scenery. I liked the clothes/masks they wore when stepping into the sun. The acting wasn't bad. The pacing was a little odd, again, but still enjoyable...

...UNTIL the film was about the "religious" farm-people cannibal family. After the old lady made a statement of something like, "Let me introduce you to my... family..." in my head I'm saying, "WE GET IT, THEY'RE CANNIBALS. CAN YOU PLEASE ADVANCE THE PLOT?" But it never happened. That was the movie. The farm of cannibals, and then running away from it.

I liked the very end. I get the connection of the birds with the bird in the beginning and that was, cliche - sure, but it was a nice, hopeful ending. But that doesn't change the fact that the entire part on the farm sucked butts.

I don't claim "The Road" is the best movie ever, but The Road made the cannibal thing: feel more genuine and less cliche, was WAY more terrifying, but more importantly, 60% of the movie isn't about the cannibal family in The Road. There's other fun post-apocalyptic/survival/adventure/drama elements.

[–] guardian_owl 11 years ago

I quite liked the cannibals in this film. Terrifying, "crazy" cannibals are the cliche. They are not crazy, they are not malevolent, they are not sadistic, they are not cultist ultra-religious nut jobs. They are just desperate people doing their best to stay alive in a harsh new world.

[–] Rabbit-Reviews 11 years ago

I agree with you that Hell has its flaws, but to compare it to The Road just isn't fair. Based on a novel, with a big budget and enough money to get great actors, The Road is in a whole different league...

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[–] filmbuff1974 11 years ago

**SPOILER ALERT**

"...UNTIL the film was about the "religious" farm-people cannibal family. After the old lady made a statement of something like, "Let me introduce you to my... family..." in my head I'm saying, "WE GET IT, THEY'RE CANNIBALS. CAN YOU PLEASE ADVANCE THE PLOT?" But it never happened. That was the movie. The farm of cannibals, and then running away from it. "--psull48

Good call. Now I understand why I found this movie so frustrating. The plot was not advancing.

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[–] markbowen 10 years ago

I also wanted to like this movie, but coming as it does on the heels of several recent, very similar films -- most notably "The Road," "Stake Land," and "The Book of Eli" -- I didn't find anything that this film does better than any of those.

There are cosmetic differences, of course. The main character in "Hell" is a woman, which is actually refreshing. The setting is Germany/Europe as opposed to the U.S./North America. And the cause of the "apocalypse" is global warming, rather than the usual nuclear holocaust or virus outbreak. However, none of these differences are really explored or exploited.

As it turns out, Germany is also filled with crazy religious rednecks. Extreme heat from global warming has the same effect on the landscape as a nuclear holocaust. And apparently, the chief difference in having a heroine instead of a hero is that she's more in danger of rape and enslavement than being used for food.

I'm not at all saying this is a bad film. It was entertaining enough. When it was over, though, I immediately thought of those aforementioned films, and how much more depth they had. "The Road," of course, is based on a modern literary classic, with its themes of love and family, and "carrying the fire" of humanity even in the bleakest time. "Stake Land" was ultimately about a boy coming of age. "The Book of Eli," whether you like it or not, turned out to be about a man preserving and spreading the gospels. "Hell" just doesn't seem to have any underlying theme. It's simply about a group of people traveling through the wastelands and running into cannibalistic zealots.

Maybe German viewers might understand if I say it's like the difference between a Beck's and a Spaten Optimator. Both are filling, but one is much stronger and more satisfying. In this case, "Hell" is just a Beck's.