Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Hell and Back (2015)

I had no plans of ever seeing this film. Heck, I barely knew it existed,  but when I found myself in New York City between New York Film Festival screenings and four hours to kill I decided to try and see something I couldn't catch near home. An R rated animated fantasy about hell? I'll give it a shot.

The plot of the film has two friends going down to Hell to rescue a friend when he makes a blood oath over a breath mint. Forced to find their way among the demon horde the friends have to deal with the devil, a half demon babe, rapist trees, Orpheus and a very dirty angel (I completely understand why Susan Sarandon took the role.)

A surprisingly funny film, HELL AND BACK would have been a true animated classic if it had just cut back on some of the scatological humor. Yes, some of it is funny, but there is way too much of it and the film, particularly before the guys get to Hell, sounds more like some fourth graders trying to talk dirty. Its a musing for  three minutes and then you want to smack them because its so one note.

However once the film hits Hell things perk up. The weirdness of the demons, the dead pan torments (which continue into the end credits), the twists and the songs are just amazing. They are so good that you really wish they had chucked the random dick jokes and had more songs. They are as good if not better than the ones we see from Matt and Trey on South Park.

What a neat little film. While not something that is going to rock the pillars of heaven, this is a film that deserves more than it's gotten which is just being dumped into a handful of theaters. Hopefully this film will find a long life on home video because there is too much here that is just damn funny (and endlessly quotable).

Worth a look see if it's playing by you now. If not put it on you list of must sees for when it hits home video. (Oh and leave the kids home- the film is R rated for a reason)

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