Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Halloween Hell’

Written by Scott Edwards

Most of the time when people think about hauntings, they only think about locations, but there are items that could be haunted as well. Removing these items from the home can help you sleep better at night, unless of course the object is keeping something worse at bay. Never knowing why an item could have such a strong attachment to the other side can be troublesome, but if you know who the spirit is that is sticking with the item and don’t mind them, there may be nothing wrong with keeping it around. I like to think that when old family furniture is being handed down through generations that some piece of the family is sticking with it, but you never truly know who is attached to it until they show themselves.
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Television host Dracula has come across an ancient artifact that has been connected to many killings over the years. Setting up a show to see if this is true and charging twenty-four dollars for every person to watch at home, the Devil Danny statue has been shown to the world. With a handful of contestants heading to his studio to see if they can survive the night for a hundred grand, everyone seems to believe that it is just a hoax, but little do they know what power the statue actually contains.

Arriving at the studio to see all of the frights that Dracula has set up for them, Johnny, Rose, Gothia, Jessy, Toby and Mr. Jones have no idea what the next twenty-four hours will have in store for them. When looking at the cursed object in front of them, Toby knows that this is no more than a hoax and that there are no such things as demons, but Johnny sees something different when putting on his ghost hunting glasses. Seeing the demon and being touched by it, Johnny and the group urge Toby to keep it down when trying to antagonize the demon, but being the future country star that he is, he will make this the greatest television show it can be. 

While wanting to kill some time since the night is still young, Toby, Johnny and Gothia decide to sit down and play strip poker. As the game comes to an end with Johnny winning it all, the group is ready to see Gothia’s goods, but the demon has something else in mind. Taking Mr. Jones out first, the group sees that the power of the demon is greater than they could have expected. Begging to be let free by their captor, Dracula comes back at the youth with insults about how they want something for nothing. Taking bets on who will be killed, Dracula is looking for the greatest payday of his lifetime and while watching as his contestants get killed off by the beast, he may not expect that he will become a bigger part of the show.

Fun, silly and bloody are the words that come to mind when watching this movie. While the only reason I turned it on was because it had Eric Roberts playing Dracula, I was impressed by the rest of the group who spend their time trying to fight for their lives. With a couple of extra plot lines being passed off, it was cute to see how quickly Johnny fell for Gothia as they played poker and talked about their lives. The battling of the demon was great as well, with different attempts to keep it at bay, the advice from a voodoo priestess became the difference in life and death. With a host who thinks he is Dracula, ghost hunting gear, a diverse set of contestants, a gun, a creepy room, death all round and plenty of blood, I liked taking a break from everyday life to get caught up in this movie. While you might think that there is nothing to demons in this world, you might be surprised to see that they could exist and are looking to take your soul. Stay Scared.

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