Hell Fest (2018) Movie Review

If a movie contains a maze or labyrinth, I watch it. Sometimes that means movie gold, but most of the time it means eh. How is the horror film Hell Fest ? Let’s find out.

Hell Fest (2018) (IMDB)

Hell Fest (2018) movie poster

I want to start with the movie poster. Nice use of the devil looming over everyone and the fire colored sky on the top of the poster contrasting against the greyscale below. Good design.

IMO, this is a remake of The Funhouse Massacre from 2015 with a larger budget and a slightly different script. If you haven’t yet seen The Funhouse Massacre, I don’t want to spoil it, but based on reviews that would be impossible. A good publicist would say it got “mixed reviews”, never mentioning the reviews were mixed between bad, unwatchable, terrible, poor, and almost ok. Anyway, a groups of kids on Halloween night head to the amusement park for Hell Fest for some nice haunted house style fun. But, there is a serial killer on the loose among the workers who is making some of the experiences seem a bit too real (because they are !!!). Will the group be able to escape the masked person following them ? Will police and security believe them ( do they ever?). The best part about this movie is the ending and I mean that sincerely. I would give the poster a close second.

My thoughts: 5/10. It is better than almost all of the low budget horror maze movies I have seen. This film grossed over $18M during it’s theatrical release. The trailer is quite good:

Exit (2011) Movie Review

Today we dive into another maze related movie review, the 2011 Australian TV Movie Exit.

Exit (2011) (IMDB)

Exit (2011) movie poster

Here is the premise of Exit: groups of people wander around a city looking for a door that leads to an exit to another place, out of the maze of the city. They aren’t sure what this new place is or what it is like but they become obsessed with finding the door and getting there. Cool concept. I also want to mention that the design of the movie poster is excellent. It seems like posters are all derivative of one another, but this poster looks different to me. I like the idea that the exit could be up through the skyscrapers. It’s a nice twist on the search for a door.

The best part about this movie by far is the cinematography with excellent sweeping views of the city landscape really capturing the essence of the place. It feels industrial and very much like a city of large grey buildings. The music also fits well and creates the appropriate mood.

The pace of the movie is a bit slow. I think that is because beyond long sections of dialogue, not much is really happening. Things are mysterious, but they never feel very tense or urgent. The movie trailer gives a very good representation of this in my opinion. I think with a few tweaks this could have been a really good movie. Instead it’s average for what it is, a low budget sci-fi movie. A big budget remake with some action, a compelling dark antagonist, and a Dan Brown type puzzle unfolding makes this a big success. All you need is a couple million and Dan Brown to help with the script, that should be easy !!!!

Of all of the movies that I have reviewed this one seems to have the most consistent range of reviews. You can find people all across the board rating this movie from 1 to 10/10. If you are someone who works in a large city in an office you will relate to the “escape from the rat race vibes” this movie gives off. This is a movie that gives you a framework to think about. If you like action and answers you are in the wrong place. This film will not give you clarity if that is what you are looking for. If you want action maze movies I suggest Cube (1997) or The Maze Runner (2014).

I give it a 6.2/10. It is worth watching if you like sci-fi movies and you can find it. Good news ! At time of this writing the movie is on YouTube ! I suggest watching this on a weekday after work when it is raining to set the appropriate mood.

The Minotaur (1960) Movie Review

So you want to watch a movie about the mythology of Theseus and the Minotaur in the labyrinth. Is this the movie for you ? Let’s find out.

The Minotaur (1960) (IMDB)

Teseo contro il minotauro (1960) movie poster
The Minotaur 1960 movie poster

Also known as The Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete or Teseo contro il minotauro in Italian so as not to think this is the terrible Tom Hardy film Minotaur from 2006 which thought it was so special it could drop the ‘the’.

Anyway, this film follows the story of the town of Crete which sacrifices virgins each year to the Minotaur in the labyrinth to appease him. If you have more than one child the gods may select one of them to be sacrificed. This puts the king and queen in an awkward situation when they have twin girls. They decide to send one of the girls to be raised in a faraway village so she will not someday be sacrificed. However, many years later she is found. Now this is a movie plot, so the princess is evil and the twin from the village is good. There are fights, there are mermaids and there is very very very little of the Minotaur. So the movie is named after a mythological beast that isn’t really in the movie much, although his presence in the background does serve to move the plot forward. Overall this is almost an ok movie. The plot is inspired by Theseus and the Minotaur, but much like Minotaur (2006) this plot sways from the original story. I can only image a group of people writing a script and saying we need to change this to make it more interesting. People, the Greek story is thousands of years old and we still know about it today…maybe it survived because it was fine as is ! If you want to see a better version of the story check out The Labirynth (1971), a quick 20 minute animated version of the story.

Fun fact, the actor who plays Prince Teseo is 2 time Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon Bob Mathias. Later he was a 4 time member of Congress in the US House of Representatives. I can safely say that his life was much more interesting than this movie.

I would rate it 5 / 10 and if you find it when changing channels I would keep flipping - you can do better.

Here is a link to “ruin” the movie. This is the key scene at the end:

If you like this story, in this post I compare 4 different comic book versions of it :

Maze Comic Book Reviews - Theseus and the Minotaur

Other Movie posts you may like:

A Collection of Maze and Labyrinth Movies

The 18 Best Maze Movies

Minotaur (2006) Movie Review

If there’s one thing I know about labyrinths it is that in the center you might just find a mythical Minotaur protecting it.

Minotaur (2006) (IMDB)

Minotaur (2006) movie poster

This is a fantasy film about the Minotaur monster starring Tom Hardy !! Note that this is 2006 Tom Hardy and not the 2008 Tom Hardy which has starred in Bronson and RocknRolla and became the actor we now know. NO, this was his first film where he was the lead actor (we all start somewhere). We have already reviewed Mazes and Monsters starring Tom Hanks, considered to be his worst movie ever. Well wouldn’t you know it, this happens to be Tom Hardy’s worst rated film ever. But to be fair that is balanced out by his character in one of the greatest maze movies ever (and wonderful regardless of genre), Inception.

Here is the gist of this terrible film. A village sacrifices youths to the Minotaur until Tom Hardy and a band of misfits fights back. Most of the movie takes place in the labyrinth with the group being chased by the beast. For a film with a low budget I must say the beast looks pretty good all things considered. This film is a loose retelling of the famous Greek myth, Theseus and the Minotaur. However, plot points have been changed to keep things fresh ? Tom Hardy’s character is named Theo in the film as a nod to Theseus. Sadly the overall acting in the film is very bad with the key problem for me being overacting. The script does not help much either.

Whatever. 3/10.

If you like the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, in this blog post I compare 4 different comic book versions of it, which feature great illustrations. I was able to checkout each from my local library online !!

Maze Comic Book Reviews - Theseus and the Minotaur

Here is a link to watch the trailer: