As a lifelong fan of the horror genre, I try to push some of the better looking indie horror flicks through the cracks between all the superheroes and Oscar buzz that that populates Cinema Blend. But even I can’t bring myself to write about every one of the stereotypical carbon copies out there, or I’d never leave my computer. It’s true that every film genre is plagued by overused tropes, but as you’ll see from the above video, horror is probably the guiltiest when it comes to plot rehashing.
So thank goodness writer/director Joe Nicolosi and the PixelsPerSecond team have created Hell No: The Sensible Horror Film, which could serve as a final exam for how much a film character has learned from watching decades of flicks where teenagers are being stalked by a ghosts/maniacs and people tamper with haunted objects. Let’s not even talk about the camera operators in found footage movies that never ever drop the camera to run away screaming like a hurt puppy. Cloverfield, I’m looking at you most of all, though you’re hardly the only offender.
So it’s positively refreshing, as well as hilarious, to watch how genius some of the characters in Hell No are capable of acting. If I show up to a vacation spot that looks like it could be a shooting location for an Evil Dead movie , I’m taking off (Unless I put down a deposit, of course.) Cabin in the Woods was great at flipping the context of this situation, though its characters were also pretty stupid at times.
The only people dumber than teenagers in horror are authority figures, so having the cop wait for backup and the mayor shut down the beach are perfect homages. My favorite two jokes in the video are having someone yell that the “Beach Closed” sign isn’t big enough, as well as the blurb from Badass Digest saying, “You will believe your eyes.” I suppose it should be depressing that my favorite genre can be diluted to such simple jokes, but it isn’t.
After watching the entire Friday the 13th franchise a month ago, I was up to my gouged-out eyeballs in terrible character decisions. If only they knew then what the Hell No characters know now.
If you want another example of how awesome the PixelsPerSecond guys are, check out this indie Super Mario movie trailer they created a while back. This is the fictional double feature that our lives have always been missing.
