Because of this contrast I've actually began to like the overdone coloring of the scenes that otherwise would be plain dark. This is not the case in the daylight scenes, which are actually built on pretty smart color schemes. The only questionable thing is the use of very dominant primary colors during the late night scenes. An "old fashioned" happy ending which in this specific case is very welcome to me. This is less the case in Bite Marks, Zombies of Mass Destruction and Cthulu (see below).Īt the end our hero has to rescue his lover - and succeeds in this. Secondly the protagonist is a handsome young gay guy who gets romantically involved and this subplot really works! Well at least it worked for me. There are a few funny moments, but they don't interfere with the horror plot and they don't ruin the suspense. First of all it's really a horror movie and not some camp spoof. Hellbent is probably the best movie available at the moment, that really covers the gay-horror subgenre. Highly recommended for those who are in search of a good scary horror movie with a handsome gay lead character and a nice romantic subplot. The somewhat overt symbolism actually is spot on in this specific case, because this makes that the audience constantly sees what Reve is experiencing. But somehow everything fits perfectly in this movie. He also manages to imitate the constant cynicism of Reve while keeping it subtle at the same time. Here he is able to use it with aplomb - and thank god he's not overplaying it. I alway thought Krabbé, who btw is not gay, has a slight effeminate side. Possibly one of the best roles of his career. It is used to emphasize the magical power this woman, who might or might not be a witch, has over him. So when Reve writes about having sex with a woman, no-one in the Netherlands thinks he all of a sudden turned bisexual. In his book "Nader tot U" (1966) he writes about making love to the incarnation of God as a one-year-old donkey. He was the only person in the Netherlands who ever got prosecuted for breaking the law against blasphemy. Most Dutch people have read some of his work and are aware of his personality, whether it's real or not. Reve wrote about himself as an alcoholic, a catholic, and as a very cynical, selfish, opportune man. Nevertheless they contain a lot of fiction. Most of his books are about himself and are written in the I-form. For instance, he also made a lot of television appearances and quite often his performance was shockingly provocative. Furthermore Reve's career was marked by lot of controversies, and not only because of just his literary work. Many of his novels contain explicit homosexual content. Reve was one of the first public figures to come out of the closet. It's quite useful to know something about this writer, for it helps to understand the movie.
This movie is based on a book by Gerard Reve, a Dutch novelist who is very famous in the Netherlands.