Hellmaster (1992)

User Rating:

3.0/10   

Director:

Douglas Schulze

Writer:

Douglas Schulze (written by)

Release Date:

16 December 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

He'll show you the way to hell and meet you there!

Plot:

A psychotic college professor uses unwitting students as laboratory rats, injecting them with a drug that mutates them into gory killers. |

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Monster | Mutant | One Word Title | Cult Favorite

Cast

John Saxon	...	Professor Jones
David Emge	...	Robert
Amy Raasch	...	Shelly O'Deane
Edward Stevens	...	Drake Destry
Robert Dole	...	Professor Damon
Jeff Rector	...	Jesse Jameson
Sarah Barkoff	...	Little Girl
Todd Tesen	...	Adam O'Deane
Eric Kingston	...	Bobby Jones
Neil Savedes	...	Joey Jones
Suzanne Labatt	...	Moon Jones
Ron Asheton	...	Mama Jones
Melissa Zafarana	...	Tracy
Jim Riethmiller	...	Harold (as Jim Reithmiller)
Janet Linck	...	Andrea

Also Known As:

Hellmaster: Director's Cut (USA) (DVD title)
Soul Stealer (USA) (trailer title)
Them (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Pontiac, Michigan, USA

Company:

Dolphin Entertainment Group

Quotes:

Joel Johnson: My handicap was born, yours was chosen.

Soundtrack:

Eat or Be Eaten

Huh?

I apologise in advance if this comment isn't very enlightening, but after watching the DVD, reading the blurb on the back of the box, and checking out what others have to say, I still don't know what Hellmaster is really about. Terrible editing, a confusing script, and dark cinematography, plus a plot that is almost impossible to fathom, all go to make this one a bit of a head scratcher.

I understand that the great John Saxon is some kind of scientist who has developed a drug that he tests on homeless people, and that David Emge (Flyboy from Romero's Dawn of the Dead) is trying to stop him; I can see that a bunch of students are being offed by Saxon's mutated guinea pigs (who have silly names like Joey Monkey Boy and Bobby Razor Face), but why they are doing so escapes me. Beyond that, though, I haven't a clue.

Why are the mutants all disfigured in different ways? Where did the killer nun come from? Who painted that big spiral on the wall behind John Saxon? How did they find such a dreadful actress to play the little girl (she's all grown up by now, so I don't feel too bad criticising her performance)? These are just a few of the questions you'll find yourself asking about this execrable excuse for a horror film.

Oh well, at least there are some silly gore effects, and hottie Amy Raasch, who reminds me a bit of a young Jennifer Connelly, gets stripped down to her undies (the whole gubbins, sussies and all) and then takes off her bra to flash her thruppennies!