Hellblock 13 (1999)
2/10
the talents of Debbie Rochon go to waste in this sea of tedium
29 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
A psychotic serial killer (the delectable Debbie Rochon who sadly keeps her clothes on throughout the film) on death row, regales her potential executioner (old Leatherface himself, Gunnar Hansen) with three horror stories.

The first is about a sad pathetic woman who drowns her kids (she's under the impression that her boyfriend didn't like them) only to get her just desserts when the duo of drowned tykes arise from their watery grave for revenge. This was the most predictable, and dare I say boring, of the three stories. Over-acted by all and I just couldn't get into it. It was reminiscent of Creepshow's 'Something to Tide you over' segment, but not nearly as good or entertaining.

The second story, and best if only by default, features a battered wife who's at the end of her rope when she decides to visit the local witch of the neighborhood for help. Of course unsurprisingly, things don't go exactly as planned. This was a bit better then the dreary first one, but still wasn't halfway decent. I enjoyed the acting a tad better, but the horror expect of it doesn't really come into play until the tale is almost over. This one would've been more suited for an, particularly lesser, episode of the beloved "Monsters" series.

The last tale has to do with a bizarre & sacrilegious ritual that's performed by a group of bikers and also centers on the gang's newest member who may not be who he seems. While this final story was kind of on the boring side, at least it had tits to liven things up. Trust me I don't usually fixate on such a base thing as that and tend to prefer decent characterization, good acting and an interesting story, but hey any port in the storm as they say. The film concludes with the wraparound featuring a laugh/cackle that is repeated and like nails on a chalkboard to listen to. Drector/Writer/Producer Paul Talbot sure likes horror anthologies, this being his third one, you would think that he'd get better at them. He hasn't...

Eye Candy: Roxanne Micheals & an unknown actress get topless and lightly make-out

My Grade: D
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