Helltown (2017 TV Movie) User Reviews

Yeesh...

[dr-larry-mitchell · 4/10 · 29 September 2019]

This flick was okay, for what it was. But a fictional re-enactment that tries to obfuscate the truth of what it is just kind of insults everyone involved.

My wife actually thought this was real, when it was blatant that it was fiction.

We fought over this issue.

Wait a minute....

[haskel-72951 · 6/10 · 6 November 2019]

I know this is a mockumentary, and I usually truly enjoy this sub genre but....WHO THE HELL IS MOWING A CEMETERY IN A GHOST TOWN??? Sorry, that kind of oversight is laughably inept. Other than that, it's decent.

Do you believe ?

[bjackson-739-450552 · 5/10 · 24 November 2018]

Whether you do, don't know, or don't at all, it doesn't really matter. It was well done and even cell phone footage was kept to a minimum. While watching this on a streaming site, I almost quit after about 15 minutes, but everything was presented in a way that kept me interested just enough to keep watching right to the end. The consperisy theorists should be happy with this one.

Another documentary.

[itsfast-32568 · 1/10 · 23 September 2019]

This was pushed on tv as a documentary. It's not. It's a movie with actors pretending to be genuine. It became apparent to me within the first 15 mins. Terrible over dramatic acting. At that point, I typed in the name of a "resident" online and it brought me here. The actors listed next to the people who were suppose to be real. Save your time. Not worth watching if you're looking for a true documentary.

Please.....

[ftwalsh · 2/10 · 17 November 2019]

Soooo fake. Insults one's intelligence. How did this even make it to TV? You can do better, Travel Channel!

Not a real documentary, but it's real entertainment

[nancylmarine · 7/10 · 23 September 2019]

I watched this one on the Travel Channel and it's entertaining, to say the least.

None of the people in the movie exist outside and everything is scripted.

The movie's premise, investigating what happened to a group of teenagers who were attacked in Boston, OH, south of Cleveland. According to this movie, they were attacked by "something" that killed and took the bones of one of the teenagers.

Search the internet and there's no news story about this, at all!

But... It's entertaining, in a Blair Witch Project kind of way.

Nothing but lies

[eoswaldbigred · 1/10 · 5 July 2020]

I moved to Northeast Ohio back in 1995 and when this "documentary" came on today, I'd wondered why I'd never heard most of these stories. I knew where Boston Township was, but had never heard of it being called "Helltown." So while I was watching it, I began looking things up on the internet. I became really suspicious when the supposed professor at Tri-C pronounced Cuyahoga "Coy-uh-hoe-guh." The more I researched, I finally found out this entire film is made up. The ONLY truth is that the government did start buying up homes in that location in 1974. It was to create Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, not National Park. It did not get a National Park designation until 2000. The rest is utter BS.

This movie totally Blair Witched me

[geinslunchbox · 8/10 · 17 January 2021]

I thought it was great. Sucked me in as a "Documentary". I began searching the ole Googly about an hour in & realized that it was not real. Disagree with the rating as I personally found it really well done & entertaining.

Good entertainment

[atummine · 7/10 · 24 October 2019]

Some people watch soaps, wrestling, curse of oak island. Other believe in the Easter bunny, aliens. I enjoyed watching is Film. No foul language no sex, no smut.

I regret watching this

[dchuckbitner · 1/10 · 19 October 2020]

This showed up in my hulu recommendations on a chilly Sunday morning and it looked interesting. I watched more than half before I stopped it to do some research on Boston, OH. I learned that this film is mostly fictional. Very little of what is depicted in this film is factual and everyone "interviewed" is an actor. If you go into it knowing that, maybe you will enjoy for what it is. But i felt that both the film and Travel Channel pass it off as a legit documentary, making it a total waste of time in my opinion. I regret watching this.

Helltown (a mockumentary)

[trimbolicelia · 8/10 · 26 April 2020]

OK mocumentary. At times kind of creepy. Concerns the mysterious history then closing of a town in 1974 (why was it actually closed?), expulsion of its citizens, and consequent events. Supposedly a strange, weird hybrid creature lurks in the surrounding woods and grossly kills whoever wanders in those environs. The tip-off to this being a mockumentary is the expert scientist in the beginning is the expert scientist in The Mermaid Found mockumentaries. Come on. These shows are entertaining but I wish the producers wouldn't push these films as actual happenings. Still it's worth watching as long as you know what you're getting into.

Mockumentary, not a documentary.

[cbathrick · 1/10 · 25 September 2019]

Its slightly watchable for comedic purposes. The "facts" are 99% made up. Living close to the area, knowing the truth and seeing this touted as truth is very frustrating.

Just No

[avenger280 · 1/10 · 24 September 2019]

I can't believe I wasted 2 hours and countless brain cells watching this 2nd rate "Blair Witch" .

Complete fiction

[rkt-57338 · 1/10 · 21 December 2020]

The town was taken over by eminent domain in 1974 to create a park, but in typical government fashion, they didn't have the money to build it. There was also toxic chemical dumping nearby. Everything else is fake. No cult shootout, no missing kids, no girl killed by a wendigo. Look it up on Snopes.

FAKE NEWS

[krnelson-38833 · 1/10 · 24 September 2019]

My grandma and I LOVE the travel channel. We came across this show. We thought it was very interesting due to the fact of it being true in some cases. We were so intrigued in this show! Only to come find out...most of it was all FAKE! The town being excavated was true...anything else is fake. I am very very disappointed. Although, it was very believable....but very disappointed.

Horrible is generous.

[templin-jim · 28 April 2020]

Statlrted out like it might be a real story. By the middle it became obvious that it was a low budget play for attention. Sorry that the actors will always have their names associated with it

Do you guys not know what a mockumentary is?

[meganholsapple · 8/10 · 31 August 2021]

The movie isn't bad when you take it for what it is. If you're viewing it like a doc, then obviously something is gonna seem off. Half of these reviews seem to not know what genre they're watching. Acting is average and the plot was relatively good. Would recommend this film to others that enjoy mocks.

Complete waste of time

[The_EVP · 1/10 · 12 October 2019]

Everyone in this movie owes me 120 minutes of my life back for this mockery of film.

Favorite movie ever

[smcnamee-18877 · 9/10 · 23 September 2023]

So sad to see such horrible reviews for such a great movie. When I was younger my dad and I saw this movie and was drawn in by the fact there's a random town that for no certain reason is just abandoned. Yes there is a lot of stuff that was fake in the movie but it does make u wonder what is real and what really happened. You wonder the details of how it became abandoned in the first place and what happened to the people who were forced out of their homes. Movie gave me the creeps and highly recommend u give it a chance! I do wonder what helltown is like nowadays and if it's still as abandoned and creepy as it was.

En Too Much Mock in this Mockumentary

[arnettmi · 2/10 · 17 November 2019]

If you're going to create a supposed documentary, why not go all the way and present it in a manner that at least looks believable? One of the several issues I have with this movie is the look and feel of the talking-head and in the field discussion and narration portions of the program. The dialogue and on screen performances delivered by these individuals is so obviously scripted that it just doesn't feel real. Plus, the format used to present the story should use a singular approach. We have the red headed, bearded dude acting as an on screen narrator, the military man delivering the story and the guy who is investigating for his online blog. This story would have been much more effectively resented in a format similar to that used on the television show "A Haunting". A single off-screen narrator leading the viewer through the on-screen experience. But, most likely, these guys are the people behind the creation of this stinker and they wanted screen time.

In a word, Pooptown.

The first 10 or 15 minutes were good

[joshlewis-45549 · 2/10 · 29 October 2019]

The conspiracy theory investigative reporter is just terrible. This is a mockumentary that has some decent parts but the guy that does the investigation is like Corey Feldman"s less talented brother. You can find something better to do for 2 hours. I finished watching this abortion so you don't have to. You're welcome.

Film School Exam?

[jadgrace-18162 · 1/10 · 21 December 2020]

Listen, if interesting enough, I'll sit through a film that attempts to pass itself off as a documentary, even if it's only remotely entertaining. This wasn't. Bad acting ruins everything. Some of it was decent. I was channel surfing and came across "Helltown." The acting was so poor that I only lasted about 10 minutes. I felt insulted that anyone would think I would enjoy this. Looking back on those 10 viewed minutes, I would be more apt to believe this was turned in as a high school, possibly college, film class project. Just not good.

Fake & Poorly Written

[SouthernBelle29 · 1/10 · 11 August 2020]

It's passed off as a documentary but it's not. It's a total work of fiction, a mockumentary at best. The story line makes no sense and there are holes all over the plot. The Blair witch project made more sense had that's saying a lot because it was an embarrassment to cinematic work everywhere.

It's like watching a Ghostfacers ep. of Supernatural!

[DscreenG · 18 February 2020]

I gave this a decent rating because aside from the obvi GhostFacers (trademark of Supernatural) documentarians, Tort, after crunching down his last cheese puff, held a camera over the med examiner's report... Dude. There's a camera magically shooting the both of you anyway! Why not just jump cut to the whole, CLEAR, "report"? Guys! Is it because you wanted to try to show that you had not altered this document? Because that was just a bad call on the director standpoint it was just funny. And it's unfortunate because I really do want to know more about this town. If you haven't seen a ghost Pacers episode of supernatural you need to watch one because that is exactly who you are. I'm not insulting you at all. There is room for this and I gave you a nice nine stars because I appreciate the Kitch but I also appreciate the background interviews. I honestly didn't know about them. Throwing in the dementia test for the older sound recordist was brilliant. Good job guys. Keep it silly but keep it smart too!

It's a Movie

[aesgaard41 · 8/10 · 20 December 2023]

Okay, let's ignore all the people berating and cursing Destination America for trying to lie to them. "Helltown" is just a movie depicted as a documentary; just as "The Blair Witch" and "Paranormal Activity" were passed as "found footage" films. If anything, the style of movie making makes the flick more terrifying because it preys on the fears of people on conspiracies, environmental poisoning and the paranormal. Of course, the flick isn't true, but if you're going to obsess on that, you're really going to miss how inventive this.

The movie depicts a conspiracy theorist named Terry Greenbaum, who believes the closing of Boston Township, Ohio by the government was to cover up the existence of a mysterious creature. Sure, the story is far-fetched. Of course, none of the people are real, and the incidents are definitely fictional, but once I accepted the plot, I just sat back and enjoyed the story. This is actually a really brilliantly conceived plot, and it's crafted by a good script and actors in recreations and dramatizations. It does get preposterous in parts, but then so did the old Universal and Hammer monster movies at times. Just forget attacking "Helltown '' because its depicted as a documentary and accept it as a monster movie. I don't know of anyone cursing the "Blair Witch" films for not being true. Everyone knows they're films. Is "Helltown" really deserving of being lambasted for being inventive in its manner of story-telling?

I think not.