From Scares to Screen: Hellbilly Hollow Comes to Life

It’s the thought, the fear, the idea that creeps into your head when you walk into a haunt: What if the actors aren’t acting? What if the danger you willingly paid admission for is real?

It’s a little game people who want to be scared like to play. And that’s where we enter Hellbilly Hollow, written by Bernadette Chapman and directed by Kevin Wayne. The games they play are torturous, twisted and demented, where decorations display the real blood of their victims.

The film doesn’t waste much time getting to its first kill, quickly showing us that it doesn’t take much to set off Tickles, a disfigured clown. 

Tickles, played by Wayne, is a strong killer of few words. His power is believable, and his mask adds to his simplicity. He doesn’t say much, communicating primarily through grunts and, of course, his kills. There’s some playfulness but seemingly no question of compassion — just an internal switch that turns kill on, kill off.

Kurt Deimer acts as producer and plays Bull, Tickles’s older brother who gets darker and grosser as the story goes on; you can almost smell the sweat, grime and tobacco addiction through the screen. He runs the haunt, his brother and the chaotic kills at Hellbilly Hollow.

Evil is interesting; what causes it, what feeds it, or the realization that some are just born that way. Our main characters reveal themselves throughout the movie, eventually showing us there are no heroes and no one to root for, at least not for the whole movie.

The killing ramps up after a team of ghost-hunting YouTubers comes to the haunt.

Hallie Shepherd as Mabel, the YouTube series host and producer, who teeters on the fence between likability and being a character you wouldn’t miss. Her boyfriend James, played by Trey Miller, might show the most heart and humanity.

Megan Weaver, as the camera operator, acts as the fated glue that brings the YouTubers to the haunt, but she left me wanting more for such a significant role — more fight, more strength and maybe more realization of what was happening around her.

The movie has a mix of supernatural elements and violence that feels unique. Ghosts of carnivals past, a voodoo queen and a snake charmer give us a window into the reasons behind the killings, but ultimately left me wanting more: more backstory, more about these characters and more connection to their living counterparts.

So, what keeps you watching? For me, it was seeing just how demented it would get and waiting for the living to connect with the ghosts. Horror may be one genre where you can get away without having a hero, and Hellbilly Hollow mostly does.

Both Deimer and Wayne have shared that they don’t enjoy haunted houses, which is hard to comprehend considering the film was shot at Hellbilly Hollow, a real haunted attraction of the same name that comes to life every October. That authenticity adds another layer of intrigue. If you like the movie, you might go to the haunt, and if you like the haunt, you might see the movie — a brilliant partnership.

Additional props built for the movie will also make their way into the attraction, further blurring the line between the two. It adds to that creepy thought: What happens when the scares inside the haunt stop being part of the show?

Mixing carnival games with kills appears to have been done with joy. From “Whack-a-Troll” to getting haunt-goers unknowingly involved in the killing, deadly sideshow acts and darts thrown at a spinning wheel add to the fun.

You can tell these games are not new to Bull and Tickles. They’re well-practiced, and return visitors are clearly not a priority at Hellbilly Hollow.

The gore and kills had me hiding behind my hands more than once; I enjoyed the creativity. There’s a grimy, gory feel reminiscent of a Rob Zombie film, while the carnival-inspired kills keep it fun without making it humorous.

What Hellbilly Hollow understands is the natural vulnerability of being inside a haunted attraction. You voluntarily walk into dark rooms, let strangers jump out at you and ignore every instinct telling you not to keep going, never knowing if you’ll make it out alive or if your remains will become part of the decorations.

Hellbilly Hollow comes to select U.S. theaters Sept. 25, and it sounds like there might be a big party at the haunt this October, which could make it worth a trip to Vincent, Alabama.

Written with the idea of becoming a franchise, Hellbilly Hollow leaves the door open for more death and destruction at the hands of Bull and Tickles. I can see it, and I would go see it. The story leaves me curious enough to want more, especially more of the voodoo queen and definitely more ghosts.

For me, Hellbilly Hollow is a solid 6.5 out of 10. It’s not joining my must-watch list of horror classics, but it’s twisted, creative and unique enough to get your horror fix and make you think twice the next time you walk into a haunt.

Visit HellbillyHollowMovie.com for movie information, dates and locations, and HellbillyHollow.com for attraction information.