One horror film that may well bypass most audiences this year is Chris Baugh’s Horror Comedy “Boys From County Hell”. A very good film that appears to only have a very limited release, only being shown for a few days in most cinema and only for one or two showings a day, usually very late in the day. Which I think is terrible waste because it might be one of the funniest films I’ve seen in a while, with more legitimate scares than many mainstream Hollywood films of the same genre, all afforded a much wider release.
There is a great deal of good to say about this film. Most of the strength is actually in the actors who successfully make an outrageous premise wholly believable. There is a danger when incorporating comedy with horror that poorly delivered jokes will throw off the overall theme of the film and break any tension that has been built. However, the Irish cast bring such realism to a role so out of the world, that even with the jokes flying thick and fast, the STAKES are still incredibly high and you’re willing for the unlikely heroes to succeed.
The best performance by far goes to Nigel O’Neill who plays the exasperated father of the main protagonist; Jack Rowan who also gives an excellent performance of a young man trying to figure out what to do with his life. Something that we can all relate to!
The film is well performed, well shot and excellently paced. The direction is fantastic as are the choice in locations. The story is an incredibly unique twist on the time honoured vampire and is littered with important commentary.
All that aside for a moment though! I really want to focus on how well executed the comedy was.
There was something about the cast of actors treating everything like a mild workplace grievance that was hilarious.
The slightly annoyed expression of “Oh come on, like what are we supposed to do about this” in reaction to a bloodthirsty and undead former employee crawling his way back up the flagpole that was used to literally remove his heart, is the underreaction of the century and for some reason just screams “Real” more so than an overacted hysterical scream would have done.
Michael Hough’s irritated “I moved to the wrong fucking town”. Before being fatally injured by the demonic vampire that was once a close friend is the kind of expression one would expect after a mediocre night out or slightly stressful shift. What some writers may have turned into a devastating monologue about how he’s always made the wrong decisions in life and this one might cost him his life, Baugh turns into another example of men who are refusing to let their emotions get the better of them, even in the face of certain Armageddon.
Rowan’s expression “That wee fucker tried to bite me” is delivered as if one of his drunk friends is getting a little difficult to handle.
All of these examples and many more woven into The Boys from County Hell build the team of characters that embody the policies of “Not making a fuss” and “Dealing with issues as they arise” and create an unexpected team of heroes, not interested in dramatics or cool heroic lines, far removed from anything formulaic or cheesy; they’re just trying to handle this situation as best they can, even though they’re already over that shit.
They’re a brand of hero almost far more heroic and relatable than anything we’ve seen before and this film is well worth your time! Please support this picture that currently doesn’t even have a wikipedia page.
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