Hellion: The Devil's Playground 2001 Fox   Buy It Now

When people think of Australian horror films, I would be willing to bet that the first thing to pop into their heads is a fellow named Peter Jackson.  Beginning of course with Meet The Feebles (which is not entirely a horror film, but is most definitely horrifying...and hilarious), this writer/director then produced what is most likely the world's most celebrated and cult idolized gore flick of all time, Braindead.  In the States, we all know and love this film as Dead Alive, but the fact remains the same that when I think of Australian horror films, I think of the line, "Your mother ate my dog!", or perhaps the timeless, "I kick ass for the Lord!".

But this island nation has been offering up some quality horror for much longer than one might expect and even had a huge boom of horror cinema in the late 70's/early 80's.  Films such as Patrick, Thirst, Dead Kids, or Long Weekend, all brought their own unique "down-under" flavor to the genre and in some instances, helped to change the direction altogether.  Of course there were some stinkers too, as in all countries (Snapshot, Harlequin), but if asked the world over, the casual horror fan would not know what any of these films are, good or bad, or where they were created...a tragedy in itself that whole contributions of film can be looked over due to geographical isolation (publicity, region encoding, etc).

It comes then as no surprise then that I had not ever heard of Hellion (released in Australia under the title The Cubby House) before it arrived in my hands, and had no idea what to expect from it other than the fact that I recognized the name Joshua Leonard from The Blair Witch Project.  This in itself is not the credit that it would seem as I thought that Blair Witch was vastly over-rated and not nearly as "original" as critics and casual fans alike seemed to think.  But an actor is just a tool and cannot be held singly accountable for the finished product, so again I was left with no inkling of what I would find in Hellion.

Here is the gist.  Lynn Graham is finally moving back home, but the return is bittersweet.  Having left Australia to get married, she now has three children, all born in the States, to remind her of her failed marriage.  Faced with single motherhood and the financial burden that this situation presents, Lynn is forced to lower her standards when finding a home; a decision that leads to a slightly rundown, but still livable home down the street from her parents.  But this particular home is offered up at a discount for a special reason...one which is not disclosed to the Graham household until the papers are signed and the move is made...

In the back yard of this home, under piles of debris and thick tangles of vines and shrubs, sits a children's cubby house.  What the hell is a cubby house you may ask?  Think a cross between a fort and a playhouse and you will get the idea.  Of course Lynn's two youngest kids are enthralled with their new hideout and can hardly keep themselves from moving out of the house and into the cubby; but this particular playroom holds a terrible secret that will tear the family apart.  

Through the cycle of rumor and the stern warnings of a local businessman, it is revealed that over three decades before, this particular home, and it's accompanying cubby house was owned and occupied by a very disturbed man who had intentions of raising some form of demon and opening a portal to hell.  This was, of course, a messy ritual which one would not want to perform inside the house, so the next logical scenario would be to take it into the ole cubby house; especially when it involves the ritualistic sacrifice and slaughter of your two children!  At least this explains the mystical symbols scrawled on the wall of the play place. 

Soon, Lynn is distraught, but not without good reason.  Her two young children are acting very strange and cannot seem to pull themselves away from the cubby house.  They tell tales of their two new friends, both small children, who come into the cubby to play with them, and they even sneak out of the house and defy stringent orders from their mother...behavior which does not seem in their nature at all.  Even Lynn's oldest son, Danny (Joshua Leonard) notices some strange goings-on, but his attention is being averted by the attractive girl-next-door, Bronwyn (Lauren Hewett).  Ultimately, it will be up to Danny and his new girlfriend to unravel the mystery and try to save the children...but save them from what?

Evil lurks within this cubby house and is trying desperately to return to the living world, but it will need two children to perform a specific ritual for this desire to become reality.  Perched on a portal to the underworld, this play house has become anything but a place for fun and laughter, and instead holds a families lives in the balance. 

Now, I know that somewhere between the interesting angle of this movie and the basics of the plot there lies a pretty thick layer of uncertainty.  Poltergeist was good, but Poltergeist in a play house?  Amityville Horror was decent, but Amityville Backyard Fort From Hell?  You see the dilemma...  But let me assure you that the material is handled with a seriousness and a keen eye for avoiding the dreaded cheese factor, and as a result the finished product is a much more worthy film than the above plot description may convey.

This above average rating is helped along in large part by the professional acting of both Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project) and Lauren Hewett, the Australian twenty-something star of the popular TV series Ocean Girl.  A full four seasons on a highly upheld series really gave this young star some exposure as well as a crash course in serious acting after several small appearances and bit parts (including one in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom, her only previous theatrical work).  But even given the nature of this film and the limitations of such a script, both Leonard and Hewett run with the material and do an excellent job of convincing us that a possessed play house is a thing to be feared!

One bone I would like to pick with the filmmakers here is the inclusion of too many special effects.  This is one of those numerous occasions when less would have been more, but more is just silly.  There are so many effects crammed into this film, all of them a tad sub-par, that after a while they become a nuisance and more than a little distracting to the viewer.  Then again, it may just be that I hold computer graphics to a bit higher standard than the average Joe; after all I thought that Spider-Man looked like a pile of dog doo and that the Hulk looked ten times worse than that.  Is it too much to ask that computer graphics are supposed to look...hmm...real?  Not just SpEcTaCuLaR!!!  I digress...

But effects aside, Hellion manages to be a very entertaining glimpse into how horror is done elsewhere.  Overall things may come off a bit too "made for TV", but then again, this simply opens the perspective viewing audience to a younger age.  Parents not afraid to bring their children up right (as horror fans of course), may find that this style film will do the trick of enticing their scary movie loving offspring without causing sleepless nights and cold sweats.  However, I am no little kiddy myself and I thoroughly enjoyed this film.  For whatever reasons, my recommendation is to check this one out.  At the awesome bargain price, you could do a whole lot worse.

- aaron -