Hell and Back (film)

Last updated

Hell and Back
Hell and Back Movie Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEric Adkins
Edited byMatt Mariska
Music by
  • Ryan Franks
  • Scott Nickoley
Production
company
Distributed by Freestyle Releasing
Release date
  • October 2, 2015 (2015-10-02)
Running time
84 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$157,768 [1]

Hell and Back is a 2015 American stop motion adult animated black comedy fantasy film directed by Tom Gianas and Ross Shuman and written by Gianas, Hugh Sterbakov, and Zeb Wells. It stars the voices of Nick Swardson, Mila Kunis, Bob Odenkirk, T.J. Miller, Rob Riggle, Susan Sarandon, and Danny McBride. [2] It follows three friends who break a blood oath over a mint, causing a portal to open and sucks one of them into Hell. This leads to the other two friends going through the portal and must save him from demons and even the Devil himself. The film was released October 2, 2015, by Freestyle Releasing. [3]

Contents

Plot

Idealistic carnival barker Remy is desperate to bring in business at a rundown pier carnival alongside his childhood friends, overweight and odd carnival repairman Augie and their insolent assistant manager Curt Myers. After Curt reveals the bank has foreclosed the carnival, a frustrated Remy heads down to the boat of a fortune-teller named Madame Zonar and borrows a book of spells with one page depicting the Devil crying.

Remy tells his friends he a business opportunity with the crying devil page while setting the book up for display at The Gates of Hell attraction. When Curt requests a mint Remy has in his possession, Remy forces Curt to take a blood oath on the book so he can pay Remy back with a mint only for Curt to callously admit that he doesn't have a mint. While Remy and Curt argue, Augie sees strange weather before Curt is sucked into a portal within the ride. Remy and Augie take a car from the ride into the portal to rescue Curt, only to find themselves in Hell.

Remy and Augie are discovered by demons and are taken to the Devil as he just came from a meeting. He encounters the duo and while speaking his intent to torture them, mentions the Greek legend Orpheus who has a reputation for bringing mortals out of Hell. He forces the duo to hide when visited by an angel named Barb, with whom he is infatuated. When Barb mentions that she is aware of the mortals in his domain, the Devil tries to win her graces by handing them over. But he discovers that they have escaped and calls out a search for them. Remy and Augie are about to captured by the demons while they use a contraption to escape. But they are saved by a mysterious figure that disposes of a demon stowaway while revealing herself to be a female demon named Deema who Augie becomes infatuated with. She agrees to take them to Curt if they take her to Orpheus by using the Devil's cell phone, which they snagged earlier.

Meanwhile, Curt meets the Devil and hits it off with him until learning he is to be ritualistic killed for not living up to his blood oath, Curt persuading the Devil to not sacrifice him via a contract if he puts on a show to win Barb's favor with a replacement sacrifice.

Remy, Augie, and Deema locate the way to Orpheus which is guarded by Deema's mother Durmessa, who warn Deema that Orpheus isn't what she expects him to be as they get past her. They use a submarine and eventually find Orpheus, revealed to be an eccentric slacker who is retired from saving mortals while having one-night stands with numerous women. Annoyed with Orpheus, revealing herself to be his daughter through his fling with Durmessa, Deema leaves with Augie following her upon being fed up with Remy's selfishness. After sharing a romantic moment while on Charon's ferry, they discover from the Devil's cellphone that Curt is being sacrificed at the crossroads and head out to save him. When Remy finds out where Curt is via Orpheus's TV, he leaves to find him and uses a Purgatory boat to catch up with his friends and reconciles with them.

As they haven't found a replacement at the time, the Devil goes back on his deal with Curt and decides to sacrifice him anyway. While the Devil retires to the bathroom after eating Curt's contract, Remy, Augie, and Deema manage to make it past the Demons guarding Curt and reunite with him. They find themselves at the mercy of the demons and the Devil who decides to sacrifice them all.

Having a change of heart, Orpheus attempts to rescue them while disguised as the leader of a demon band, but is also captured. Barb, who the Devil called and showed her the mortals, comes to Hell via a stripper's pole and she becomes attracted to Orpheus because of his song when he disguised himself. A jealous Devil tries to use a bazooka cannon full of T-shirts to kill Orpheus, accidentally knocking Barb out as she was getting the group to safety. The group survives the fall, but find themselves in the lower regions of hell full of sex-offender trees, including one tree who repeatedly raped Orpheus as a child. Seeing the tree to be truly regretful, Orpheus accepts his forgiveness if he rapes the Devil.

Remy, Augie, Curt, and Deema are caught and bounded by the trees and when Remy is eventually held down by roots, Curt, while hanging upside down from a tree, drops a mint onto Remy. Although upset at first about Curt keeping this from him, Remy is told that if he eats the mint, the blood oath will be paid. The Devil and a demon try to stop him, but Remy eats it with him and the others returning to the land of the living with Deema while the Devil is left to be raped by the trees for eternity.

Finding that Remy's idea to keep the park open succeeded, the group renovated the park six months later to have attractions based on their experience in Hell along with an attraction called the "Gates of Heaven" with Orpheus and Barb in it.

The ending credits show a lost soul in Hell attempting to place an order at Pizza Hut and a Demon who keeps misleading him (as he does this many times in the film) with the occurrences ending with the demon saying "Welcome to Hell".

Cast

Release

In May 2015, Freestyle Releasing acquired distribution rights to the film and set the film for a September 25, 2015 release. [4] However, it was pushed back to October 2, 2015. [5]

Reception

Box office

Hell and Back opened theatrically on October 2, 2015, in 411 venues, earning $104,374 in its opening weekend, ranking number 33 in the domestic box office. [6] As of October 15, the film grossed $157,768. [1]

Critical reception

Bloody Disgusting, a subsidiary of CraveOnline, gave a negative review by criticizing the humor (particularly the drawn-out running gag regarding male rape), but praising the stop-motion animation. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demon</span> Evil supernatural being

A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, and television series.

Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may be nonhuman, separable souls, or discarnate spirits which have never inhabited a body. A sharp distinction is often drawn between these two classes, notably by the Melanesians, several African groups, and others. The Islamic jinn, for example, are not reducible to modified human souls. At the same time these classes are frequently conceived as producing identical results, e.g. diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucifer (DC Comics)</span> Comic book character

Lucifer Samael Morningstar is a character who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is an adaptation of Lucifer—the Biblical fallen angel and devil of Christianity—and is one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe. Though various versions of the Devil have been presented by DC Comics, this interpretation by Neil Gaiman debuted in The Sandman #4 in 1989. Lucifer appears primarily as a supporting character in The Sandman and as the protagonist of the spin-off Lucifer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asmodeus</span> King of demons from the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit

Asmodeus or Ashmedai is a king of demons in the legends of Solomon and constructing Solomon's Temple.

A devil is a fictional classification of monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Often used as a high-level challenge for players of the game, devils are Lawful Evil in alignment and originate from the Nine Hells of Baator. In accordance with their Lawful Evil alignment, devils adhere to a rigid and ruthless hierarchy, undergoing transformations as they ascend the power structure. At the pinnacle of this hierarchy stand the mighty Archdevils, also known as the Lords of the Nine, who exercise dominion over distinct realms within Baator. Devils frequently view the myriad worlds in the D&D metacosmos as instruments to be manipulated for their own purposes, including waging the Blood War—a centuries-long conflict against their arch-foes, the demons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neron (character)</span> Fictional demon, a comic book character published by DC Comics

Neron is a supervillain appearing in various American comic book stories published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Underworld Unleashed #1 and was created by Mark Waid and Howard Porter.

"Time Bomb" is episode 19 of season 5 in the television show Angel. Written by Ben Edlund and directed by Vern Gillum, it was originally broadcast on April 28, 2004 on the WB network.

<i>Devil Lady</i> Manga by Go Nagai

Devil Lady, known in Japan as Devilman Lady, is a 1997 manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. It is the sequel to Devilman. It was originally serialized by Kodansha from January 1997 to July 2000 in the magazine Weekly Morning, and later collected in 17 volumes. The story follows Jun Fudo, a model who can transform into the powerful Devil Lady and protects humanity from devil beasts and their creations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satana (Marvel Comics)</span> Comics character

Satana Hellstrom is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas and John Romita Sr., she first appeared in Vampire Tales #2. Satana belongs to the species of magical beings called demons, who are born with supernatural abilities, as a human-demon hybrid. She is the younger sister of Daimon Hellstrom and the daughter of Marduk Kurios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marduk Kurios</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Marduk Kurios is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a demon who has repeatedly posed as Satan and is the father of Daimon Hellstrom and Satana Hellstrom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze)</span> Marvel Comics superhero

Ghost Rider is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the second Marvel character to use the name Ghost Rider, following Carter Slade and preceding Daniel Ketch, Alejandra Jones, and Robbie Reyes. The character's story begins when motorcycle stuntman Johnny Blaze becomes bound to the Spirit of Vengeance Zarathos after making a deal with Mephisto to spare his surrogate father. With his supernatural powers, Johnny seeks vengeance as the "Ghost Rider".

Characters of the <i>Devil May Cry</i> series Fictional character

Devil May Cry is a series of video games set in the present, created by Hideki Kamiya, a video-game designer and developed by his employer Capcom and Clover Studio. The series' success has led to comic books, novelizations, two anime series, guides, collectibles and a variety of action figures. The first game focuses on devil hunter Dante's mission to avenge the death of his mother, Eva, by exterminating demons. In the process he encounters his long-lost twin brother, Vergil, with whom he has a dysfunctional relationship. As the story progresses, Dante encounter his father's nemesis, a demon emperor, Mundus, who is found to be responsible for the murder of Dante's mother.

<i>Reaper</i> (TV series) American comedy television series

Reaper is an American comedy television series that focuses on Sam Oliver, a "reaper" who works for the Devil by retrieving souls that have escaped from Hell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deals with the Devil in popular culture</span>

The idea of making a deal with the devil has appeared many times in works of popular culture. These pacts with the Devil can be found in many genres, including: books, music, comics, theater, movies, TV shows and games. When it comes to making a contract with the Devil, they all share the same prevailing desire, a mortal wants some worldly good for their own selfish gain, but in exchange, they must give up their soul for eternity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Devil (DC Comics)</span> Fictional Superhero

Blue Devil is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in a special insert published in Fury of Firestorm #24. That story led directly into Blue Devil #1, also cover dated June 1984. He was created by Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, and Paris Cullins. The Blue Devil comic book ran for 31 issues and one annual. Blue Devil later appeared as a regular character in Shadowpact which ran for 25 issues.

<i>The Devils Carnival</i> 2012 American film

The Devil's Carnival is a 2012 American musical horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Briana Evigan, Jessica Lowndes, Paul Sorvino, Emilie Autumn and Terrance Zdunich. The film marks the second collaboration of Bousman and writer/actor Terrance Zdunich, their previous work being the musical film Repo! The Genetic Opera. The film also brings back several of the cast members of Repo!, such as Sorvino, Alexa Vega, Bill Moseley and Nivek Ogre. The Devil's Carnival has Aesop's Fables and other folklore at the core of its story, with the main characters each representing a fable. Flanery's character John represents "Grief and His Due", Evigan's character Merrywood represents "The Dog and Its Reflection", and Lowndes' character Tamara represents "The Scorpion and the Frog", an animal fable that seems to have first emerged in Russia.

<i>Killjoy Goes to Hell</i> 2012 comedy horror film by Full Moon

Killjoy Goes to Hell is a 2012 American black comedy slasher film and the fourth installment in the Killjoy series of movies by Full Moon.

<i>Alleluia! The Devils Carnival</i> 2015 American film

Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival is a 2015 American musical fantasy horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by Terrance Zdunich. It is a direct sequel to Bousman's 2012 short film The Devil's Carnival, but unlike the previous film, Alleluia is a feature-length project. Production commenced in August 2014 and the film was released on August 11, 2015 by Cleopatra Films.

<i>Karishika</i> 1998 Nigerian horror film

Karishika is a 1998 Nigerian horror film starring Becky Okorie.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hell and Back (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  2. "Susan Sarandon Headed To Hell & Back". Empire Online. July 3, 2012. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  3. Edwards, MJ (August 23, 2015). "'Hell & Back' Red Band Trailer Finally Released". Rotoscopers. Archived from the original on August 25, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  4. Dave McNary (May 17, 2015). "Animated Hell and Back Freestyle". Variety. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  5. "Hell and Back Red-Band Trailer". Slashfilm.com. August 19, 2015. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  6. "Weekend Box Office Results for October 2-4, 2015". Box Office Mojo . Internet Movie Database. October 5, 2015. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  7. "[Review] 'Hell and Back' Provides an Uninspired Ride into the Underworld". Bloody Disgusting . CraveOnline. October 1, 2015. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.