Hell Town follows the melodramatic antics of high school seniors clashing over love, sex, and betrayal. In the middle of all the everyday drama of one-sided infatuations, backstabbing bitchiness, bottled-up sexuality, sibling rivalry and general small-town angst, the Letter Jacket Killer is killing students in a variety of sadistic ways.
As the body count rises and the blood pools closer to home, it becomes clear that one of our main characters is the killer. Everyone, from the prom queen and shirtless jock to the nosey geek and the super bitch, are all suspects in the carnage. I won’t break down ‘HELL TOWN‘ too much, suffice to say that it takes the daytime soap opera that has been the appeal of people for decades and chucks it in a blender with a pinch of John Waters for good measure. Debbie Rochon is our T.V. horror host announcing the discovery of the three surviving episodes of ‘HELL TOWN‘, the rest were burned in a terrible fire. After each episode has aired Rochon shows up and we get to see the trailer to the excellent ‘MODEL HUNGER‘ and Rochon advertising a new type of coffee that seems to calm anger issues. If ‘HELL TOWN‘ was a real show it would be a ratings hit for any network that would show it. With its soap opera characters, the exaggerated acting that is standard in that sort of programme and the way it is written and directed Balderson and Spear have found a new area in the horror genre that they can claim as their own. Lots of laughs throughout mixed in with plenty of drama and not leaving out the slasher elements that will make ‘HELL TOWN‘ a sure fire hit with genre fans.

Review by Peter ‘Witchfinder‘ Hopkins

Available from the following sites on 23rd August 2016.