Main cast: Jack Rowan (Eugene Moffat), Nigel O’Neill (Francie Moffat), Louisa Harland (Claire McCann), Michael Hough (SP McCauley), Fra Fee (William Bogue), Robert Nairne (The Abhartach), Andrea Irvine (Pauline Bogue), Morgan C Jones (Charlie Harte), David Pearse (Cathal), and John Lynch (George Bogue)
Director: Chris Baugh
Boys From County Hell applies into its premise the theory that Bram Stoker getting his inspiration for the bloodsucking aspect of Count Dracula from the Irish folklore monster the Abhartach.
Here, the Abhartach is said to slumber under a distinct pile of stones in Six Mile Hill, a sleepy town in Ireland that attracts tourists solely because Mr Stoker supposedly stopped past one day and was inspired by the legend of the monster to create the undead version of Vlad the Impaler.
For Eugene Moffat and his BFF William Bogue, the dubious source of excitement at the moment is that Eugene’s father Francie is heading the local construction project that would demolish the Abhartach’s grave, and some locals, including William’s father George, are against the project as it would also mean that their houses would be demolished to make way for progress. It’s like Romeo and Juliet, only without an actual star-crossed romance.
Eugene is content to be an aimless fellow searching for a clue and a direction, which doesn’t please his father as Francie wants the kid to either work with him or leave town to search for better prospects. He is rather dismayed when William shares his plans to go off to Australia to search for better paying jobs there.
The prospect of future separation, fueled by alcohol, soon leads them to a drunken altercation just in front of the Abbie Monster’s cairn, and William ends up shedding some blood that seeps into the ground around the stones. He is then attacked and killed by what seems to be a mutant dog.
Way to go, Eugene. If he can’t have William, I guess neither can the Aussies!
Naturally, all the commotion and bloodshed alerts Abbie that there is a buffet waiting for him in Six Mile Hill…
This is a comedic kind of monster movie, and for the most part, the violence isn’t that much and the gore is mild. This isn’t a bad thing, as there is a nice balance of humor and scares here, with even a right amount of emotional drama about divided loyalties and friendship.
That comic relief, SP, is alright and the levity he brings to any scene doesn’t break the emotional undercurrent that may be present. Seriously, this is a nice example of how one can include jokes and one-liners in any scene without making the character come off as a sociopath incapable of human emotions.
The best scenes, however, come from John Lynch and Nigel O’Neill as two good friends that had long since drifted apart due to differences in how they perceive life and what not. There is a parallel to be made with their sons here, I guess, with William and Eugene already slowly drifting apart anyway and had William lived longer, they may just end up like their fathers.
Unfortunately, Eugene is played by Jack Rowan, and Mr Rowan plays his role with all the lethargy of a sleepwalking nonce. Seriously, the vampire-zombie things in this movie are more animated than Eugene.
This dead weight portrayal only makes that character even harder to root for, considering that Eugene’s entire personality is being whiny, passive, and aimless. That and he is the one responsible, albeit unintentionally so, for all the mess in this movie.
The movie is tad unsatisfying, therefore, when all the fun and better-acted characters go down just because this whiny, boring git has plot armor. That, and an ass-pull super power that allows him to conveniently take down Abbie!
Anyway, Boys From County Hell is a low-key okay movie. The deliberate decision to shy away from actual kill scenes drastically reduces its effectiveness as a horror film, especially since it doesn’t provide any alternative ways to deliver the chills. The comedy is pretty good, but sadly, it is the boring gits that are left standing the longest.
All in all, it’s alright, but with some tweaks here and there, it could surely be much better.
