Soft For Digging
A man wanders into the woods in search of his cat and witnesses a murder.
Goth
Described as a gothic love story, the project revolves around two high school teens from opposite sides of the tracks who are forced to come together to take down a serial killer in their hometown.
Hellbenders 3D
A new horror comedy said to be in the vein of classics such as The Exorcist and Ghostbusters. Taking place in modern day New York, a team of holy men (consisting of ministers and priests) battle the forces of evil.
[AFM '12] Lionsgate Acquires ‘Hellbenders 3D’ For Theatrical Release!
Lionsgate Home Entertainment and Film Arcade are going to hell, as they’ve acquired varying rights to J.T. Petty’s horror comedy movie Hellbenders for North America and select foreign territories, reports Variety. We reviewed the film out of this past September’s TIFF.
Film Arcade plans a US theatrical release with the release date announcement expected to come shortly. Meanwhile, Lionsgate Home Entertainment will be handling the post-theatrical release of the film in the US, Canada and India.
“It follows the exploits of the Brooklyn-based Augustine Interfaith Order of Hellbound Saints — known as Hellbenders, a team of lewd and blasphemous ministers who live in a constant state of debauchery in order to be ready so they can drag the worst of demons back to Hell. Their faith of the Hellbenders is tested when one of the foulest demons possess one of their own and threatens the existence of both Brooklyn and the world.”
Hellbenders stars Clancy Brown, Clifton Collins Jr., Andre Royo, Robyn Rikoon, Macon Blair and Dan Folger. The film was shot in digital 3D. READ MORE
[BD Review] ‘Hellbenders 3D’ Highly Ambitious, Fun Horror
Burrowers director JT Petty returns to Midnight Madness with Hellbenders, a truly entertaining horror comedy that may have been a bit too ambitious. While filled with laughs, and some incredible creature effects, ultimately it’s a bit fragmented from what feels like budgetary constraints.
The first act of Hellbenders is incredibly strong as Petty introduces the viewer to the motley crew of modern exorcists. In short, this collection of men and women are supposed to sin as much as possible in order to deliver demons back to hell. The idea is that if they get possessed, they can commit suicide and drag the demons down to Hell with them. Hence, the audience is blasted with profanity as they watch an array of disturbing acts and consistent verbal abuse. Watching a bunch of ordained priests act like jerks in absolutely hilarious, but what makes this work is that the audience knows they’re “good people” at heart. Likability is extremely important it making Hellbenders an entertaining flick. Clancy Brown reunites with Petty and delivers quite a standout performance as the drunken leader. Unfortunately, Dan Fogler – who I absolutely love – was underused, and barely even had a reason to be in the film.
Once acclimated to the group, a few of them are sent off to handle a new case, one that ends in disaster. This is the pinnacle of Hellbenders as it taps into to the vein of The Evil Dead and Ghostbusters with its sound design, humor, scares, and FX work. It’s a haunting moment that sets the bar so high that the rest of the film struggles to reach the same level.
From here on out much of the second act is muddled with exposition and a subplot where the new Pope has shut down their division. The final moments, while enjoyable, felt the choking sensation of budgetary constraints. The audience is teased that the gates of Hell are to be opened, but by the time the gang arrives, all of the chaos has already erupted; it’s a bit frustrating, as the viewer deserves to see the madness occur.
Hellbenders is highly ambitious filmmaking that works just enough to make it worth a view. There are quite a few gut busting laughs, creative scares, and even more gore for the horror junkie. Unfortunately, it just runs out of steam by the finale.
[TIFF '12] Check Out These Awesome NSFW ‘Hellbenders’ Postcards!
The Burrowers director JT Petty‘s Hellbenders 3D certainly looks like one of the more interesting, raw and fun selections from this year’s Midnight Madness programming at TIFF. And now we have six awesome postcards/posters for the film. NSFW fo sho!
“Hellbenders, an R-rated 3D exorcism comedy, follows the Augustine Interfaith Order of Hellbound Saints (Brooklyn Parish), highly secretive and profoundly blasphemous men of God, as they battle demonic forces too terrible to be cast out by traditional Vatican-approved methods. Cast includes Clancy Brown, Clifton Collins Jr., Robyn Rikoon and Andre Royo.”
The film premieres at 11:59 PM on Sunday, September 9th – that’s tonight – at the Ryerson Theater. Subsequent TIFF showtimes here. head inside for the cards – click to make big etc… READ MORE
[TIFF '12] Check Out The Exclusive Poster For ‘Hellbenders’!
The Burrowers director JT Petty‘s Hellbenders 3D certainly looks like one of the more interesting, raw and fun selections from this year’s Midnight Madness programming at TIFF. Now we have a really cool poster that totally complements the 70′s vibe that the whole enterprise seems to have.
“Hellbenders, an R-rated 3D exorcism comedy, follows the Augustine Interfaith Order of Hellbound Saints (Brooklyn Parish), highly secretive and profoundly blasphemous men of God, as they battle demonic forces too terrible to be cast out by traditional Vatican-approved methods. Cast includes Clancy Brown, Clifton Collins Jr., Robyn Rikoon and Andre Royo.”
The film premieres at 11:59 PM on Sunday, September 9th at the Ryerson Theater. Subsequent TIFF showtimes here. The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6th-16th. Head inside for the poster! READ MORE
[TIFF '12] Weirdo Last Supper! New Images From JT Petty’s ‘Hellbenders 3D’!!!
The Burrowers director JT Petty‘s Hellbenders 3D certainly looks like one of the more interesting, raw and fun selections from this year’s Midnight Madness programming at TIFF. It has that great, dirty sepia 70′s vibe and looks like it’ll be pretty uninhibited.
“Hellbenders, an R-rated 3D exorcism comedy, follows the Augustine Interfaith Order of Hellbound Saints (Brooklyn Parish), highly secretive and profoundly blasphemous men of God, as they battle demonic forces too terrible to be cast out by traditional Vatican-approved methods. Cast includes Clancy Brown, Clifton Collins Jr., Robyn Rikoon and Andre Royo.”
The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6th-16th. Head inside for the pics! READ MORE
[TIFF '12] Midnight Madness Films Announced! ‘The Lords Of Salem’, ‘The ABC’s Of Death’, ‘Hellbenders 3D’ And More!!!
Holy sh*t! There’s obviously a lot of horror in the Midnight Madness selections of the Toronto International Film Festival, but I’m not sure if you were expecting this many big fish! For starters, we’ve got Rob Zombie‘s The Lords Of Salem. Next? The 26 director anthology The ABC’s Of Death. Not enough? How about Nicolas Lopez‘s Eli Roth/Selena Gomez starrer Aftershock. Still hungry? Then there’s JT Petty‘s Hellbenders 3D.
TIFF’s Midnight Madness selections will present the major world premieres for those films, the first time any kind of general audience sees them. But that’s not all! Head inside for the full listing of films! We’ll be updating you throughout the day with image galleries for these selections so keep checking back!
The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6th-16th. READ MORE
‘Hellbenders’ Short Competition Extended, Check Out a Few Entries!
Quite a few Bloody readers have requested an extension, so now you guys have until July 6th to enter our pretty sweet promotion for Hellbenders, where YOUR short film could end up being used in the feature film by horror fav J.T. Petty (The Burrowers, Soft for Digging).
To inspire you guys to use this holiday weekend to have some fun, inside we’ve posted a few entires to see what you’re up against! Some of these are pretty great!
All of the details and a video introduction by director J.T. Petty can be found here, along with the film’s first official still.
Hellbenders will be a 3-D exorcism flick starring Clifton Collins, Clancy Brown and Dan Fogler. It takes place in modern day New York where a team of holy men (consisting of ministers and priests) battle the forces of evil.
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J.T. Petty Brings J-Horror Back to Japan in ‘Haunted Temple’
Genre fav J.T. Petty – director of Soft for Digging, Mimic: Sentinel, The Burrowers, S&Man and the forthcoming HellBenders – is getting behind the camera for Haunted Temple.
Temple is heading for production this fall in Japan, one of the first Hollywood-based features to shoot there after the March earthquake and tsunami.
Haunted Temple is a Japanese-style horror feature reminiscent of The Ring and The Grudge. Producers are keeping details about the script under wraps.
Industrial recently released Werner Herzog’s My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done and Repo Chick. Macari/Edelstein produced the U.S. remake of the The Ring, The Ring 2 and Shelter.
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Scream If You Wanna See a Possessed Dude from ‘Hellbenders’!!
Genre favorite J.T. Petty (The Burrowers, Soft for Digging, S&Man, Mimic: Sentinel) is now in production on his fifth horror-themed project, Hellbenders, a horror comedy said to be in the vein of classics such as The Exorcist and Ghostbusters.
Clifton Collins (“The Event”), Clancy Brown (The Burrowers, A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Dan Fogler (Hysterical Psycho) were announced just last night and this evening we already have a slew of behind-the-scenes imagery, one of which features what appears to be a possessed old man.
“‘Hellbenders’ is about a secret group of elite demonologists in a Brooklyn diocese who battle a terrifying supernatural force that threatens their lives and faith.”
Click the displayed image for the entire gallery:
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Faith Challenged in J.T. Petty’s ‘Hellbenders’
If you haven’t heard of J.T. Petty, you haven’t been paying attention. The NY native became a genre force after Lionsgate released The Burrowers, but his infamy comes behind the incredible Soft for Digging and S&Man, which finally got a release last year thanks to Magnet. Also known for directing the Rear Window-inspired Mimic: Sentinel, Petty is gearing up for his fifth genre effort that’ll put your faith to the test.
The crazy badass Clifton Collins (The Experiment, “The Event”) is set to star in Petty’s supernatural pic Hellbenders, which is about a secret group of elite demonologists in a Brooklyn diocese who battle a terrifying supernatural force that threatens their lives and faith. The horror comedy is said to be in the vein of classics such as The Exorcist and Ghostbusters.
The 3D film also stars Clancy Brown (The Burrowers, A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Dan Fogler (Hysterical Psycho) and goes into production next week.
The pic is based on a graphic novel written by Petty, who recently sold his spec, “Zombies vs. Robots” to Sony.
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