A serial killer is busy slaughtering little kids. Investigating are two (only two?) detectives and Alice, the mother of one of the victims. Although the killer has been seen and sketched, and although everyone knows what he looks like, he for some reason can't be caught. If it were the FBI doing the investigating, that result would be no surprise, but this film takes place in England.
Alice, who seems to have no job of any kind, is obsessed with tracking down her child's murderer. We see that she suffers from tremendous guilt for not having done enough to protect her child, and that she is subject to vivid nightmares, and also to hallucinations. As the film progresses, the line between her visions and reality fades, and we wonder more and more whether particular events shown are real or just in her head. This dynamic takes over the film, very effectively, and the plot moves into some surprising places (which I won't reveal here).
This movie reminded me at times of an old Italian giallo -- and I love a good giallo. Most of the acting was second-rate or unremarkable at best, but Lynndie Uphill, the actress who plays Alice, was truly impressive in what seems to me to have been quite a challenging role. Alas, according to this site, Hellbreeder has been her only film to date. Some of the writing was quite good, and some of the music was lovely -- but at times the story would drag or drift off into overdone special effects or long, boring shots of characters looking introspective. Nevertheless, this film's premise was quite interesting and dynamic. Although the film lags at many places, it was worth watching overall. Glad I saw it.
Alice, who seems to have no job of any kind, is obsessed with tracking down her child's murderer. We see that she suffers from tremendous guilt for not having done enough to protect her child, and that she is subject to vivid nightmares, and also to hallucinations. As the film progresses, the line between her visions and reality fades, and we wonder more and more whether particular events shown are real or just in her head. This dynamic takes over the film, very effectively, and the plot moves into some surprising places (which I won't reveal here).
This movie reminded me at times of an old Italian giallo -- and I love a good giallo. Most of the acting was second-rate or unremarkable at best, but Lynndie Uphill, the actress who plays Alice, was truly impressive in what seems to me to have been quite a challenging role. Alas, according to this site, Hellbreeder has been her only film to date. Some of the writing was quite good, and some of the music was lovely -- but at times the story would drag or drift off into overdone special effects or long, boring shots of characters looking introspective. Nevertheless, this film's premise was quite interesting and dynamic. Although the film lags at many places, it was worth watching overall. Glad I saw it.