The Boy from Hell (1988) User Reviews

Not bad really

[dark_nebulae2003 · 3/10 · 23 September 2006]

When I sat down to watch this, it wasn't like I was expecting to be scared or anything. In fact, I was expecting to be amused, and I was. I purposely watch bad films like this w/ the hope of some gritty sleaze, and am disappointed that there isn't even that, really. But as the rules dictate, if I could finish it, it got at least a two. And I finished this one, weirdly.

I gave it a three because of the acting and tight budget. And that's pretty rare. Given the script and dialog, the actors couldn't have done better. I'm just disappointed that they didn't appear in more. One striking thing though, the actor Aerin Teich likes to play guys named Charlie. He was in another movie that was released the previous year (1987) playing another Charles too.

The only reason why I bought this thing was because it came in Tromaville's triple DVD pack. And it was the 2nd best one.

One hint of confusion there: is Daniel's dad supposed to be a demon or a ghost? I really can't figure it out. Theoritically, he can't be a ghost if he possesses Daniel, but he looks like Daniel's father in spirit form. WTF? What great logic!

And then to top it all off, the house mothers were getting' all mushy over each other, and I'm like cringing. Not sexy at all. Watcn it and you'll understand why.

Could be called Dad from Hell

[unclehugo · 3/10 · 15 September 2008]

This cheap little horror about father-son relationships and demonic possession starts with a young man who wakes up in the middle of the night and goes for a walk through the dim passageways of a house only to discover a girl's corpse hung by the neck. He gets scared out of his mind but later finds out he became a victim of a dumb practical joke set up by other kids dwelling in the house (supposed corpse was nothing but a plastic dummy). This house, St. Bonifacius' facility for teenagers with psychological problems, is inhabited by a group of truly annoying young people and two adult counselors. Charlie, the kid from the beginning of the movie, is a constant target of pranks and insults. One night, Charlie witnesses unexpected arrival of a new boy, Daniel, whose mother wishes to protect son from his demonic father. Daniel's dad may appear to be an ordinary guy in a suit but in fact, he plans on taking over Daniel's body with the help of good old black magic. The demonic dad locates Daniel's mother and strangles her after a brief struggle. He then pays a visit to his boy and presents him with a special gift. Daniel is turned into The Boy from Hell with the ability to hurt and kill people by means of pure mind-power. Two pranksters who used to ridicule poor Charlie all the time try to pull the same stuff with Daniel around. They pay for it through the nose. First, a pigeon stricken by Daniel's rage crashes through the window and several glass shards cut into a prankster's face. The same lad is later found burnt to a crisp in his room although the police cannot find any possible source of fire. The other prankster falls into a wood-chipper and is ripped to shreds during the bloody highlight of the movie (a severed finger that lands on the lawn looks quite convincing). After two terrible and peculiar accidents, Charlie starts to suspect Daniel might be involved (Daniel's looks can really kill).... The Boy from Hell kidnaps Charlie's girl to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. Fortunately, Daniel's possession isn't irreversible at this point. Charlie hastens to rescue the girl of his heart and finally destroys the materialized spirit of Daniel's father. The demonic dad is impaled on a metal pipe and hit by an electric discharge from above. When you are up to your eyeballs in trouble, you can always count on Lord's intervention.... The Boy from Hell may not scare you to death but some of the performances of confused teenagers have certain bizarre quality that will undoubtedly entertain the fans of cheap horror movies.

LUKE. I AM MY FATHER

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 15 April 2019]

"Bloodspell" and "The Boy From Hell" are the same film. Daniel (Anthony Jenkins) is hidden from his father in the St. Boniface home for troubled teens. Unfortunately his dad catches up with Daniel and possess his body, apparently something the guys in the family have always done as a tradition. However, dad is menatlly unstable and has some telekinetic powers, but not enough to prevent from getting his butt kicked, or tied up. As the teens harass Daniel, they start having accidents making the rest of the crowd suspicious and fearful.

Low budget. Not really worth watching. Acting, drama, and dialogue not good.

Guide: No swearing. No nudity. Implied sex. Girl get bikini top removed from behind.

Available on a Troma 3-pack.

What A Movie.

[drhackenstine · 6 February 2005]

I first saw this on cable (as Bloodspell) like 15 years ago as a kid. I enjoyed it. I saw it for the first time again since then last night and didn't really feel the same way. The only thing I remembered was the kid who got sucked into the wood chipper and the lady from Look Who's Talking was in it. Anyways, this is not really all that great. No special effects, absurd acting, and a dim-witted story. I guess it could be good for the bad horror movie buffs, but even I had a hard time sitting through it. Teens start dying at a center for troubled kids. The villain is the new kid who may or may not be possessed by his crazy father. Rather bloodless affair, with next to nothing to recommend it, unless if you were a fan of USA's Saturday Nightmares and your trying to see all those wacky movies again. One and a half stars.

Boy from Hell? How about movie from Hell?

[amok1980 · 1/10 · 21 September 2001]

One of the worst horror movies I've seen, this one hardly has any entertainment value whatsoever. To be avoided.

Plot summary: boy dropped off at troubled teen center (I don't think it was a school), bad things start happening to the mean kids, lame showdown with happy ending.

Boy From Hell

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 5 September 2023]

Also known as Bloodspell, this is all about Daniel (Anthony Jenkins), who has been sent to Saint Boniface, a home for troubled teens by his mother Jane to protect him from his father Luther who is - surprise! - a demon who just wants to use his son's body to kill people and add souls to Hell. Will anyone believe another resident, Charlie (Aarin Teich) who knows exactly what is happening?

Of all the things I love about this movie - I mean it ends with God hitting Luther with lightning - the music over the credits feels like it could come from the schmaltziest of 80s comedies where we all learned a life lesson about our parents and not that they can be demons who possess us.

Maybe Jenny Marlowe (who is played by Twink Caplan, which is an awesome name) and Tony Montana - yes, that's the character's name in this, you'd think they'd maybe think that over - who is played by Edward Dloughy can save everyone.

Director Deryn Warren also made Black Magic Woman and Dead of Night, which gets watched in this movie to add a little meta without hurting the budget. This was written by the same writer as those films, Gerry Daly, who also wrote Witchcraft III and Crystal Force. Also: I never watched 7th Heaven but I have been told that's the house from that show in the beginning of this movie. Also also: Woodchipper finger terror.

Demonic Dad kills your bullies!

[Coventry · 5/10 · 7 April 2024]

Oddball and hyper-obscure late-80s horror flick that is perhaps not highly memorable, but at least very entertaining while it lasts. The story doesn't make much sense, but it's strangely compelling and keeps you curious. A satanist father pursues his son Daniel into an institute for troubled teenagers - where his mother hid him - and takes possession of his body. Being demonically possessed has advantages, though, as you can joyfully set bullies on fire or throw them into a woodchipper just by using telekinetic powers! There isn't much suspense, but the gore and the make-up effects are surprisingly decent, and there are reasonably good acting performances from teenage beauty Alexandra Kennedy and Linda Hamilton look-alike Twink Kaplan. I probably won't remember anything about "The Boy from Hell" in six months from now, but I wasn't bored or annoyed at any moment.

For low-budget it's underrated

[jackal72 · 6/10 · 29 August 2021]

I personally have not heard of this movie by any other name other than BloodSpell. This was one of those low-budget horrors that went straight to retail and video rental stores.

The main character of the story (Daniel) is sent by his mother to live at a home for emotionally troubled teens. His father is the reason for his relocation, but his mother won't tell him why. As you guessed Daniel becomes possessed by his father and he wreaks terror on the emotionally troubled teens.

I give BloodSpell 6 stars because it wasn't that bad for a low-budget movie. I've seen a hell of a lot worse that's higher rated on here. There's a character or two that add a sense of humor to their mischievous ways but not downright campy to deter from the goings on. It's worth seeing at least once and you may watch it again when the mood strikes. The fil score isn't built on 80's metal theme and dancing teens...it was created with digital synthesizers for a serious feel.

Enjoyable late 80's horror obscurity

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 6 May 2013]

Teenager Daniel (a solid performance by Anthony Jenkins) gets sent away to a special home for disturbed kids by his mother in order to protect him from his demonic father Luther (played with frightening intensity by John Reno). However, Luther still finds Daniel and takes over Daniel's body with his powerful and malevolent spirit. Director Derwyn Warren, working from a compact script by Gerry Daly, relates the absorbing story at a snappy pace, grounds the fantastic premise in a plausible everyday reality, draws the characters with some depth, delivers a couple of cool murder set pieces (the gruesome wood chipper sequence rates as a definite gory highlight), and pulls out the thrilling stops for the exciting climax. The decent acting from the competent no-name cast helps matters a whole lot: Aarin Teich as the troubled, sensitive Charlie, Twink Caplan as sweet house mother Jenny, Alexandra Kennedy as the pretty, bubbly Debbie, Edward Dloughy as amiable guidance counselor Tony, and Kimble Jemison as hip black dude Georgie. Ronn Schmidt's sharp cinematography gives the picture a nifty misty'n'atmospheric look. Randy Miller's shivery score does the lively ooga-booga trick. A fun little fright flick.

boy gets possessed by demon father, cute girl falls for boy with bad haircut, bullies die, fire, cute girl get kidnapped, cute girl gets saved, happy ending

[ladyliberty-28125 · 10/10 · 26 August 2016]

So majority of this movie was meh, however Alexandra Kennedy was

fabulous as Debbie. She was so pretty and bubbly

and

adorable and

sweet. She really

captured the essence of her character and did a great job displaying

emotion. I rate this movie as a whole 5/10, might see again, but I rate

Alexandra Kennedy 15/10, which is why my final opinion is....................... 10/10. Also

the 80s costumes are authentic and I bet George Michael would be proud. The whole cast did a great job with their acting.

Spells boredom

[lor_ · 28 March 2023]

My review was written in November 1988 after watching the movie on Forum video cassette.

The gory horror pic "Bloodspell" is another nightmarish genre title going out direct to video reminiscent of last April's Fox release "Bad Dreams".

Anhony Jenins plays Daniel, a teen with telekinetic powers sent to St. Boniface, a holding center for the evaluation of troubled students, run by Alexandra Kennedy. He's there for his own protection, since his dad (John Rno), the villain of the piece, is after him. It turns out, however, that Jenkins is a menace, killing the fellow student one by one for petty annoyances.

Everyone thinks these gruesome murders are accidents rather than supernaturally caused. Finally dad shows up, a monster (via weak facial makeup effects) who seeks to use his son to further his own rejuvenation.

Young cast is okay (though encouraged to overact) and pic is generally an improvement over the same production team's earlier "Mirror of Death". However, it's still a long road (and budget increase) to bridge the gap between this level of filmmaking and the popular theatrical releases in the "Elm Street" and "Halloween" series.