From cult classic Deadly Spawn producer is unleashed Hell on Earth. Though the budget restraints are more evident here in “Hell” than back when the “Deadly were “Spawned”, HELL ON EARTH possesses, for every dent in budgetary armor, at least an equal extra portion of fun quotient. That’s right, as much low budget slickness “The Deadly Spawn” mustered back in the day – and it was a considerable mustering, I can attest – HELL ON EARTH is twice the blast for your buck – and for the producers’ bucks’ too, I bet. Just as “Deadly Spawn” had a layering of concepts at work, even if it isn’t arthouse material, being both a retro film – an homage to vintage monsters – and a quintessentially 80s gore-or and guffaws flick, so too does HELL ON EARTH manage multiple intents. Besides being a very personal throwback – the producer of a cult classic returning to monster mania – HELL ON EARTH manages to simultaneously capture both the flavor of classic direct-to-video cult fare of the VHS 80s and the feel of contemporary wink-wink-nudge-nudge indie horror camp fests. While I won’t go out of my way to suggest deliberate subtextual efforts here – again, this isn’t arthouse territory – there is nonetheless a spontaneous touching on archetypal ideas. This is, after all, the oft-visited – though not with HELL ON EARTH’s special style – territory of the socially abused and ostracized outsider kid who finds a way to turn the tables. A number of movies have had the bullyee turn the occult to his purposes, and HELL ON EARTH is the latest to film to share its take on the idea. But that core concept has all kinds of all-but-the-kitchen-sink goodies stuck around all over it – zombies, demons, boobs and grimoires – it’s all here!
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