Bloody Hell Reinvented Horror Comedies (With The Action Movie Formula)
Alister Grierson's Bloody Hell uses the action movie formula to reinvent horror comedies with effective and hilarious fight sequences.
When horror and action merge together to create a jam-packed gory adventure, it can be one of the most captivating additions to the genre, but when movies such as Bloody Hell add comedy to the mix, it has the power to reinvent sub-genres - here's how. Directed by Alister Grierson, Bloody Hell follows Rex (Ben O’Toole), a man with a mysterious past and an even more questionable conscious who ventures to Finland after being freed from prison. While he doesn't expect much to come of his adventure, he is shocked to discover that he's found himself in a rather odd predicament that calls for his true action hero mentality to rescue him. Bloody Hell may feature several unique circumstances, but its inventive take on horror comedies by merging it with an action movie formula stands as its most defining feature.
Horror comedies traditionally stick to humorous gore or amusing hauntings to draw in audiences. This has been a proven method that's worked for numerous movies, such as Tucker & Dale vs. Evil and Shaun of the Dead. Over the years, horror comedies have drifted towards the bottom-tier of the genre's most entertaining sub-categories, likely due to how predictable the humor can be. As a result, directors and screenwriters have utilized other genres as a means to reinvigorate it. For example, The Hills Have Eyes For You is an upcoming romantic horror comedy. Romance and horror seem like entirely different subsects of the movie industry, but comedy creates a bridge between them. In the case of Bloody Hell, the movie's use of action, comedy, and horror seamlessly blend together and, in turn, can reinvigorate the sub-genre for many years to come.
As Rex fights for his life in a Finnish home, he comes face to face with his consciousness that manifests as himself. The two talk out every situation they could possibly go through in order to make it home alive. Bloody Hell's action hero adds comedy to his storyline through these conversations as well as his actions. But, when it comes time to make his great escape, the real comedy comes from his mysterious past that nearly defined his future with Alia (Meg Fraser). Without further ado, here's how Bloody Hell reinvents the horror comedy subgenre with an action movie formula.
Over the years, many horror comedies traditionally consist of zombie flicks like Anna and the Apocalypse and Shaun of the Dead. In turn, the living dead have been overdone, not only in the sub-genre, but in horror as a whole. While horror parodies attempted to join the sub-genre's success in the early-2000s, they also grew stale due to regurgitating the same story, but with more comedic overtones. In the late-2010s, there was a resurgence of horror-comedy movies that has continued into the 2020s. Instead of utilizing the same drawn out method of taking creatures or situations like hauntings, modern filmmakers have completely altered the formula by using sci-fi and slasher elements, as was done in Freaky and Happy Death Day. Bloody Hell intentionally avoids even the most recent uses of horror-comedy by situating its character in an action-packed storyline. He is the center of everything, not the horrors that he's facing. By making Rex an action hero instead of the chosen survivor who is being impacted by something terrifying - as is common in the sub-genre with final girls and final boys - Bloody Hell immediately sets itself apart from the rest.
Action heroes typically have a revenge plot. For example, Keanu Reeves's character in John Wick is driven by revenge in the first installment. Rather than giving Rex this storyline, Grierson's movie offers him one about redemption and, at the same time, a story centered around the concept of fate and destiny. There are redemption storylines in action movies, but Rex's is particularly rare due to how coincidental it is. He only decides to go to Finland after shooting three spitballs on a map in his holding cell that all land on the country. There was nothing he needed to redeem abroad, but, at home, he did.
Rex is seen as a hero to some and monster to others. Rather than stay in the United States, he flees to Finland, believing the spitballs to be a symbol of fate that will ensure he gets a new start. Rex is led by his conscience and has full-length conversations with himself that help decipher what would be the best route for him to take in whatever circumstance he finds himself in. As is alluded in their numerous discussions, Bloody Hell isn't a revenge story or a classic redemption tale that makes the action hero better. It's about how Rex can redeem himself in his own mind rather than everyone else's. Rather than suffer with the trauma of being a final boy, he finds comfort in the knowledge that he can save people and himself. While Bloody Hell is a horror-comedy, its serious undertones are a gripping dose of reality for Rex.
In the horror genre, it isn't necessarily rare for a character to be defined as an action hero or similar figure, but the tropes must be used successfully. In The Cabin in the Woods, Chris Hemsworth's Curt Vaughan is a near perfect example of how it can be done right in a subtle way. He presents himself as an action hero when he proclaims that he will save everyone by riding his moped from one edge of a cliff to another, but his pompousness fails him, and he dies. The sub-genre of action-horror has even had its fair share of successes with franchises like Resident Evil and Underworld. Typically, the action hero has a hardened exterior that has developed due to a major trauma or other life-altering events. It tends to be the formula that works best when crafting these characters, as Rex, Alice (Milla Jovovich), and Selene (Kate Beckinsale) perfectly showcase.
While they can succeed, they can also fail. One of the best examples of this is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The fictional version of President Lincoln had a revenge storyline, but faltered in several instances where the historical aspects of the movie proved more important than those that were fabricated. This may be a very specific circumstance, yet action-horror movie franchises such as The Purge have proven that there can be a weak link in an otherwise gripping series. Bloody Hell is a special case when it comes to action-horror movies, largely because of its use of comedy, but also due to how it used action tropes well. There was an equal blend of each genre that didn't get lost or muddled as the story progressed. Bloody Hell gave Rex a proper redemption storyline unlike any other while highlighting just how comedic his horrific situation could be through an emphasis on the ironic qualities of fate and destiny.