Hellgate (1989 film)

Hellgate
Promotional poster
Directed by William A. Levey
Produced by Anant Singh
Screenplay by Michael S. O'Rourke
Starring
Music by
  • Barry Fasman
  • Dana Walden
Cinematography Peter Palmer
Edited by
  • Mark Baard
  • Chris Barnes
  • Max Lemon
Distributed by Vidmark Entertainment[1]
Release date
  • August 8, 1990 (1990-08-08)
Running time
 91 minutes
Country United States
South Africa
Language English

Hellgate is a 1989 American–South African horror film directed by William A. Levey and written by Michael S. O'Rourke.[2] The film stars Ron Palillo, Abigail Wolcott and Carel Trichardt. It follows two young couples who become embroiled in the mystery of a desolate ghost town, Hellgate, where a young woman was kidnapped and murdered by a biker gang in 1959. It was released in the United States directly-to-video in August 1990 through Vidmark Entertainment.[3]

Plot

A motorcycle gang kidnaps a young woman, Josie, from a diner and brutally kills her. Many years later, the girl's father finds a magic crystal that can bring the life back to dead objects.

Cast

  • Ron Palillo as Matt
  • Abigail Wolcott as Josie Carlyle
  • Carel Trichardt as Lucas Carlyle
  • Petrea Curran as Pam
  • Evan J. Klisser as Chuck
  • Joanne Warde as Bobby (as Joanne Ward)
  • Frank Notaro as Buzz (as Frank Notard)
  • Lance Vaughan as Zonk

Reception

Andrew Smith of Popcorn Pictures gave the film an abysmal score of 1/10, writing, "Hellgate isn’t just bad, it’s on the same ‘utterly terrible’ plane of existence as the likes of Troll and Raging Sharks. It’s not a film you can even watch if you’re curious about how awful it is. Just forget it ever existed."[4] Michael Weldon in The Psychotronic Video Guide gave the film a negative review, noting: "Ron Palillo (from Welcome Back, Kotter), who was nearly 40 at the time, stars in this awful, irritating teen horror movie."[5] Graeme Clark from The Spinning Image awarded the film 1/10 stars, calling it "utter garbage" and criticizedthe film's script, phony special effects, and acting.[6]

Not all reviews, however, were negative. Dennis Schwartz from Ozus' World Movie Reviews rated the film a grade B, calling it "one of the more ambitious and better films to come out of Poverty Row's Lippert Studios".[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Film Guide". Los Angeles Times. May 27, 1990. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Fountain, Clarke. "Hellgate". Allrovi. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
  3. ↑ Knight-Ridder News Service (August 12, 1990). "News and Reviews". The Southern Illinoisan. Carbondale, Illinois. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Smith, Andrew. "Hellgate (1990)". Popcorn Pictures.co.uk. Andrew Smith. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  5. ↑ Weldon, Michael (1996). The Psychotronic Video Guide. Macmillan. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-312-13149-4.
  6. ↑ Clark, Graeme. "Hellgate Review (1989)". The Spinning Image.co.uk. Graeme Clark. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  7. ↑ Schwartz, Dennis. "hellgate". Sover.net. Dennis Schwartz. Retrieved 4 October 2018.


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