Hex will make you think twice about looking for love on holiday
By Lorry Kikta
Hex, a film by Rudolph Buitendak debuted at the UK Raindance Festival on September 27th. It is a beautiful cautionary tale against vacation romance!
Hex – The Cautionary Romance on Holiday Tale
The latest from Rudolph Buitendak (Dark Hearts, Apartment 407) and writer Christian Piers Betley (Stranded, Dark Hearts) is a dark twist on a tale of vacation romance called Hex. It stars Kelly Blatz (Prom Night (’08), Fear The Walking Dead) as a young man on vacation with his brother, Daniel (Steve Bakken, Inside) and Daniel’s friend, Isaac (Ross McCall, Band of Brothers). Daniel and Ben’s father just died so the two decide to take a vacation to Cambodia for some brotherly bonding.
Before the big fishing trip Ben and the boys have planned, Ben sees a woman walking by who he finds absolutely stunning. Isaac tells him that he’ll never be able to talk to her because she’s way out of his league, so naturally, Ben tries to talk to her.
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The first attempt to talk to his mysterious beautiful woman doesn’t go so well, but Ben does get her name. It’s Amber and he’s fairly certain he won’t see her again, and just as he makes a derogatory comment about her in the bar to Isaac, she’s walking up behind them and asks if she can buy Ben a drink. From there, of course Ben and Amber fall in love over the course of one day and Ben decides to not join his brothers on a fishing trip.
The more time he spends with Amber, the weirder things become. This includes a series of ever more dangerous encounters with a man named Nicolai (Adrian Hough, The Fog, Once Upon A Time) who seems to know Amber, but she denies knowing him. As well as the mega-trope of a “witch doctor” telling Ben that death is following him. Over time, we find out that Amber is troubled from what we originally believe to be epilepsy, but as time goes on, we find out it’s way more than that.
The character of Amber is a stereotypical amalgamation of all “bad girl” horror tropes. However, Jenny Boyd (Clean Sheets, Legacies) gives more dimension to a character that sometimes only presents as a glorified “honeytrap.” Ben is also a stereotype of a super-clueless-yet-devoted young man in love. The two have a good dynamic but at some times it encroaches on grossly unbelievable melodrama-meets-80’s-softcore-Skinemax crap.
Hex is certainly not the most original horror film I’ve seen this year, but to be fair, that’s a hard task for anyone to accomplish, as this year has provided a series of slam-dunks from all corners of the genre. Something that this film does provide is incredible cinematography and an interesting twist on both the “twin movie” and “the possession movie.”
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As of this reading, Hex is not yet available for streaming but may very well be coming to a festival near you. It’s certainly not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it does have great cinematography and some fun set pieces. Once it becomes available on VOD, it’s a perfect late night watch. We’ll keep you updated on when that happens!
Are you excited for Hex? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.