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ACTOR
Ron PalilloAbigail WolcottCarel TrichardtPetrea Curran
DIRECTOR
William A. Levey
SYNOPSICS
Hellgate (1989) is a English movie. William A. Levey has directed this movie. Ron Palillo,Abigail Wolcott,Carel Trichardt,Petrea Curran are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1989. Hellgate (1989) is considered one of the best Horror movie in India and around the world.
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Hellgate (1989) Reviews
Live Nude Horschak!
Please, don't ask me what this movie's about, 'cause I've seen it a couple of times now, and I'm still not sure. I know it's about strange goings-on in a tourist-attraction ghost town called Hellgate. And there's this blue crystal that can raise the dead (kinda), make the living swell up and burst, and shoot a blue beam that makes things 'splode real good. And there's a motorcycle gang in the 'fifties who kidnap a girl from Hellgate, take her up there, and end up killing her after her dad(? I think.) attacks them with his awesome axe- and knife-throwing skills. And there's a group of modern-day teens (well, modern for 1989, anyway) who get mixed up in the whole mess, 'cause the dead girl, Josie, likes to seduce random men by wandering in the road playing Phantom Hitchhiker. But no one involved in this film seems to know how all these pieces fit together, so there's no way the poor, defenseless viewer is gonna make heads or tails of it. But a confusing plot, terrible dialog, and crappy acting are the least of this movie's crimes. The worst offense is the casting of Ron Palillo (TV's Horschak, from Welcome Back, Kotter) as a leading man. Who is apparently irresistibly attractive to women. And has a gorgeous, but insanely jealous and possessive girlfriend. With whom he has a sex scene where we see nearly every possible nude-Horschak camera angle with the exception of a full-frontal. (And it's a good thing they don't go there; I like my eyes, and it'd be a shame if I had to claw them out in horror at the memory.)
Welcome Back...
Master thespian Ron Palillo, who you might remember far more as none other than Arnold Horshack from Welcome Back Kotter fame, stars as a young man embroiled in an urban legend about a ghost town where a man brings back those he kills with a rock crystal. Sure this is a cheapie. Was it a direct to video release? The story is absolute dreck and the performances are just as bad, but the film is not without some bright spots. I really thought the idea of the ghost town was interesting and even enjoyed the expository flashback in the beginning. What really goes wrong in this film is the use of that aforementioned crystal. It is just plain silly, especially when you see it used on a bat with obvious strings, a goldfish in a bowl, and a dead turtle. The acting is so preposterous as a girl, having just seen a horde of dead walk toward her and seeing her boyfriend lose his head, sits calmly in a saloon watching cabaret dancers. Who makes this stuff up? The dialogue is uttered with no conviction at all and is stupid to begin with. The budget may not have been plentiful, but the sets do look rather decent. Lead actor Palillo tries his level best to be affable, but let's face it - it is way beyond his means as an actor. The actress Abigail Wolcott is visually stunning, and it is no coincidence we see lots of her unclad. She is definitely the brightest spot...OK, spots, the film has to offer.
THIS is IT!!!!
Yes, fellow lovers of bad cheesy films - HELLGATE is one of the masters. Wow - where to begin - this movie has everything and everything is done badly. First, let's cast washed-up sitcom actor Ron Palillo (famous as the nerdy annoying Horshak on Welcome Back, Kotter - which made Travolta famous as the sexy Vinnie Barbarino). OK, so let's take this weird looking nebbish and cast his as the hero - OK, fine - go against type - but the script was written for an obvious stud because ALL the women in the movie flirt and gush over him. He even does a nude scene - yes, that's right - he is totally nude and straddling the actress who play his steady girl - she is also nude and she is hideous to look at as well - she kind of has a MacKenzie Phillips look only harsher. They try and show scenes supposedly taking place back in 50's but the hair and the clothes and lingo screams late 1980's. There's a 1890's ghost town full of actual ghosts - at one point a magic potion creates a large turtle - who is taunted by someone and the turtle bites a huge chunk of flesh out of the guy's face. The special effects are bad, the fight scenes look like two little brothers fighting over the remote, the thing just swerves off into other scenes that makes you go "WTF???" An absolute trainwreck of a film - but a fun trainwreck - one of those horrid movies that you cant stop watching cause it keeps on surprising you with it's incompetence. Wowee!
As the 1980s Died Out, This One Caught the Tail
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. He uses it to re-animate his daughter. This film has a low rating and has generally been forgotten. And yeah, I can see why. It is no masterpiece and is definitely not a horror gem. I like the reanimation aspect, and the 1950s bit... and we have zombies, ax murders, and more... If nothing else, the film is good for the very, very corny humor and the slow motion shot of a topless woman getting blown through a window by a shotgun blast. That is an incredible stunt, and by going in slow motion it is even more spectacular.
Hmmm... Hellgate Becomes Hell To watch
It is always hard to review a movie that is just so bad. Hellgate proves to be one of those movies. Starring Ron Palillo of "Welcome Back Cotter" and playing a smaller part in "Friday the 13th Part 6", this is absolutely the best this movie can muster, other than some nudity of the co-star Abigail Wolcott as Josie. The story unfolds in classic manner: we start with a flashback of a biker gang coming into the town of Hellgate. They kidnap Josie and murder her in front of her father. Her father, distraught over the death of his daughter, finds away to bring her back from the dead using a mysterious stone that was found in a mine. Unfortuanitly, he goes mad with power and turns the town of Hellgate into a ghost town. 30 years later, two couples end up exploring into Hellgate to find out about the mystery and get more than they bargained for. I saw this film about 10 years ago and couldn't remember whether it was any good or not to watch over. So, with a little bit of searching, I found a fairly decent copy of this flick. I will put it this way, this is a hard film to sit through. It starts off kind of interesting with its back story but just goes on a tangent of hopeless boredom, bad acting, and horrendous script writing. Most of the movie seems to be torn from a bad comedy or an old fashioned horror film and not melding together with pretty results. And the worst part is the ending just falls flat on its face with absolutely NO real climax. The only part I really liked was Josie's crazy father in the movie, who apparently can't speak a word of English. Altogether, if you have a very high tolerance for movies such as this, go ahead and check it out. Otherwise, stay very VERY far away. 4/10