HANK BOYD IS DEAD. (2015) WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND CO-PRODUCED BY SEAN MELIA AND MICHAEL HOGAN. EDITING AND SOUND DESIGN BY SEAN MELIA.
STARRING STEFANIE E. FRAME, DAVID CHRISTOPHER WELLS, LIV ROOTH, MICHAEL HOGAN, CAROLE MONFERDINI, CASEY NICOLE WRIGHT AND RON RIVERA.
REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
I don't always enjoy horror comedies. I'm one of those people who really enjoy a good scare, so I don't always appreciate being made to laugh out loud while I'm watching horror. Not so in this case.
I thoroughly relished the jet-black humour in HANK BOYD IS DEAD, humour which came from the brilliantly clever writing and snappy dialogue rather than just, you know, shots of people falling over their own feet or whatever.
Not that that's not great in its place. Buster Keaton was terrific at that kind of thing. But I love a nice dry black wit almost as much as I love a nice dry white wine, and HANK BOYD IS DEAD has wit in spades. In spades, I tells ya.
The action evolves in real time at a house in an American small town where a funeral/wake is being prepared for the Hank Boyd of the title. I can tell you that the house is the director's actual childhood home and he shot the film here over the course of eight days, which I think you'll agree is one hell of a feat.
Hank Boyd, or so it seems, was your typical 'murdering sumbitch' who was accused of horrific crimes and now is dead, having opted to commit suicide rather than standing trial. Ironically, the person catering the funeral is a young woman called Sarah who knew Hank in high school and who can't believe him capable of murdering women because he always seemed like- ahem- such a quiet loner...! I'm not even gonna touch that one, folks.
Hank Boyd may be deader'n a doornail but his dysfunctional family sure as shit ain't, not no-how. When they turn up for the wake that's all set to be as shabby and poorly-attended as the burial seemingly was, Sarah can't help but notice that they're all, each in their own way, gloriously and even magnificently odd, eccentric and, dare I say, f***ed-up.
David is tall, dark and handsome but he's as edgy as f***k and he gets very wound up when he catches Sarah in an upstairs bedroom, investigating, as she thinks, the cry of a child who doesn't, apparently, exist. Hmmm. Very suspicious indeed, that.
Aubrey, David's sister, a grown woman who still dresses like a child and is most decidedly under the thumb of her domineering mother, seems to have a somewhat unnatural attachment to her big brother David. Hmmm, what's that all about, we wonder...?
Beverly, the elderly materfamilias, is my favourite character. She's the kind of authoritarian old biddy who would have ruled her family with a rod of iron when she had all her marbles, but who is now taking a stroll down Alzheimers' Avenue and consequently thinks that Sarah the caterer is her deceased daughter Mary.
Her quips and comebacks are still bitingly funny, though, dementia or no dementia, and she's an absolute pleasure to watch in full flow.
Add to this a loser cop called Ray Moon, a barrel-full of incest (yee-haw...!), a truckload of secrets, lies, concealed murders and family skeletons going back years and you've got yourself one hell of a horror comedy, y'all. Will Sarah the caterer, who after all only came along to dish up the f***ing sambos, make it out of this madhouse alive?
Oh, and is that the sound of a 'Baby' crying somewhere in the house after all...? Methinks you guys had better go and investigate, but be careful, please, there's something evil up those stairs...
I have some good promotional news for you guys regarding this award-winning horror flick, so listen up now!
Fans can purchase limited edition Hank Boyd Is Dead posters, signed DVDs and t-shirts on the film’s official site www.HankBoydIsDead.com.
For more information about Hank Boyd is Dead, please visit the following links:
WEBSITE: www.HankBoydIsDead.com
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/HankBoydIsDead
TWITTER: @HankBoydIsDead
HASHTAG: #HankBoydMovie
PS, I told you I heard a 'Baby' crying somewhere...
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
Thanks Sandra! Much appreciated!
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