One of the first problems i have with this movie is the title. "Bell from Hell". if there's no demons coming out of the bell, or the church tower isn't a hang out for Satan, it shouldn't be called "Bell from Hell". Oh well, unlike films like "Medusa" and "I eat your skin" there actually IS a bell in this movie. so that's something i guess.
Okay then onto the movie. This is number 6 on the Chilling classics collection, and let me tell ya, the collection ain't boding too well so far, and this movie is not going to be its saving grace. but lets dive into it.
A guy is sent to a mental hospital because his aunt committed him so she could have his inheritance money from his dead mother. God. i'm only 6 movies in and this is ALREADY the second movie about inheritance and the second movie about someone coming out of a loony bin. running out of ideas ALREADY? So when he's finally released he goes to meet his aunt. see, i'm not getting this plot from the movie, i'm getting it from my "Chilling classics 50 pack" synopsis on the DVD sleeve. why am i not getting this from the movie you ask? because the audio quality is so horribly atrocious you can't hear 3/4 of what's going on. it sounds like "mumble mumble mumble aunt mumble mumble" and this isn't even the original soundtrack, this movie was dubbed. so there's no excuse.
Having to turn your speakers up to near blasting volume is the only way you'll ever be able to get any kind of coherency out of this movie. and you should NOT have to do that.
So during the ensuing scenes when he's plotting his revenge we get a lot of, yep, you guessed it. talking. a WHOLE LOTTA TALKING. but of course, thanks to the power of crappy audio, you lose more than 3/4 of the movie. The movie isn't very suspenseful when you can't tell what's going on. Besides. there's really no suspense at all.
This movie has an incredibly high body count..... of 1. yep, 1. yeah i know that's pathetic. goddamn. even "i eat your skin" had like 3. This movie has one of the most confusing endings i've ever seen. and not just because of audio, but because there's a scene with the bell (holy crap there's actually a bell!) and the crazy guy gets tied to it after he gets knocked unconscious by his bee stung aunt because... apparently he thought bee stings would kill her. why, i don't know. and apparently he will get hung when the bell rings. however at the end somebody strangles the old man who put him there. Why that happened or who that was i have absolutely no idea.
This movie also really has no moral to speak of. i've been trying to come up with one. "being greedy is better than being crazy"? "If you're crazy you can be immortal"? "70's titles are retarded"? i really don't know.
Besides the bad audio quality this movie has the problem of a lot of 70's movies. it's really really boring. it's "take a break in the middle" kind of boring. some people say this is a suspenseful movie and deserves a cult following. i really don't see it. i don't ever want to watch this movie again. not that all horror movies have to have a million dead bodies, but at least be interesting and have an ending that's cool and makes sense. "Scream Bloody Murder" was actually more interesting and psychological and THAT had a body count of 10! this movie is boring, useless, and not worth the time. Still a little more interesting than "Medusa" but that's REALLY not saying much.
"Bell from Hell" Tolls two times, with a 2, out of 10
Okay then onto the movie. This is number 6 on the Chilling classics collection, and let me tell ya, the collection ain't boding too well so far, and this movie is not going to be its saving grace. but lets dive into it.
A guy is sent to a mental hospital because his aunt committed him so she could have his inheritance money from his dead mother. God. i'm only 6 movies in and this is ALREADY the second movie about inheritance and the second movie about someone coming out of a loony bin. running out of ideas ALREADY? So when he's finally released he goes to meet his aunt. see, i'm not getting this plot from the movie, i'm getting it from my "Chilling classics 50 pack" synopsis on the DVD sleeve. why am i not getting this from the movie you ask? because the audio quality is so horribly atrocious you can't hear 3/4 of what's going on. it sounds like "mumble mumble mumble aunt mumble mumble" and this isn't even the original soundtrack, this movie was dubbed. so there's no excuse.
Having to turn your speakers up to near blasting volume is the only way you'll ever be able to get any kind of coherency out of this movie. and you should NOT have to do that.
So during the ensuing scenes when he's plotting his revenge we get a lot of, yep, you guessed it. talking. a WHOLE LOTTA TALKING. but of course, thanks to the power of crappy audio, you lose more than 3/4 of the movie. The movie isn't very suspenseful when you can't tell what's going on. Besides. there's really no suspense at all.
This movie has an incredibly high body count..... of 1. yep, 1. yeah i know that's pathetic. goddamn. even "i eat your skin" had like 3. This movie has one of the most confusing endings i've ever seen. and not just because of audio, but because there's a scene with the bell (holy crap there's actually a bell!) and the crazy guy gets tied to it after he gets knocked unconscious by his bee stung aunt because... apparently he thought bee stings would kill her. why, i don't know. and apparently he will get hung when the bell rings. however at the end somebody strangles the old man who put him there. Why that happened or who that was i have absolutely no idea.
This movie also really has no moral to speak of. i've been trying to come up with one. "being greedy is better than being crazy"? "If you're crazy you can be immortal"? "70's titles are retarded"? i really don't know.
Besides the bad audio quality this movie has the problem of a lot of 70's movies. it's really really boring. it's "take a break in the middle" kind of boring. some people say this is a suspenseful movie and deserves a cult following. i really don't see it. i don't ever want to watch this movie again. not that all horror movies have to have a million dead bodies, but at least be interesting and have an ending that's cool and makes sense. "Scream Bloody Murder" was actually more interesting and psychological and THAT had a body count of 10! this movie is boring, useless, and not worth the time. Still a little more interesting than "Medusa" but that's REALLY not saying much.
"Bell from Hell" Tolls two times, with a 2, out of 10