Marcus (Quinn Nehr) and Jessie (Brynn Beveridge) run a YouTube channel where they explore abandoned buildings and search for evidence of the paranormal. Hearing about an abandoned prison which has had some seriously grisly deaths, they head there and set up their equipment.
However, they’re not the only ones that have heard about the prison and another social media team are looking to capitalise on the location. There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, but when things get creepier, the teams have to decide who to stick with and how they are going to get out.
Hell’s Half Acre is a supernatural horror written and directed by John Patrick Tomasek which has a familiar setting. Something that has become a bit of a cliché by this point, a group of people all gathered in an abandoned building is just asking for trouble in a horror movie.
The movie even seems to recognise this cliché and there are subtle references to how unlikely the situation is in which they find themselves. However, the problem is that Hell’s Half Acre doesn’t do anything with it.
For a production which seems so self-aware of what’s going on, there may have been an opportunity to play with that. Being so familiar with the formula of a movie like this could have given Tomasek an opportunity to throw in some tongue in cheek humour or even some commentary about horror tropes. Unfortunately, despite the awareness, Hell’s Half Acre rests on its laurels and doesn’t do anything interesting.
It may be incredibly easy for a casual audience to guess where the movie is going as well if they’re well versed in horror. Not a single beat is missed and not a cheesy line of dialogue is spared because they know that the audience are just waiting for the killing to begin. Which would have been fine if there was anything worth waiting for and unfortunately it turns out that there is not.
The final act does try and throw in a twist and with some explanation and elaboration it may have made for something with a bit more depth. However, Hell’s Half Acre is a lazy re-tread of horror movies many have seen before.
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