Written and directed by Chris Baugh
Starring Jack Rowan, Nigel O'Neill and Louisa Harland
Running time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

by Nikk Nelson

These days, it’s difficult to bring any level of originality to werewolf, vampire and zombie movies and that stops almost no one. But this festival season, I was treated to two films that actually made a refreshing monster movie, The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) and Boys from County Hell (2020). Straight outta Ireland, this vampiric tale written and directed by Chris Baugh follows Eugene Moffat, played in a very impressive performance by Jack Rowan, a down on his luck and chronically directionless lad living in the small village of Six Mile Hill. Immediate parallels are drawn to An American Werewolf in London (1981) as the film opens in a pub, The Stoker, named for Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. But Six Mile Hill has its own vampire legend, that of Abhartach, who, they claim was the real inspiration behind Stoker’s novel and just so happens to be buried not too far from here…

A tragic accident leads to the awakening and release of Abhartach but the big bad isn’t who we immediately deal with. For the majority of the movie, Abhartach works in the shadows while those he’s infected carry out the more immediate carnage. Influences you can plainly see include Shaun of the Dead (2004) and 30 Days of Night (2007) but Boys from County Hell is very insistent on doing its own thing and, without giving anything away, the very simple twists on the vampire mythology we’re used to seeing in movies make all the difference in the world. Ryan Kernaghan brings a very epic quality to the way the film is shot, especially the opening which, along with the music by Steve Lynch, reminded me of so many Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns. 

Subtitles were not available to me, and the brogue is thick, but it didn’t stop me from catching a very well-crafted and interesting script. I actually knew and cared about every single character which is something so many films, especially horror, utterly fail to accomplish. Anyone out there interested in learning how to write a script with these vital characteristics will want to study this one close. It doesn’t take a lot, either, as you’ll see. Some of the finer points of the plot, namely the rules surrounding how the vampires actually operate, weren’t one hundred percent clear to me but it may simply take multiple viewings once its released and the subtitles are available. The thought of this being a very dark, Irish version of the Canadian show Letterkenny would not leave my mind the entire time. However, I think it’s important to note that the dramatic and horrifying elements in this one far outweigh any comedy.

The film does everything right leading up to and finally revealing the big bad Abhartach. The wait is worth it. The costume (Triona Lillis) and makeup (Clare Ramsey and Sarah Blair) design are wholly unique and terrifying and Robert Nairne’s performance under it all hearkens back to Max Schreck in Nosferatu (1922). There’s plenty of gore to go around but remember, it’s happening to and around characters you actually care about. So there’s a different element to it versus your run of the mill slasher film. Chris Baugh’s first feature, Bad Day for the Cut (2017), starring Nigel O’ Neill who turns up as Eugene’s dad in this sophomore effort, is a film I plan on seeking out immediately. I’m used to campy horror. I’m used to trash horror. I’m used to tongue in cheek. I’m used to rip-offs and remakes and reboots. Boys from County Hell is none of these. It’s sense of drama and the perfect execution of its characterization set it far apart from the usual vamp-horror we’re offered. And, the cherry on top for me, in the second to last closing scene, Dokken’s “Dream Warriors” is playing on the pub jukebox. I squeed.     

Boys From County Hell played at Nighstream Film Festival and will be available to watch soon.