Hellgate (1989 film)

Hellgate
Hellgate
	Promotional poster
Directed by	William A. Levey
Screenplay by	Michael S. O'Rourke
Produced by	Anant Singh
Starring	Ron Palillo; Abigail Wolcott; Carel Trichardt;
Cinematography	Peter Palmer
Edited by	Mark Baard; Chris Barnes; Max Lemon;
Music by	Barry Fasman; Dana Walden;
Distributed by	Vidmark Entertainment
Release dates	December 1989 (United Kingdom, (Home Video));
Running time	91 minutes
Countries	United States; South Africa
Language	English

Hellgate is a 1989 American–South African horror film directed by William A. Levey and written by Michael S. O'Rourke.^[2] The film stars Ron Palillo, Abigail Wolcott and Carel Trichardt. It follows two young couples who become embroiled in the mystery of a desolate ghost town, Hellgate, where a young woman was kidnapped and murdered by a biker gang in 1959. It was released in the United States directly-to-video in August 1990 through Vidmark Entertainment.^[3]

Plot[]

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.

Cast[]

Ron Palillo as Matt
Abigail Wolcott as Josie Carlyle
Carel Trichardt as Lucas Carlyle
Petrea Curran as Pam
Evan J. Klisser as Chuck
Joanne Warde as Bobby (as Joanne Ward)
Frank Notaro as Buzz (as Frank Notard)
Lance Vaughan as Zonk

Release[]

Hellgate was distributed on home video by New World in the United Kingdom in December 1989.^[4]

Reception[]

Andrew Smith of Popcorn Pictures gave the film an abysmal score of 1/10, writing, "Hellgate isn’t just bad, it’s on the same ‘utterly terrible’ plane of existence as the likes of Troll and Raging Sharks. It's not a film you can even watch if you're curious about how awful it is. Just forget it ever existed."^[5] Michael Weldon in The Psychotronic Video Guide gave the film a negative review, noting: "Ron Palillo (from Welcome Back, Kotter), who was nearly 40 at the time, stars in this awful, irritating teen horror movie."^[6] Graeme Clark from The Spinning Image awarded the film 1/10 stars, calling it "utter garbage" and criticized the film's script, phony special effects, and acting.^[7]

References[]

^ "Film Guide". Los Angeles Times. May 27, 1990. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Fountain, Clarke. "Hellgate". Allrovi. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
^ Knight-Ridder News Service (August 12, 1990). "News and Reviews". The Southern Illinoisan. Carbondale, Illinois. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Hayward, Anthony (1990). "Video Releases". Film Review 1990-1. Columbus Books Limited. p. 143. ISBN 0-86369-374-1.
^ Smith, Andrew. "Hellgate (1990)". Popcorn Pictures.co.uk. Andrew Smith. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
^ Weldon, Michael (1996). The Psychotronic Video Guide. Macmillan. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-312-13149-4.
^ Clark, Graeme. "Hellgate Review (1989)". The Spinning Image.co.uk. Graeme Clark. Retrieved 4 October 2018.