All Hell Breaks Loose

Director - Jeremy Garner
Starring - Mike Bazanele (The Children of Terra Firma), Nick Forrest, and Joshua Lee Frazier (Grimm)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror/Action/Comedy
Tagline - "Get the girl...save the say"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     In 2011 the indie horror scene saw a rise in exploitation films that tried to pay tribute to the grindhouse films of yesteryear and we have the Grindhouse double feature to thank for that.  I personally love these type of films because they offer up so much absurd humor and story lines with films like Dear God No!   Sadly, these biker-fueled exploitation flicks did not last long as a trend but we still see a few of these films pop up here and there and I welcome them with open arms.  Recently, I came across a link for a crowd funding campaign for the film The Cemetery People from Frenetic Films.  I reached out to them about the crowd funding and checking out their other films and they were kind enough to send me a review copy of their 2014 film All Hell Breaks Loose featuring Danger Ehren from Jackass.  

     The film follows a biker gang as they kill and plunder across America killing everyone they encounter and picking up women that have not been tainted by penis.  They cross paths with some newlyweds and kill the groom while abducting the girl.  They take her back to the bar where they plan on performing a ritual on her for Satan.  The leave the groom for dead and a man in white walks up to him and he rises from the dead.  He then tells the groom that he has to get his woman back before they complete the ritual.  He sets out to save his wife and is once again murdered.  The man in white then resurrects him again and has him partner up with a priest to get his wife back.  This plan also falls part and he is murdered.  The man in white resurrects him once again and this time the groom partners up with a sheriff where they hit the bar hard and gain the upper hand until they realize they are all demons and need the virgin to complete the ritual.  The groom then realizes that in order for the demons to die that he has to kill his bride instead of saving her.

     Before I go any further I have to confess my love for biker films from the late 60s and 70s with films like Werewolves on Wheels, Psychomania, and The Savage Seven.  These films were fun and serious in tone but the modern rise of the exploitation biker flicks threw in a lot of over-the-top stories with a lo of humor.  All Hell Breaks Loose takes us back to the time when these films were serious in tone but was able to add a few laughs in just so it couldn't be taken too seriously.  The acting in this film is great by the entire cast.  The bikers were perfectly cast.  They all fully immersed themselves in the role and for the most part they look authentic.  We also get some much needed humor from Danger Ehren.  The rest of the cast is great as well with the film's hero, the groom, who just happens to look like Zack Ward of A Chistmas Story Fame.  He does a great job portraying a reluctant hero.  The story for this one is one I have seen before even in outlaw biker films. However, none have the Heaven and Hell touch which is really something I did not see coming.  This is a great way to make the film stand out while paying tribute to the biker films of a time long forgotten.  Finally, the film does have several on screen kills but nothing that would satisfy the typical gorehound.  The point of this flick is to not shower the viewer in blood and guts but to give the viewer a great grindhouse experience.  Overall, All Hell Breaks Loose is a great film that has rich dialogue, solid story, and a few laughs.  The film feels like it should have Tarantino's name plastered somewhere above the title. This film has to been seen!