Hellroller (1992)

   

Directed & Cinematographed by: Gery J. Levinson

Produced & Written by: Gery J. Levinson & Stuart Wall

Starring:

Ron Litman .... Eugene
Penny Arcade .... Eugene's Aunt
Gary J. Levinson .... Donald
David H. Sterry .... Dr. Kosloff / King of the Bums
Dink O'Neill .... Tony Sky
Wendy Spahr .... Lisa Dye

Special Appearances:

Michelle Bauer .... Michelle Novak
Elizabeth Kaitan .... Lizzy

Release Date: Direct-to-Video: 1992

 

Rating:

 

A disturbed man in a wheelchair named Eugene (Ron Litman) wants to find out about his biological Mom who was raped by two siamese twins and was raised by his Aunt (Penny Arcade) all those years.
He seems to be put down alot the fact that he can't walk and decides to go on a killing spree with a mentally challenged sidekick Donald (Gary J. Levinson) to people who behave immoral including slaying a famous model named Michelle Novak (Michelle Bauer) along with strippers, dancers or hookers.

 

I heard about this film and how bad it was in which you can't expect much from a slasher film with a killer being in a wheelchair slaying others away as if this film sounds stupid the story is even stupider and made on a really bad video camera making alot of the people in it too dark to see or what they're doing.
The opening looked made for video quality too with a computer animated wheelchair zooming by showing the different credits as this seemed fun to watch at first and then it shows the crippled killer Eugene with his Aunt strolling along Hollywood Blvd in which you could tell that this was not a closed set at all.
There's jiggly camera shots with a discussion between Eugene getting aggressive towards his aunt insisting towards her as to his real mother is which looked very amateurish with each other's reactions to this.
There's also a flashback memory with Eugene's Mom as a prostitute about to be raped by two siamese twins as I was thinking "Man oh man this is the shits!" It's not even close to being considered disturbing or intimidating with the tongue in cheek lines used while this moment is happening.
Also we see street punks that look too old and homely looking to even be punks and look more like street bums when they are about to attack Eugene's Aunt in which this was supposed to be action paced but yet looking like a friend trying his own home video camera and getting his friends to do this not knowing a thing about acting or making a movie period. Alot of unenergised moments between these punks having a discussion on attacking someone as they were way too goofy by doing this. Plus there's scene's with them trying to corner her with this woman flipping them the bird and getting tough with them which looked too planned out and the camera jiggled alot with the fast action scene's happening.
Then Eugene meets a doofus named Donald deciding to go on a killing spree which all of this looked terribly phony. I mean you spot slasher films being phony yet they look more superb compared to junk like this. There's even a hooker they kill and you don't know what they did to her that all of this looked terribly done.
There's a model and a stripper getting down and dancing while stripping off their clothes which sadly is the best part through this whole film.
We spot a close up shot on Eugene holding an axe which looked amateurishly shot as well as the stripper screaming in which amateurish on that isn't the answer at all.
Very bad circling camera shots on two women by kicking and hitting which you can tell they were kicking air and not looking realistic with a fighting scene that they're doing.
A real corny slapstick discussion between Dr. Kosloff with Eugene on discussing a situation and acting mad about it as this was way too over the top.
There's also news reports on comedic lines with locals which falls flat big time trying to make the viewers laugh as this wasn't convincing that we were watching a news show like it was supposed to be set out to be. There's a moment where they drink something and turn into something creepy as this doesn't explain itself at all.
Bottom line is the flick isn't even close to being scary and a major bore. I thought Don't Go in the Woods was the worst slasher film to date but I found a newly favourite one to hate since I was in total agony watching all of this. The makers you could tell didn't put much money into this and probably paid the actors more money than putting a budget into this if the cast were getting paid at all in which they were working for peanuts. I can understand why this flick is hard to find and barely making it to video stores during it's time period.

The acting is terrible that I can't even explain how bad this was. Lead actor Ron Litman (Eugene) as a crippled killer you can tell never took acting lessons at all in which is not the least bit intimidating by what he does in the flick. He is way too goofy with what he does while showing his aggressions in which this wasn't even well performed at all in which I was convinced that he wasn't sure whether he was portraying a comedic character or a horror character in which he seemed to watch alot of bad movies by Troma Team to borrow his acting skills from. There's an over the top scene with him by screaming out while circling around the top of a building in his wheelchair or upfront being disturbed not really getting into it like he was supposed to have been.
Gary J. Levinson (Donald) had a very phony speaking voice like he was supposed to portray someone who is utterly stupid and it works as if he was too stupid to portray a character. I found him quite wooden with everything that he did throughout his performance.
David H. Sterry (Dr. Kosloff / King of the Bums) really got on my nerves big time. He portrayed two different roles in this one first as a street bum in which he acts crazy and eccentric as I just wished his scene's were over and done with. The second one as a mad scientist he seemed to be not as annoying but at the same time over the top like the rest of the cast listed here. He was not a born actor at the least.
Wendy Spahr (Lisa Dye) portrayed a news anchor in the film as I found her to be the best actress out of the whole cast which isn't saying much at all. She showed the odd good spunk with her speaking and seeming to get into her role not too badly. Yet she is no award winning either.
Sexpot trashy scream queen Michelle Bauer (Michelle Novak) was never really a good actress and it really shows in this flick in which she's incredibly stale with what she did in it. She can't even scream or freak out when she is about to be killer either but showed little energy getting scared. Yet she seemed to do okay when she acts a little stuck up during a brief moment refusing to give in to one of the killers.
Elizabeth Kaitan (Lizzy) seemed to do her role not too bad portraying a tough girl in the flick trying her best to do what she has to do and can almost pull it off but barely. She can seem to be a worthy character actress by showing some good tough aggressions with what she did. Yet her performance is really nothing memorable or anything to brag about at the same time.

Michelle Bauer is barebreasted while taking a bath as well as later on revealed slaughtered naked lying on a bathroom floor.
Hyapatia Lee does a strip tease exposing her breasts as well as taking a shower briefly exposing her butt.
Lucia Mortato is bare breasted while being tortured to death by a clothing iron

Hooker is bloodily stabbed
A model is gutted open in a bathroom lying on the floor
A Dancer has an axe in her breasts
A guy chops off his hand
Two punk women are stabbed through a sharp wooden pole
Eyeballs are torn out of a person's head
Eugene's head is in a trash can

The composing seems to be the only thing that's better than the rest here which isn't saying much at all but there's some good funky drum jungle types of beats to women doing a sexy dance in separate scene's here which sounds interesting but can be annoying at times. There's also low humming sound effects and synthesizer playing too in certain spots of the film. It's tones out alot of the times though. All of this was composed by Randy Grief.

Eugene's Aunt: You know, I should have aborted you. I should just get a cat or a dog. You're an ingrate.

Michelle Novak: I do it with men, not apes! Why don't you get yourself a rubber doll?