Saturday, September 17, 2005

To 'HellBent' and Back

Just got in from seeing what's been billed as the first gay slasher film, "HellBent."

I'm a big fan of horror flix, but sadly, other than the group of handsome young men who star here (particularly Andrew Levitas, as the flirtatious Chaz, wearing hat, above), there's not a whole lot of positive things to say about this one. Besides being horribly amateurish, predictable and not the least bit suspenseful or scary, it somehow manages to make looking at half-naked young men seem boring. The film was made some time ago and is just now getting national distribution, which should have been a warning sign.

So rather than rip on it any further, I'd like to mention a gay film I recently came across from earlier this decade that doesn't seem to have gotten as much attention as it should have: "All Over the Guy."

IMDB says the film came out in 2001 yet I don't even recall ever hearing about it. It was written by and stars Dan Bucatinsky (on left), who you probably now know as Valerie Cherish's excitable PR man on "The Comeback." Bucatinsky is the real-life partner of the director Don Roos ("Opposite of Sex," "Happy Endings"), and it's pretty clear that there's a lot of talent living under that roof.

"All Over The Guy" explores the rocky relationship between two young men as they try to figure out if each other is "the one." The adorable Richard Ruccolo (above, right) ("Two Guys and A Girl") plays the hunky/butch guy Tom, who is battling alcoholism and his fear of commitment, to Bucatinsky's insecure Eli, who will remind you of a lot of guys you know. Each of them comes to realize how much their childhood affects their adult relationships, and it's an unexpectedly revealing and entertaining film.

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