Horror Hunks - Final Guys, Bad Guys And So On

It's Halloween 🎃 and the end of the month. I've indulged in plenty of horror movies this month. For my final blog, I thought I'd do something a little different. Here's a rundown of some of my favourite guys in the genre. Enjoy.

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) - Psycho (1960-1990)

He might be an unstable mama's boy but who can resist the unhinged motel owner? Or at the very least the gorgeous Anthony Perkins.

Dewey Riley (David Arquette) - Scream series (1996-2022)

Every franchise needs it's sensible and collected player and for five movies in the franchise, we had everyday hero Dewey Riley. Still not happy about his death.

Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman/John Shepherd/Thom Mathews) - Friday The 13th series (1984-1986)

Tommy Jarvis was the closest to a proper foil that Jason Voorhees had in this franchise and any future revival should absolutely cast a fourth actor in the role. Best character in that franchise outside of Jason and his mommy.

Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton) - A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

The guy can scream louder than anyone should, even in in distress but Jesse Walsh is one of the iconic Final Boys. In a movie that's pretty explicitly gay coded throughout.

Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) - Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) 

Dodgy attempts of an English accent to one side, there's something very delectable about Keanu Reeves in arguably the most thankless role in the bestest live action adaptation of this classic tale. He's a dreamboat here.

Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) - Halloween Ends (2022)

I don't care what other fans of the franchise say. Not only did I genuinely last year's conclusion to the Blumhouse trilogy but Corey Cunningham was one of the best new characters introduced to the franchise.

Andrew (Ben Aldridge) - Knock At The Cabin (2023)

The faithless human rights lawyer turned sort of action man and unwitting husband killer. The guy went through a fricking lot in one movie. Hot guy though.

Eddie (Dylan Fergus) - Hellbent (2004)

I know this might be a niche, given that's it's a movie only a small audience has heard but I had to include a character from it. The good boy desk cop who copped off with a hunky bad boy while surviving a hunky killer felt like the right choice.

Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) - Fright Night (1985)

It wouldn't be a Horror Hunks list without at least one vampire in the mix. My choice would be the bad boy next door neighbor who had too much fun in tormenting Charley Brewster and seducing his girlfriend. 

Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait) - The Covenant (2006)

Oftentimes I refer to this movie as the boy version of The Craft as it's largely the same plot/similar enough. Now I love Sebastian Stan's sexy bad boy in it but Steven Strait's equally sexy good boy is also a delight too. 

Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) - Gremlins series (1984-1990, 2023)

Yes, this might be more light-hearted family friendly horror compared to some of the others on here, but it still counts. I always liked Billy Peltzer as a character and found him rather sexy moreso in the underrated sequel to this franchise.

Philip Morgan (Farley Granger) - Rope (1948)

There's many a fascinating performance and character in this Alfred Hitchcock classic. None more than Farley Granger's eternally twitchy posh boy killer, Philip Morgan. Oh and he can tinkle the old ivories pretty well too.

John Constantine (Matt Ryan) - Constantine/Legends Of Tomorrow/DCAU (2014-2022)

Saving the best for last. There was no way I was going to do this type of blog and not include the best horror male. Of course I had to specifically reference Matt Ryan's sublime version of John Constantine. The man set the gold standard and is the ultimate horror hunk for me.

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Agree/disagree, let me know, lol. Oh and Happy Halloween 🎃

My Review of Hellbent (2004)

Written And Directed by Paul Etheredge-Ouzts

Eddie: "Two guys got murdered in their car last night."
Chaz: "Holy shit! Were they boning each other?"

Audaciously billing itself as the first ever gay slasher movie (I think A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge might have something to say about that), this low budget horror flick from 2004 feels very familiar but also a tiny bit different. Namely because all of the main characters are primarily not straight but at the same time, like in all horror movies they're being picked off one by one.

A sickle wielding hunky killer, never given an onscreen name (Luke Weaver) opens the movie by bumping off a gay couple in the woods on the night before Halloween itself. On the actual night of Halloween though, the killer then decides to go after our main characters after they make the unwise move to moon him in the middle of the woods prior to heading to a carnival themed party for the night.

The main characters in question fall into predictable enough tropes - final boy/wannabe cop Eddie (Dylan Fergus) who really is the embodiment of the boy next door lusts after bad boy biker Jake (Bryan Kirkwood) while psyched for the Halloween party with his friends - pansexual party boy, Chaz (Andrew Levitas), male model Tobey (Matt Phillips) who spends the duration of the movie in drag and likeable shy nerdy guy, Joey (Hank Harris) as the killer stalks all of them and manages to kill the majority of them as well.

The characters while not original are decently acted and memorable enough that when they are picked off one by one, their deaths actually count for something. Chaz might be obsessed with sex but he's happy to help a friend out in need while Tobey raises a valid point about male superficiality as Joey got to connect with a hot jock prior to coming to a horrible ending.

It's predictably Eddie and Jake who actually make it out of the movie alive as they get to know each other, nearly have sex and fend off being murdered by the sickle wielding menace. I did like that the movie gave Eddie a fairly decent backstory and while Jake is one of the least convincing bad boys I've seen in a movie, I can at least see why Eddie is somewhat drawn to him throughout the whole thing and their connection feels believable enough to engage with.

As for the killer himself - we never learn his name or his backstory, even though we got one scene where the main characters made some theories about both. I'm not too sure if not having this information actually helps or hinders the movie but as a villain, he's effective enough with at least one kill being truly innovative and his first attack on Eddie proved innovative in revealing something about the character. The fact that he survived the movie seemed like a sequel was being potentially set up but one hasn't surfaced since this release.

- Porn performer Colton Ford made a cameo appearance in this movie during the club scenes. The punky soundtrack for this movie is a bit of a mixed bag.
- The MeatLocker place is actually a church. Now that I genuinely found shocking.
- The movie shares a producer from Halloween/A Nightmare On Elm Street. It's mentioned on the DVD extras.
- The writer and director of this movie has also penned episodes for Dante's Cove.

Whether or not, Hellbent is truly the first gay slasher movie is debatable but what isn't is the movie itself. While it might not have exactly revitalised the horror genre or possibly spurred more LGBT horror, it is however a thorough engaging and decently acted/characterised movie that doesn't needlessly outstay it's welcome or devolve into torture porn territory either. It definitely feels like a smaller movie but it's definitely a worthwhile horror flick to give a whirl to over the Halloween and the cast are certainly great guy candy as well, even if most of them end up on the cutting floor.

Rating: 7 out of 10