Release Date: September 6th, 2013 (Limited)
Available on VOD platforms July 26th, 2013
Directors: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon
MPAA Rating: R
Film Pulse Score: 2/10
You may not know Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon by name, but you may have seen them in various comedic roles – most prominently for their portrayals of inept police officers on the ridiculous and often hilarious television series Reno 911! (2003-2009). Garant and Lennon co-wrote this horror comedy and appear as Italian priests who play an integral role in the devilish goings-on presented in Hell Baby.
The film tells the story of Vanessa (Lesile Bibb) and Jack (Rob Corddry) who move into an old New Orleans house which, we find out, is essentially a haunted location. It is obvious that this yuppie-like white couple are out of their element given that they have moved into what is predominantly an African-American neighborhood. They are initially portrayed as a “normal” married couple with Vanessa expecting twins that she could deliver any minute. They have not been in the house long before they encounter F’Resnel (Keegan Michael Key) who appears at one of their windows, opens it, and just walks into their home.
Let me say right away that Key is the primary reason to see this film; his presence and performance led me to go as high as a 2/10 for this otherwise absurd and often atrocious movie. Key plays a black man who will keep popping up in the couple’s house which is easy given that he lives in the house’s crawlspace. F’Resnel’s interactions with Jack in the first half of the film are enjoyable and they represent a certain normalcy and provide slight comedic interludes while Vanessa is drifting toward demonic possession and various supernatural occurrences in the house are freaking Jack out. As Vanessa gets further away from Jack and reality, F’Resnel becomes Jack’s companion and they make a good buddy couple. Jack becomes increasingly concerned about his wife and rightly so. She is carrying, well, a “hell baby” and it shows.
The inciting incident does not matter, but Jack and Vanessa become acquainted with two laughable cops played by Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel. As we watch the disturbing events in New Orleans, the film cuts to Vatican City where Garant and Lennon portray two chain-smoking, beer-guzzling priests who specialize in exorcisms and battles with demonic forces. They somehow become aware of Vanessa’s impending delivery of a devil child and rush to Louisiana. The final character who arrives at the house is Vanessa’s sister who is a self-proclaimed wiccan priestess named Majorie (Riki Lindhome).
With all of these players eventually in the house together, the film presents its climax in the couple’s bedroom – Vanessa’s delivery of her babies. One child comes out perfectly normal and then, well, the other is the disgusting-looking “hell baby.” Jack, Vanessa, F’Resnel, Marjorie, the two priests, and the two cops engage in a bloody battle with the little bugger in what is meant to be both horrifying (which is not the same as scary) and hilarious. I promise that it is neither.
There are, of course, shades of Reno 911! antics which is not surprising given Garant and Lennon’s writing and directing. If only it were as strong as that show (at least in the early seasons). The cast does what is required in this type of comedy with Corddry and Key providing the most grounded funny moments. It is just so poorly written and executed; the cast has little to nothing of any real substance with which to work. Horror comedies show up every now and then, and most of them are like Hell Baby – they are not frightening or funny. One has to look at a film like Shaun of the Dead to see a well-written, well-acted, and well-produced “horror comedy.” Obviously, I have no love for this particular film, but if you are a fan of Garant and Lennon and/or Corddry or Key and have 90 minutes of your life that you are willing to give up, by all means check it out.
