Another indie review for you, this time a movie called No Tears in Hell. I said recently about cannibalism being the in thing at the moment, well, this one is about the same.
No Tears in Hell stars Luke Baines, Gwen Van Dam, Tatjana Marjanovic, Audrey Neal, Gabriella Westwood, Erik Fellows, and Ilir Fiora. Michael Caissie is the writer and director, with the story being penned by Alexander Nistratov.
The Story
The plot for No Tears in Hell is:
In Alaska’s winter darkness, a mother and son transform their house into a nightmare, drawing people in for abuse and cannibalism.
Set in the early 1990s, things are rough. People don’t have the basics to survive, and if something, you have to pay for it. Crime is rife, everyone struggles, and it’s basically not good.
Alex (Baines) seems to be doing OK, though; he’s a man who can get things and sell them on. He gets two young men to help him steal some stuff, but only one of the young men returns. The other lad is suspicious, but can’t prove anything.
We, the audience, know that Alex is killing and robbing people. Worse than that, he’s also feeding himself and his mother ‘prime rib’, as in people. #SoylentGreen
Based on True Events
When I got the screener through for No Tears in Hell, I didn’t read the full plot, as I wanted to go in fresh. While watching the movie, I thought it was set in a slightly dystopian future somewhere in Russia.
The end of the movie has flashcards saying it was based on a Russian serial killer, Alexander Spesivtsev. From 1991 to 1996, with the aid of his mothers, he murdered 20 (officially) to 82 (estimated) people. They didn’t just steal from people, but raped, tortured, and evidently turned to cannibalism.
Weirdly, the flashcards at the end say that Alexander was released in 2022, but Wiki says he’s still incarcerated. I hope he’s still in jail, as I would hate to think of him out and about.
The Movie
I try to appreciate all movies, for whatever reason they were made; a kid’s movie is fun, a horror is to scare you, a thriller is to, well, thrill you. I’m not one for true-life crime; I’ve never seen any true crime stories on Netflix, it’s not my thing. The closest I get to watching a true-life crime drama is Judge Judy.
The movie is, overall, well-made. There is a very bleak look to the entire thing, which is half the point. The times were rough, living at this time was hard, and it was just very bland.
Baines is good in the role as Alex; he has an ‘evil’ look about him, much like Jack Nicholson. I’m sure he’s a very nice person in real life, well, I hope he is. His acting comes across as that of a cold and calculating man, whose morals are completely out of line.
It’s the rest of the cast that are a bit of a letdown. Towards the end, there are two girls who become victims of Alex’s affections. Sorry, but these two girls were not good. I was at least interested in the story up till them. They really took me out of the movie.
Overall
No Tears in Hell wasn’t for me, but I guess it’s for people who are into ‘movies based on real events’. That kind of movie can interest me, but not just ones about brutal crimes. Now, yes, I get the irony that I have seen all sorts of extreme cinema, but there’s a difference between watching a fictional movie and watching something that might have happened.
Also, I did some of the extreme movies when I was younger; now, I’m a little older. This kind of thing just doesn’t do anything for me anymore. Maybe I’m oversaturated by horror in general, but I didn’t enjoy this movie.
I know that something like No Tears in Hell isn’t supposed to be ‘enjoyed’. If you like movies about serial killers, you’ll have a different takeaway from it.
The production is good, overall, the acting is good, apart from one or two people, but it is just another movie about a serial killer. I know, in this day and age, it’s hard to come up with something new, but people are still making interesting movies.
As I say, unless ‘serial killers’ are your thing, I can’t see people thinking it’s all that interesting to watch No Tears in Hell. Fair play to the director and actors, though. I hope they get the chance to move on to better things.
No Tears in Hell is getting a generous 1.5 out of 5 stars. You can find it on streaming.
