Hellgate

Good cast, but we've seen it all before
"Hellgate" is a ghost story with an above-average cast. On a visit to Bangkok, American Jeff (Cary Elwes, "The Princess Bride"), his Thai wife, Sua, and their son, Kyle, are hit by a truck as they drive to the home of Sua's father. Jeff awakens from a coma six weeks later and learns that Sua and Kyle did not survive. He also discovers that he can see the spectres of people who have died horribly.

The plot is hardly original: a human dares to infiltrate the world of the supernatural knowing his life is on the line. Ghosts have not proven to be the most frightening of supernatural entities, however. The creatures are creatively horrible, but that's about it. Elwes walks through the script, offering an uninspired performance, hardly masking his disdain for the material. William Hurt as a spiritual advisor, however, gives it his all and dominates the final third of the movie.

The only bonus extra on this DVD release is a theatrical trailer.

Not great but I still liked it for some reason
This was basically a missed opportunity that, in the right hands, could have been so much more. I was drawn to watch the film on Netflix because, 1. I like creepy films, 2. William Hurt was one of the key players, so I figured if he was in it, it must be pretty good. Well, no, it wasn't and I couldn't help but wonder what his thoughts were while watching his various scenes - maybe something like: "How did I get to this point in my career?" One interesting thing to note about his role here, however, was that in the last 20 minutes or so, it did remind me a bit of his role in Altered States (30-something years ago and a MUCH superior film) so that was kinda cool. The other positive of the film was the pretty Thai female lead (character name: Choi) - I hope she appears in some more US films at some point. Regardless of the negatives I've mentioned here, the movie did keep me interested enough to keep watching til the end. Oh yeah, the hellish demons near the end were fairly...

You may not want to open Hellgate--some interesting moments but largely unsuccessful supernatural thriller
Sometimes an actor needs a paid vacation to Thailand to get by and, in the case of John Penney's "Hellgate", you get the sense that actors Cary Elwes (Princess Bride: 25th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray]) and Academy Award winner William Hurt (The Accidental Tourist and Altered States [Blu-ray])needed to do just that. To be fair to both actors, I'm sure that they felt the roles they were offered were interesting, it's just a pity that this isn't a better movie.

"Hellgate" does have an interesting premise and writer-director John Penney does create an atmospheric looking film, he just fails to create memorable characters with any sense of depth.

SPOILERS:

When Jeff Matthews (Elwes)travels to Thailand he finds his life filled with tragedy--his wife and son are killed in a car accident while traveling with Matthews. When Matthews recovers he discovers that he can see the shadow world--a world between the living and the dead where restless, trapped spirits...

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