Boys From County Hell

Boys From County Hell is set in a small rural Irish town that claims to have been traveled by none other than the author of Dracula Bram Stoker. This turns out to be quite good for encouraging tourism for the local bar conveniently named “The Stoker” and if the tourists are feeling brave enough they can venture out into the fields and visit the alleged grave of Abhartach, a legendary Irish vampire and quite possibly the inspiration for Dracula. Eugene (Jack Rowan) and his father Francie (Nigel O’Neill) begin construction work on a new road and disrupt Abhartach’s grave which unfortunately for the town accidently awaken the ancient Irish vampire. Eugene, his father and the construction crew must try to survive the night and the horrors they’ve brought down upon the whole town.

I know what you’re thinking, another vampire movie, has this not been done to death? Well I always appreciate when a film tries something different with the vampire genre. It may not be your conventional vampire film but I don’t mind when they change the rules a little, of course that’s not the same for all vampire movies (yeah I’m looking at you Twilight). Boys From County Hell has a simple story that wastes no time getting to the blood and gore. It also puts in time early on to develop the characters enough so you’re invested and care about them when the inevitable bloodbath starts. Sure it won’t exactly have you laughing like Shaun of the Dead but it does find a nice balance between horror and comedy, although it’s more horror than comedy but that didn’t bother me anyway. Yet you should be aware that the trailer might possibly make Boys From County Hell look funnier than it actually is. That being said, it’s great fun, highly entertaining and definitely worth your time to check out, particularly the horror fans. I understand not every cinema is showing this for some reason but if you have the opportunity to see Boys From County Hell either in the cinema or later on DVD be sure to check it out. Recommended for all the vampire/horror fans.

★★★★☆