When reviewing a film like HELLBENT, it's important to rate it within the realm of its genre. The Godfather this film isn't, but as a horror movie it's top-notch, except for some minor issues I had.<br /><br />I disagree with earlier posters who see this as an AIDS allegory and question, "Haven't we gotten beyond that by now?" I couldn't disagree more. This film, to me, shows how "mainstream" gay culture has become. It follows the formula familiar to anyone who's seen Friday the 13th and any of the sequels or imitators that followed: have sex, get killed; remain chaste, survive (more or less). I view it as a weird compliment that gays can now be killed in a slasher film, as main characters in a "pointless" film designed to scare the bejeezus out of you (and succeeding admirably).<br /><br />So it shouldn't really surprise anyone by who lives and who dies. What is surprising, however, is how the characters -- who should have been mere cardboard -- turn into semi-three-dimensional people. I was most impressed with the role of guy in drag. There was a real poignancy to some of his scenes; his need for validation through sex.<br /><br />Speaking of sex, the sexuality is highly erotic but not barrier pushing. The sex in this movie was more like a daytime soap or an episode of the old MTV show "Undressed" than a more overt display that's so commonplace in straight movies (of any kind) and that was such a big deal in Brokeback Mountain. To put a positive spin on that, then, this is a gay movie straight people will watch easily. Attractive, Beverly Hills, 90210-type actors in an effective slasher flick. No gross-out deaths, as seems to be the trend nowadays, but more of an emphasis on the suspenseful, which I find much "scarier" and certainly smarter.<br /><br />The one issue I have with the film is the lack of motivation for the killer. I was waiting for a motive. The bad guys ALWAYS have a motive. But I can see the genius in NOT giving him a motive: the filmmakers were damned if they did, whichever direction they'd chosen to go. Motive would mean determination of the killer's sexuality, and a straight killer would mean this movie was anti-gay and about gay bashing. A gay killer would indicate to many that gayness leads to dysfunction, self-hatred, etc. (see De Palma's Dressed to Kill). This whole controversy is avoided, smartly, but it gives the ending a lack of something for me: gravitas, maybe, I'm not sure. And the very final image (I won't spoil it here) is SO cliché it made me groan. But again, this speaks of the mainstreaming of gay culture: gotta leave room for a sequel!