''Boys From County Hell'' is a 2020

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

comedy

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

Plot

Set in Six Mile Hill, a fictional backwater town, whose only claim to fame is that

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

stayed there once and based

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

on the local legend of

Abhartach Abhartach (; Irish for 'dwarf'), also Avartagh, is an early Irish legend, which was first collected in Patrick Weston Joyce's ''The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places'' (1870). Abhartach should not be confused with the similarly named ...

. When Abhartach is awakened after the cairn over his remains is demolished due to the preparation for bypass already unpopular with the locals, the construction team that demolished the cairn must set out to make it right.

Cast

* Jack Rowan as Eugene Moffat *Nigel O'Neill as Francie Moffat *

Louisa Harland Louisa Clare Harland (born 1993 or 1994) is an Irish actress. She is best known for her role as Orla McCool in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Derry Girls''. Early life Born in Dublin to a Northern Irish father, Harland has two older sisters, Katie and ...

as Claire McCann *Michael Hough as SP McCauley * John Lynch as George Bogue * Fra Free as William Bogue *

Jordan Renzo Jordan Renzo (born February 11, 1993) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Matteusz Andrzejewski in the BBC Three '' Doctor Who'' spin-off '' Class'' (2016) and Charlie Brandon in the Starz historical drama ''The Spanish Princess'' ...

as Christian *

Lalor Roddy Lalor Roddy (born 30 November 1954) is a Northern Irish actor, described by the ''Irish Times'' theater critic Fintan O'Toole as "surely the finest Irish actor of his generation". Youth Roddy was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In ...

as Elliott *Morgan C. Jones as Charlie Harte *Andrea Irvine as Pauline Bogue *Robert Strange as Abhartach *Marty Maguire as Gabriel *Kathy Monahan as Marie McCann *Emma Paetz as Michelle *David Pearse as Cathal *Stella McCusker as Pearl *Conor Grimes as Thomas *Bronagh Elmore as Eugene's mum *Parnell Scott as teenage boy *Ellie McKay as teenage girl *Liam Miley as himself *Steven Miller as himself

Production

The film is directed by Chris Baugh, who also co-wrote the film with Brendan Mullin, expanding on a previous short film of the same name.

Screen Ireland Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland, formerly known as Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board, is the Republic of Ireland's state development agency for the Irish film, television and animation industry. It provides funds for the developm ...

and

Northern Ireland Screen Northern Ireland Screen is the national screen agency for Northern Ireland. The agency's purpose is to promote the development of a sustainable film, animation and television production industry.About Us > Overview Northern Ireland Screen website, ...

were among the funders of the film.

Release

''Boys From County Hell'' received its world premiere at the 2020

Tribeca Film festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

Critical reception

The film has a rating of on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on reviews with the consensus "''Boys from County Hell'' stands out as an uncommonly good time in the crowded vampire genre -- and proves the Irish countryside is a fine setting for slaying the undead." Writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Phil Hoad found that the film, although inventive and amusing, did not always successfully mesh its comedy and horror aspects. Jordan King in ''Empire'' magazine also applauded its inventiveness, but also praised the depth of characterisation, describing it as "a playful yet surprisingly poignant vampire yarn that takes on folklore, familial turmoil, and the perils of poor town-planning with aplomb."

Accolades

At the 2021

Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival The Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) is a Swiss film festival dedicated to fantastic movies. It was created in 2000 and is now renowned internationally as one of the foremost film festivals in the world for genre cinema. Th ...

, Baugh and the film won the jury prize for best European Fantastic Film.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 10262380 2020 horror films 2020 comedy horror films Northern Irish films British comedy horror films British supernatural horror films Vampire comedy films English-language Irish films 2020s English-language films 2020s British films