''Hell and Back'' is a 2015 American
stop motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
adult animated
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...
fantasy film directed by
Tom Gianas
Tom Gianas is an American comedy writer, director and producer. Gianas was the showrunner for the MTV sketch comedy series ''Human Giant''. He has collaborated with and directed Bob Odenkirk in '' Half My Face is A Clown''; Sarah Silverman in ...
and Ross Shuman and written by Gianas, Hugh Sterbakov, and
Zeb Wells
Zeb Wells is an American comic book writer known for his work at Marvel Comics, a television writer/director known for his work on the animated TV series ''Robot Chicken'', and the co-creator/showrunner of '' SuperMansion''.
Career
Wells is an ...
. It stars the voices of
,
Mila Kunis
Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...
,
Bob Odenkirk,
T.J. Miller
Todd Joseph Miller (born June 4, 1981) is an American actor and comedian.
In 2008, he made his acting debut in ''Cloverfield'', and from 2010 to 2014, he voiced Tuffnut Thorston in the first two '' How to Train Your Dragon'' films. From 2014 to ...
,
Rob Riggle,
Susan Sarandon
Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...
, and
Danny McBride
Daniel Richard McBride (born December 29, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. He starred in the HBO television series ''Eastbound & Down'', '' Vice Principals'', and ''The Righteous Gemstones'', also co-creating th ...
. It follows three friends who break a blood oath over a mint, causing a portal to open and sucks one of them into hell. This leads to the other two friends going through the portal and must save him from demons, even
The Devil
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood ...
himself. The film was released October 2, 2015, by
Freestyle Releasing
Freestyle Releasing, LLC is an independent film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2004, specializing in releasing films theatrically. Unlike most distributors, Freestyle Releasing does not put up any prints and advertising ...
.
Plot
Idealistic carnival barker Remy is desperate to bring in business at a rundown pier carnival alongside his childhood friends, overweight and odd carnival repairman Augie and their insolent assistant manager Curt Myers. After Curt reveals the bank has foreclosed the carnival, a frustrated Remy heads down to the boat of a fortune-teller named Madame Zonar and borrows a book of spells with one page depicting the
Devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...
crying. Remy tells his friends he a business opportunity with the crying devil page while setting the book up for display at
The Gates of Hell
''The Gates of Hell'' (french: La Porte de l'Enfer) is a monumental bronze sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from the '' Inferno'', the first section of Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy''. It stands at ...
attraction. When Curt requests a mint Remy has in his possession, Remy forces Curt to take a blood oath on the book so he can pay Remy back with a mint only for Curt to callously admit that he doesn't have a mint. While Remy and Curt argue, Augie sees strange weather before Curt is sucked into a portal within the ride. Remy and Augie take a car from the ride into the portal to rescue Curt, only to find themselves in
Hell.
Remy and Augie are discovered by demons and are taken to the Devil as he just came from a meeting. He encounters the duo and while speaking his intent to torture them, mentions the Greek legend
Orpheus
Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...
who has a reputation for bringing mortals out of Hell. He forces the duo to hide when visited by an
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
named Barb, with whom he is infatuated. When Barb mentions that she is aware of the mortals in his domain, the Devil tries to win her graces by handing them over. But he discovers that they have escaped and calls out a search for them. Remy and Augie are about to captured by the demons while they use a contraption to escape. But they are saved by a mysterious figure that disposes of a demon stowaway while revealing herself to be a female demon named Deema who Augie becomes infatuated with. She agrees to take them to Curt if they take her to Orpheus by using the Devil's cell phone, which they snagged earlier. Meanwhile, Curt meets the Devil and hits it off with him until learning he is to be ritualistic killed for not living up to his blood oath, Curt persuading the Devil to not sacrifice him via a contract if he puts on a show to win Barb's favor with a replacement sacrifice.
Remy, Augie, and Deema locate the way to Orpheus which is guarded by Deema's mother Durmessa, who warn Deema that Orpheus isn't what she expects him to be as they get past her. They use a submarine and eventually find Orpheus, revealed to be an eccentric slacker who is retired from saving mortals while having one-night stands with numerous women. Annoyed with Orpheus, revealing herself to be his daughter through his fling with Durmessa, Deema leaves with Augie following her upon being fed up with Remy's selfishness. After sharing a romantic moment while on Charon's ferry, they discover from the Devil's cellphone that Curt is being sacrificed at the crossroads and head out to save him. When Remy finds out where Curt is via Orpheus's TV, he leaves to find him and uses a
Purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
boat to catch up with his friends and reconciles with them.
As they haven't found a replacement at the time, the Devil goes back on his deal with Curt and decides to sacrifice him anyway. While the Devil retires to the bathroom after eating Curt's contract, Remy, Augie, and Deema manage to make it past the Demons guarding Curt and reunite with him. They find themselves at the mercy of the demons and the Devil who decides to sacrifice them all. Having a change of heart, Orpheus attempts to rescue them while disguised as the leader of a demon band, but is also captured. Barb, who the Devil called and showed her the mortals, comes to Hell via a stripper's pole and she becomes attracted to Orpheus because of his song when he disguised himself. A jealous Devil tries to use a bazooka cannon full of T-shirts to kill Orpheus, accidentally knocking Barb out as she was getting the group to safety. The group survives the fall, but find themselves in the lower regions of hell full of living sex-offender trees, including one tree who repeatedly raped Orpheus as a child. Seeing the tree to be truly regretful, Orpheus accepts his forgiveness if he rapes the Devil.
Remy, Augie, Curt, and Deema are caught and bounded by the trees and when Remy is eventually held down by roots, Curt, while hanging upside down from a tree, drops a mint onto Remy. Although upset at first about Curt keeping this from him, Remy is told that if he eats the mint, the blood oath will be paid. The Devil and a demon try to stop him, but Remy eats it with him and the others returning to the land of the living with Deema while the Devil is forced to watch Barb fly off with Orpheus as he is being hit on by the tree much to his distress. Finding that Remy's idea to keep the park open succeeded, the group renovated the park six months later to have attractions based on their experience in Hell along with an attraction called the "Gates of Heaven" with Orpheus and Barb in it.
The ending credits show a lost soul in Hell attempting to place an order at
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert a ...
and a Demon who keeps misleading him (as he does this many times in the film) with the occurrences ending with the demon saying "Welcome to Hell".
Cast
*
as Remington "Remy"
*
Mila Kunis
Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...
as Deema
*
Bob Odenkirk as The Devil
*
T.J. Miller
Todd Joseph Miller (born June 4, 1981) is an American actor and comedian.
In 2008, he made his acting debut in ''Cloverfield'', and from 2010 to 2014, he voiced Tuffnut Thorston in the first two '' How to Train Your Dragon'' films. From 2014 to ...
as Augie
*
Rob Riggle as Curt Myers
*
Susan Sarandon
Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...
as Barb the Angel
*
Danny McBride
Daniel Richard McBride (born December 29, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. He starred in the HBO television series ''Eastbound & Down'', '' Vice Principals'', and ''The Righteous Gemstones'', also co-creating th ...
as
Orpheus
Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...
*
Maria Bamford
Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work has drawn critical acclaim and controversy because her humor often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depressio ...
as Gloria
*
Lance Bass
James Lance Bass (; born May 4, 1979) is an American singer, dancer, actor, film, and television producer. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band NSYNC. NSYNC's success led Bass to work in film ...
as Boy Band Demon
*
H. Jon Benjamin as Sex Offender Tree
*
Jennifer Coolidge as Durmessa
*
John P. Farley as Welcome to Hell Demon
* Jenna Gianas as Hell Announcer
* Dennis Gubbins as Larry the Demon
*
Jay Johnston
Jay Johnston (born October 22, 1968) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as a writer and cast member on ''Mr. Show with Bob and David'' and for his roles on ''The Sarah Silverman Program, Arrested Development,'' and ...
as Rick the Lost Soul
*
Kerri Kenney-Silver
Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series ''Reno 911!'' and previously for her sketch comedy work on MTV ...
as Madame Zonar
*
Kyle Kinane
Kyle Christian Kinane (born December 23, 1976) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and voice actor from Addison, Illinois.
Career
Kinane's first television appearance was on ''The Nanny'' playing "Young Roger Clinton".
His debut album ''De ...
as Kyle the Demon
*
David Koechner
David Michael Koechner ( ; born August 24, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing roles such as Champ Kind in the ''Anchorman'' films and Todd Packer on NBC's ''The Office''.
Koechner first became involved in perf ...
as
Asmodeus
Asmodeus (; grc, Ἀσμοδαῖος, ''Asmodaios'') or Ashmedai (; he, אַשְמְדּאָי, ''ʾAšmədʾāy''; see below for other variations), is a ''prince of demons'' and hell."Asmodeus" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chi ...
*
Seth Morris as Atheist Lost Soul
*
Kumail Nanjiani
Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wr ...
as Dave the Demon
*
Michael Peña
Michael Anthony Peña (; ; born January 13, 1976) is an American actor. He has starred in many films, including ''Crash'' (2004), '' World Trade Center'' (2006), '' Shooter'' (2007), '' Observe and Report'' (2009), '' Tower Heist'' (2011), '' Batt ...
as
Abigor
Abigor is an Austrian black metal band formed in 1993. They are named after an upper demon of war in Christian demonology.
History
The band was formed in 1993 by Peter Kubik and Thomas Tannenberger. After the release of several demos, origi ...
*
Brian Posehn
Brian Edmund Posehn (; born July 6, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician, and writer. After numerous appearances as a television guest star, Posehn acquired his first major recurring role in HBO's '' Mr. Show wi ...
as Cleb the Carny
*
Greg Proops
Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops (born October 3, 1959) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his guest appearances on the U.K. and U.S. versions of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. He has also voiced the ...
as Asmoday
*
Paul Scheer
Paul Christian Scheer (born January 31, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, director, and podcaster.
Scheer is a SAG award-winning actor known for his roles in Showtime's comedy series '' Black Monday'' and FX/ FXX's '' The ...
as Head Demon
*
J.B. Smoove
Jerry Angelo Brooks (born December 16, 1965), commonly known by his stage name J. B. Smoove, is an American actor, comedian and writer. After beginning his career in 1995 on ''Def Comedy Jam'', he was a writer and performer on NBC's ''Saturday N ...
as Sal the Demon
*
Dana Snyder
Dana Snyder is an American actor. He is known for his voice roles of Master Shake in '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', Granny Cuyler in '' Squidbillies'', Baby Ball on '' Ballmastrz: 9009'', and other roles in various Adult Swim television shows. Hi ...
as Garthog
*
Paul F. Tompkins as Annoyed Lost Soul
* Nakia Trower as Carnival Patron
Release
In May 2015,
Freestyle Releasing
Freestyle Releasing, LLC is an independent film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2004, specializing in releasing films theatrically. Unlike most distributors, Freestyle Releasing does not put up any prints and advertising ...
acquired distribution rights to the film and set the film for a September 25, 2015 release. However, it was pushed back to October 2, 2015.
Reception
Box office
''Hell and Back'' opened theatrically on October 2, 2015, in 411 venues, earning $104,374 in its opening weekend, ranking number 33 in the domestic box office. As of October 15, the film grossed $157,768.
Critical reception
Bloody Disgusting, a subsidiary of
CraveOnline, gave a negative review by criticizing the humor (particularly the drawn-out running gag regarding
male rape
A proportion of victims of rape or other sexual violence incidents are male. Historically, rape was thought to be, and defined as, a crime committed solely against females. This belief is still held in some parts of the world, but rape of male ...
), but praising the stop-motion animation.
See also
* ''
Robot Chicken''
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hell And Back
2015 animated films
2015 films
2010s adventure comedy films
2010s American animated films
American adult animated films
2015 comedy horror films
American adventure comedy films
American comedy horror films
American animated comedy films
2010s stop-motion animated films
American black comedy films
Demons in film
The Devil in film
Films set in hell
2015 black comedy films
2010s English-language films