"Boys from County Hell" a bloody good time with a slangy Irish charm

Boys from County Hell (2021)

The number of vampire movies hailing from Ireland can be counted on one hand. But those who like their horror with amusement running through its veins can thank writer-director Chris Baugh for expanding his 2013 short film of the same name into “Boys from County Hell.” Baugh may owe a debt or two to Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”—and perhaps “An American Werewolf in London”—but he takes the piss out of rules and mythology we thought couldn’t be altered, slightly rewriting them all in good fun. Between the bites, impalings, and grue, “Boys from County Hell” knows when to be jocular through the thick accents and when to sic a serious threat on its band of endearing, pub-dwelling characters. Cheers to this scrappy romp with a slangy Irish charm.

Perpetually hungover Eugene Moffat (Jack Rowan) loves to have “just a couple” of pints at The Stoker, the local watering hole named after the “Dracula” author in the sleepy Irish village of Six Mile High. With best buddies William (Fra Fee) and SP (Michael Hough), his favorite pastime is avoiding any kind of labor and pranking tourists with the legendary site of a cairn keeping ancient vampire Abhartach buried. Wouldn’t you know it that the cairn gets a taste of blood and then gets knocked over after tragedy strikes—and the blame gets placed on Eugene for said tragedy—only for the ancient evil to be unleashed from its resting spot. As Eugene now finds himself banned from his haunt and working in road construction for his gruff father, Francie (Nigel O’Neill), he, along with Will’s barmaid girlfriend Claire (Louisa Harland) and the rest of their crew of road workers, must band together to defeat their bloodsucking legend from draining the townsfolk. 

“Boys from County Hell” shocks right out of the gate with a two-months-later primer as an older couple relaxes and sits in front of the tube until they both begin bleeding inexplicably from their nose and eyes. After its cold open, the film doesn’t begin at a sprint, establishing Eugene as an amiably heedless young man who would rather face the bottom of a pub pint than adulthood. After the death of his mother, his relationship with the no-nonsense Francie isn’t enviable; Eugene even calls his father by his first name and tries going in for an unrequited hug. In a way, the resurrection of Abhartach can help Eugene get his shit together and shake him out of his complacency. Eugene’s trajectory is never in doubt, but Baugh’s script still holds a few narrative surprises, like what goes on with Will’s mortician father (John Lynch), and feels fresh (no bite of the neck is needed). 

As it turns out for this horror-comedy, “Boys from County Hell” fares one quotient more over the other. It’s creepier than it is funny, not only earning goosebumps from the orifice-bleeding opening but any time the freaky Abhartach is seen, helped by impressive practical effects. This isn’t to say the film isn’t a hoot. The characters are a likable bunch and have a generally jokey give-and-take. When these boys (and girl) must fend off some of their now-undead mates, and one of their own is impaled in a hole in the ground and still won’t die, Chris Baugh almost crosses over into cheeky Sam Raimi territory. In the climax, there’s even a don’t-try-this-at-home improvisation of literally ripping off a broken limb to be used as a stake-sharp implement, and there’s a funny (and very simple) sight gag with a remodeling debris chute. Coupled with a few beers or even holy water, “Boys from County Hell” is a bloody good time.

Grade: B

Shudder is releasing “Boys from County Hell” (90 min.) to stream on April 22, 2021.