Video summary
The video review focuses on *Hellcat*, an upcoming Shudder original horror film set for release on August 14th, written and directed by Brock Budel in his feature debut. The reviewer highlights the movie's intriguing premise involving a woman who wakes up trapped inside a moving camper with no memory of how she got there or why she is being held captive. A mysterious captor communicates with her through an intercom system housed within a taxidermied wolf head, creating immediate tension and distrust as he claims to be helping while the protagonist panics about her unknown situation. The reviewer praises this setup for effectively establishing a disorienting atmosphere that mirrors the main character's confusion and fear right from the start.
However, the review also points out several areas where the film could have been improved, particularly regarding pacing and realism. At approximately one hour and thirty-five minutes long, the movie feels slightly dragged out in its first fifty minutes due to repetitive scenes within the moving camper; the reviewer notes that trailers rarely move with such erratic shaking as depicted on screen, which eventually becomes annoying rather than unsettling. Additionally, there were noticeable audio issues where sounds appeared muffled at times, though this might have been specific to the screener copy used for review and not necessarily present in the final theatrical version. Despite these flaws, the reviewer acknowledges that once the film moves outside of the camper setting around the halfway mark, the story picks up significantly speed and reveals a more complex plan behind the captivity.
The acting performances are described as solid overall, with special commendation given to Dakota Gorman for her demanding role as the trapped woman. The reviewer emphasizes how exhausting it must have been for Gorman to carry such an intense character that required constant emotional engagement from the audience. While some viewers might find the captor's characterization too simplistic or one-dimensional compared to what was hoped for, the film ultimately delivers a satisfying payoff with interesting developments later in the runtime. For a first-time feature director and writer like Brock Budel, achieving this level of storytelling is seen as an impressive starting point that suggests potential for future growth.
In conclusion, *Hellcat* receives a rating of three out of five stars from the reviewer, who considers it a solid film with good ideas despite its minor technical issues and pacing problems early on. The review encourages viewers to watch the movie if they are intrigued by the synopsis or trailer, noting that while it may not be groundbreaking cinema, it successfully builds suspense and delivers an engaging experience before things get messy inside the camper. With only around two hundred reviews currently listed on Letterboxd, the reviewer suggests waiting for more audience feedback before forming a final judgment but remains optimistic about where director Brock Budel might take his career next given this strong debut performance.
Read the full video transcript
Thanks for checking out this movie
review video. This is for the 2026
release Hellcat. It's a Shudder
original. It's coming to Shudder on
Friday, August 14th. So, this is a no
spoiler review.
This film is written and directed by
Brock Budel. This is the individual's
first feature film. So, I'm going to go
ahead and say right now, very good start
with feature films if this is your
first. There are some things that I was
very happy with with this film. There
are some things I wasn't also super
happy with, but you know, obviously as I
typically do in these reviews, I'm going
to go through and be very fair about
this. What I thought was good, what I
thought wasn't so good, in between all
that stuff, and then give my rating at
the end. And I'm going to tell you what
it's sitting at on Letterboxd, but at
this point when I'm doing this video,
there are like under 200 reviews on
Letterboxd, so that's not going to tell
you a lot until more people start seeing
the film. But,
uh again, Shudder original coming
Friday, August 14th. So, I don't want to
give you too much synopsis-wise cuz
obviously like normal, I don't want to
give a whole lot of story away if this
is a film that people want to check out.
And I would say if
it seems like an interesting premise, if
you've seen like a trailer or a
synopsis, or if what I'm saying here
gives you any sort of intrigue,
definitely see the film.
So, it's about a woman who comes to,
like she just kind of wakes up and she's
in a camper that is on the move, and she
is being held in this camper by a guy.
This guy is telling her that there's
something going on with her, and he's
trying to help the situation,
but it's one of these things where she's
very afraid, she doesn't know what's
going on, and you're kind of from the
perspective of this main character, and
you are very much not trusting anything
at this point. It's kind of like, "Okay,
what's at play here? Like, is this guy
telling the truth?" This looks like a
pretty messed up situation, especially
because as a viewer, you have no
like previous information about what
went on leading up to this event and
you're identifying with that main
character who is in the same situation.
Like she has no clue what's going on
when she wakes up and she's panicking.
So they did a good and they did a good
job of kind of
making that feeling of panic come
through to the audience with the score,
with the performance, with some of the
camera work. The also the fact that the
trailer is like moving when things get
started. Like that's kind of like
disorienting and like unsettling in
certain ways. So a lot goes into the
atmosphere to to really kind of bring
that feeling home, which I thought was
uh pretty smart.
Um so yeah, it starts and it gives you a
little information about what's
happening, which does drive that
engagement. It creates this kind of
intrigue because you're like, "What is
actually going on here? Can I trust the
guy who's saying something to this
woman?" It's like through like an
intercom system, basically coming
through a taxidermied wolf head uh
in the in the uh little trailer. So, you
know, there's certain things that like
make you think, "Uh I'm not sure I can
trust this person, but are they trying
to like throw me off? Maybe I can trust
this person." So yeah. So it's this
whole thing where you're just kind of
like, "Can I trust this person or can I
trust this person?"
You don't know. So that drives a lot of
the intrigue to kind of be like, "What
is actually happening in the situation?"
And kind of get these little bits and
pieces of information as the film goes
on. Now, I will say that I think
it could have been cut down. Um it's
about I think it's like an hour and 35
minutes with the credits. I do think it
should have been cut down a little bit
because
some of the scenes start to feel a
little bit repetitive at times. Although
I will say overall the pacing is not
terrible. There are a lot of films like
this that are low budget like this that
do have bad pacing.
Um just a little bit of issue with the
pacing on this one.
Cuz there is a little bit of that
repetition, but
uh as a viewer, you start with the
skepticism of both perspectives
presented. I already talked about that.
Uh the fact that the set is constantly
moving does get kind of annoying at a
certain time, or at least it did for me.
Not necessarily going to be the case for
everyone, but I felt like the fact that
for a very extended period of time,
we're getting this from the set, because
it's in this trailer that's moving. Now,
the thing is this, when people are
driving trailers, they're not always
moving like this. They really are not.
So, I think there should have been times
where it was going a little more
smoothly, and that would have been A
more realistic, and B better for
the the viewers, honestly. So, that
that's like a little thing that was kind
of a a bit of a
problem for me. But, I will say, this
doesn't really spoil anything, but the
entire movie does not take place in this
camper. So, once you're outside of the
camper,
but you are in the camper for quite a
while. But, once you're outside of it,
then that stuff goes away. So, it
doesn't become an annoyance at that
Well, it's no longer an annoyance.
Uh I would have uh it would have been
good if the captor character was more
nuanced if instead of being so
simplistic.
Um
I understand the choice for it, and when
I wrote that,
that character isn't necessarily as
simplistic as I was thinking they are,
but still I I just wish that the
interactions had a little bit more
depth, that the character just felt a
little bit deeper, that you kind of got
a little bit more of kind of who this
person is. You do get some of that,
but I kind of just wanted a little bit
more.
Just saying.
Uh pacing's a bit rough, I already
talked about that. About 50 minutes into
the film is when things get
significantly more interesting in my
opinion.
And that's when you start to understand
like there is a plan here because up
until the 50-minute mark, I started to
feel like
I don't know if there's a a
anything in the script that's going to
really move things forward and come to
any interesting conclusion because
again, with the pacing issue, it started
feeling like a little bit repetitive and
like it was a bit stuck. And so I was
like, "Oh my gosh, I don't know if
there's anything that's going to be past
this." But rest assured, when you get to
that 50-minute mark, things do start to
move a lot more. And I'm very
appreciative of that. That's when it
really picks up.
There are times where the audio sounds
muffled. Uh at first, I thought it was
just due to the acoustics within the
camper, which still is problematic.
There are things you can do to get
around that. Uh but then I realized it
was happening with some other scenes as
well. So, audio issues, kind of
problematic there. I don't know what
happened. Maybe also it was just the
screener that I got a copy of uh to
watch for this review. Sometimes that
does happen where
the version that you're going to end up
seeing on Shudder actually is does not
have whatever issues I've perceived in
the screener because they are two
separate copies.
I don't know. Or sometimes like an issue
gets recognized before it goes on to
Shudder and they fix it. I don't know.
But I'm just throwing it out there cuz
it's something I experienced with the
film.
Uh you know, it didn't kill my enjoyment
of the film, but it it did take me out
of things a little bit cuz it was like,
"Why is it sound muffled like that?"
Uh the performances are pretty solid
overall, but I got I have to shout out
Dakota Gorman, who is the main
character, the woman who's stuck in this
camper. Really good job. Really good job
kind of carrying that character,
carrying that performance, and just
grabbing the engagement of the audience
with that performance. I thought she
felt super real in that role and it was
a demanding role, too. Uh I look at I
look at her performance and I was just
kind of like
that had to be exhausting, honestly.
Like like exhausting days on the set.
So, big ups, if people are even saying
that anymore, big ups to Dakota Gorman.
There's a good idea here and it does go
to some interesting places eventually.
So, there is payoff. There is definite
payoff with this film, but again, I'm
not going to give you too much
information cuz I don't want to ruin
anything with this. So, at the moment,
it is sitting at a 3.2 on Letterboxd,
but like I said before, this is like
less than 200 uh reviews on it, but I'm
about I'm in that realm, you know, like
I'm going to give it a three out of five
stars. I think it's it's a solid film. I
enjoyed it overall. I don't think it's
anything super impressive, but there is
some really good stuff there as well.
And like I said, for a feature film,
like honestly, for a first feature film
for someone, if I'm giving a three, I
feel happy with the work that this
person has done as a first feature film.
That says to me, "Wow, at a three out of
five, that's a very good starting
point." So, I am interested to see where
Bedell goes after this and yeah, we'll
see. But, three out of five stars, would
love to hear what other people think
about this film if or when you end up
seeing it, you can put, you know, some
comments down there and we can do
spoilers in the comments, totally cool.
I'm I'm down with that. Do me a quick
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