Boys from County Hell 2020 blends Irish folklore with dark, deadpan humour, featuring the vampire Abhartach, writes KATHERINE SANKEY
TITLE: Boys from County Hell
RELEASED: 2020
DIRECTOR: Chris Baugh
CAST: Jack Rowan, Nigel O’Neill, Fra Free, Louisa Harland, Michael Hough, John Lynch and Robert Strange (as Robert Nairne)
Review of Boys from County Hell 2020
Boys from County Hell is a 2020 film set in Northern Ireland, in a small town where the legendary Abhartach, the vampire of Irish lore, is meant to have been buried under a cairn. The film follows local lad Eugene, his father Francie and his group of friends William, Claire and SP.
Eugene lives a quiet life, spending most of his time drinking in the local pub, The Stoker. However, when his close friend William unexpectedly dies, Eugene decides it is time to give up on his dream of rebuilding his mother’s old house and leave.
Needing money to emigrant to Australia, he takes a job with his father, clearing the nearby fields for a new bypass. This move makes him somewhat unpopular, as it means William’s family will have to move off the land and the cairn will be taken down.
Things take a further turn when the site’s night watchman suddenly starts attacking the workers. Although Eugene and the other workers – SP, Claire and Francie – eventually manage to stop the watchman, they do so by moving the cairn stones. Unfortunately the myths are true, and Abhartach himself bursts through the soil.
The gang spend the rest of the night attempting to save themselves and the town from Abhartach and another turned human, all while Francie and Eugene reconnect as father and son.
Altogether, I thought this film was very good. It is refreshing to see a vampire movie based on a legend that predates Stoker’s novel. Abhartach is a very different beast, with a unique set of powers and weaknesses, making the film less predictable.
One aspect of Abhartach I thought was particularly intriguing was his method of draining blood. Unlike the typical vampire, that bites or cuts to access its lunch, a victim just has to be in the presence of Abhartach and blood starts spilling out of them, often from the nose. It then runs off in rivulets towards the creature, pooling in a convenient place to be drunk.
I think this is a fascinating concept, as it allows the vampire to kill without physically attacking, and making it harder to attack him, since he’ll know someone’s there. In fact, Abhartach proves much harder to kill in general, since our heroes don’t know which vampire myths apply to him.
It is a shame then, that our heroes don’t actually fight Abhartach until the end of the film. Instead, the majority of the time is spent coping with turned humans and exploring their personal relationships.
Not that this is a bad thing. Eugene’s relationship with his friends and father are at the heart of this film, giving it an emotional depth that feels real. It just would have been nice to see the heroes attempt to fight the creature before the big denouement, making the final battle even more satisfying.
Nevertheless, I still think the film balances all its elements well. The special effects are great, the location feels beautiful and bleak, and the superb acting and writing makes the characters feel like real people rather than horror tropes.
Most of all, I enjoyed seeing a vampire on screen that isn’t a direct descendent of Stoker’s creation, in fact the complete opposite, since it’s possible the writer was inspired by Abhartach. There are lots of interpretations and legends about blood sucking creatures throughout the world, and it’s always fun to see other myths get some screen time.
All in all Boys from County Hell is a thoughtful, heartfelt and dryly humourous horror film, whose use of Abhartach and Irish folklore makes it a must watch for vampire fans!
