No I can't type an entire review like this. Suffice to say that Hillbilly Horror Show, like so much else in our world, looks cheap and terrible and sometimes isn't. To explain: it's an anthology TV series, currently on Amazon Prime, that showcases short horror movies by aspiring directors. Good idea, right? Like an anthology efforts, the quality is variable, but every edition of HHS has at least one excellent film and at most one stinker out of four or five. There are four hour-long episodes, so you get a lot of viewing time.
Why is it called Hillbilly Horror Show? Well, that's the premise that links the whole thing together. At the beginning of part 1 were are welcomed to the spacious trailer of the garrulous Bo, his mumbling brother Cephus (who worked for NASA, if only for one day), and their scantily-class 'kissing cousin' Lulu. Bo explains that they found a whole bag of DVDs and are happy to kick back and watch then with us. It's all good-humoured and very American and these days we all have a fast forward function. Mind you, I did find the Kim-Jong Un sub plot funny. Here's Lulu with a signed portrait of the Dear Leader.
What of the films themselves? They're a refreshing mixture of regular stuff - zombies, anyone? - and homages to the Twilight Zone/Outer Limits school of quirky fantasy/horror/sci-fi. There are killer bees, vampire-killing angels, serial killing as a tedious office job, and very persistent little girls trying to sell cookies for a good cause. One of my favourites is a British, stop-motion version of Little Bo Beep, which is basically full-on ultra-violence and oddly reminiscent of M.R. James' nightmare sequences.
So, there you have it. A mixed bag, hit-and-miss horror treat that I found diverting in these difficult times. A classic case of something you can dip into and sample, and which doesn't require any great commitment of time and effort. Just don't sample their chilli. Oh, and at the time of posting you can find the gang on YouTube, not just Prime. Look for Kings of Horror.
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