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Hellbound begins with the words that: Today was just another ordinary day…
However, there’s weird creatures going round bumping people off, or is it all CGI and the Youtube channel’s owned by a conspiracy theorist? At 1.20pm on the day when this series begins, we’re about to find out… and let’s just say the cafe is going to need a new set of windows. For what follows, there are other recorded examples of this happening, and the police are trying to work it all out, but I figured – good luck with that!
Meanwhile, Arrowhead is a radicalised group, and may or may not be part of The New Truth, who state online: “An angel-like figure appears and tells you when you’ll go to Hell. An angel prophesises the time of death of an individual, and when the time comes, executors of Hell demonstrate total damnation, and then quickly disappear.”
But if it’s to do with heaven and hell, one cop asks if it’s God’s work?
Of the main cast, Jin Kyunghun (Yang Ik-joon) is still trying to deal with a family tragedy, whilst clinging on to what remains of his family with his daughter, Hee-jung (Lee Re); and ‘Chairman’ Jung Jinsu (Yoo Ah-in) is a big deal with The New Truth, who tries to explain his position to the cops, without them thinking he’s a complete lunatic… although I thought he probably is.
When all hell breaks loose – literally – it’s great fun and it gets incredibly gory, but inbetween, when events calm down, it feels like a soap opera, and there’s not an awful lot happening. After watching two-and-a-bit episodes (you’ll see why), given that there’s only six of them, they really need to get a move on.
And I wondered, if you are one of the chosen ones to get the nod that your demise is on its way, can you escape the expected death?
I flicked through the other four episodes, so while I won’t post a score for those, I checked out the gory parts, and didn’t worry about the supposed plot in those. If there’s a second series, I won’t be watching.
As with Squid Game, you can have the original Korean dialogue, or dubbed to English or other languages.
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
Hellbound is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from Friday November 19th.
Episodes 1-2 Score: 4/10
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 50-55 mins per episode
Release date: November 19th 2021
Studio: Netflix
Format: 1.78:1
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Producer: Kim Yeon-ho
Writers: Yeon Sang-ho, Choi Kyu-Seok
Baed on The Hellbound by Yeon Sang-ho, Choi Kyu-Seok
Music: Kim Dong-wook
Cast:
Jin Kyung-hun: Yang Ik-june
Jung Jin-su: Yoo Ah-in
Min Hye-jin: Kim Hyun-joo
Bae Young-jae: Park Jeong-min
Song So-hyun: Won Jin-a
Lee Dong-wook: Kim Do-yoon
Park Jung-ja: Kim Sin-rock
Deacon Yuji: Ryu Kyung-soo
Jin Hee-jung: Lee Re
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.