‘Hellcat’ Review – A Gripping Psychological Horror With A Bitingly Good Mystery

It’s a full moon, but not all is as it seems. A woman held in captivity. A mysterious wound on her body. A seemingly madcap driver holding her hostage. Suspicion runs thicker than water, and the midnight hours loom; a terrible sensation is difficult to break! One could say all hell is breaking loose. And that it does. Hellcat is a mystery horror film that preserves its mystery elements well and, to give some sage advice, one should go into completely in the dark. The twists pay off in rich dividends, delivering some biting shocks.

The film opens to find Lena (Dakota Gorman) in the back of a moving camper. She is alone (or so she thinks). There is disorientation. It is pitch black outside, and the only clue to her whereabouts is the thumping and bumping of tires on gravel back roads. To add insult to injury, she bears a hideous wound on her body. The mysterious voice of her captor, Clive (Todd Terry), speaks to her through a radio system, announcing that they have one hour to bring her to medical attention.

Clive is far from a voice of reason, and more a harbinger of doom. He assures her that unless they reach the doctor within one hour, she will succumb to an unimaginable fate. Lena attempts to make peace with her captor, pleading that she is, in fact, pregnant, but her cries go unanswered. Pain from the wound begins to overtake Lena’s body, and her sense of reality warps. As more information begins to trickle out like a leaky spigot, soon both captor and captive begin to wonder who should be afraid of whom.

As teased earlier, Hellcat is a film to go in for the shock and surprise. While astute horror fans will likely pick up on the clues like a trail of breadcrumbs leading straight to a creepy house, what is on the other side will defy expectations.

Part of what makes the film work is Gorman. In much of her performance, she finds herself locked in a camper, screaming and pleading. Only driblets of exposition paint a picture of her backstory, allowing us to fill in much on our own. However, what she makes up for in missing characterization is her unbridled performance, equal parts terrifying and tragic.

Add to the mix Terry’s Clive, who we initially perceive as the monster of this story, but clever reveals paint him as a complex individual, with more holes in his logic than in a brine of cheese. While Hellcat works as a gripping mystery-horror, a subtext runs through the story like a misty fog on the horizon. The film subverts standard expectations and speaks to the nature of paranoia and guilt in a way that never feels preachy or lecturing.

This film is the debut for director and writer Brock Bodell. And, in his first stab, he carves an unnerving tale that, if it were a tale around a campfire, would cause shoulders to arch and goose pimples to run a mile. It is an effective blend of psychological horror and lingering mystery. There are enough clues throughout the film to weave a fetching narrative. I imagine that on a rewatch there will be ample nods and points that stand out, only enhancing this helluva scary movie.

Monsters are a staple of the genre, and there are our fair share of creepy ghouls and lurching vipers to instill permanent nightmares. Here, this is a presentation of monstrosity, tempered by a glimpse of hidden humanity. Their real evil lies in the lingering thoughts that turn into heinous acts, and the perpetrator wears a pious demeanor in public, then sneers as the shadows fall.

Hellcat will debut on Shudder on August 14, 2026. 

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