PORTAL TO HELL

PORTAL TO HELL

Horror, gore, dark humor — and a strangely warm story of friendship all in one

Dunn collects debts for a living — and it’s the wrong job for a man with such a good heart. He’d rather forgive the people life has crushed, and when thugs threaten him over the phone, he answers politely, with disarming tact. Stuck in his routine, he dreams of something more — though he’s not sure what.

He shares a prickly, almost tender friendship with his neighbor Bobshank, a cancer-stricken cynic with a razor-sharp tongue. When a portal to hell suddenly opens inside one of the washing machines at the local laundromat, Dunn takes it in surprising stride. And when a messenger from hell offers him a deal, Dunn — the mild-mannered debt collector — decides to take it.

“Portal to Hell” is a surprisingly charming black comedy, where the blood flows freely — but the humor is even darker. The script balances outrageous grotesquerie with a touching story about friendship, mortality, and the small evils we commit every day — evils that can sometimes seem far more monstrous than anything hell could throw at us. Through the portal, Dunn finds new confidence and a way to solve his problems. But is it really the answer? Sometimes, the simplest solutions can be dangerously seductive. And we all know what the road to hell is paved with: good intentions.

Director Woody Bess makes an excellent feature debut here, crafting a story that is grotesque and at times terrifying, but also deeply human. The cast elevates it even further: Trey Holland (“Diabolical Stalker”) is pitch-perfect as Dunn, the legendary Keith David (“They Live,” “The Thing”) steals scenes as the grumpy Bobshank, and the brilliant Richard Kind shows up as the wry, unsettling emissary from hell.

It’s a film that will leave you smiling — though a few times that smile will fade. But isn’t that exactly what smart horror should do?