In the new indie horror film Hell Van, all the forces of the apocalypse have rained down upon a small, unsuspecting Texas town, and may God have mercy on their souls because the Devil isn’t taking requests.
Hell Van follows the story of firefighter August Cash who chains the door of a local church before setting it ablaze, killing the fifteen children trapped inside.
When the local fire department tends to the inferno, they discover evidence that links Cash to the crime, but before he can be taken in, he sacrifices himself in the name of Satan inside one of the fire department’s vans.
Now, it appears this fiery red van is destined to rot inside a junkyard. But the van, it seems, has other intentions.
Fuelled by a supernatural force, the van begins to infect those around it, leaving you to question if Cash was acting of his own free will or if it was the work of the DJ Devil, sending her twisted messages over the van’s radio, that manipulated Cash’s fragile mind the entire time.
Soon, others begin to suffer the repercussions of venturing too close to the Hell Van, including the tow truck driver and impound lot owner, who succumb to the wrath of the Hell Van. Or a Horseman of the Apocalypse as foretold in the Bible – for it appears this fiery red van is the embodiment of the Horseman of War, though it appears to have brought along some Pestilence with it, as well.
Those that have the misfortune of laying their eyes upon this chariot of Hell are either stricken dead at the very sight, driven to kill, or even, in the case of one unfortunate soul’s case, compelled to rip their own eyes from their sockets after peering into the van and getting a brief glimpse into the bowels of Hell.
As the van continues to roll through this small Texas town, it brings pain and disease with every square inch it covers. And all those that attempt to stand in its way, including the local police, find that when this van rode into town, Hell followed with it.
Determined to save their town, the local sheriff and a defrocked priest attempt to make their final stand against the forces of Hell that have converged on Midway, Texas.
Watch Hell Van and find out if good triumphs over evil or if the Devil will have his day.
Going into Hell Van, it’s important to remember that this film is independently shot and produced, with Jorge Delarosa, the film’s writer, director, and star, financing the whole project out of pocket.
Keeping that in mind, you should expect to go into Hell Van knowing that many of the actors are not professionals, with some having no other IMDB credits to their names. Don’t expect to see Academy Award-worthy performances when watching Hell Van. Instead, you get the opportunity to watch regular people acting in roles that many of us would love to have portrayed because you just know that they had a blast bringing these characters to life.
The other thing to take into consideration is the special effects. The effects are not going to blow your mind, but for the budget they had, the effects and sets are far better than they have any right to be. You can tell that Delarosa and his team put a lot of effort into the effects, making them look as authentic as possible.
It’s the story where Hell Van should be judged because that’s what matters most, especially in independent films, and it’s in the story that this film stands out.
Delarosa came up with a concept to incorporate the Book of Revelations and give it a modern twist. Now, granted, the idea of the end of times has been done before, but a story about a van being a harbinger of doom is an original take on the apocalypse.
The van, in this case, is the physical embodiment of the Horseman of War, but it appears to also be capable of unleashing all the plagues and pestilences described in Revelations.
For example, when the tow truck driver lays his hands on the van, he is stricken down with a plague that turns him to ash and, for his part in the death of August Cash, a terrible illness claims the life of the fire chief.
Others are sent to take peace from the Earth and seek retribution from those that have wronged them in life, while still others are set ablaze in a fiery inferno just for standing in the mere presence of the Hell Van.
Delarosa also incorporates many other facets outlined in the book of Revelations, including having the fallen star, Wormwood, crash and destroy a vehicle.
He also loosely adapts other portions of the Bible by having the dead rise from their grave. In this case, rather than ascending to Heaven in the rapture, the resurrected corpses return as the walking dead and serve the forces of Hell.
Hell Van is not a movie that is going to blow you away, but it is a movie that you are going to have one hell of a time watching. It’s a film that you need to get together with your friends and watch as a group.
Hell Van does not currently have an official distributor. We at Horror Facts just so happened to be fortunate enough to be attending the Days of the Dead Las Vegas convention where we had the opportunity to pick up a copy.
To find out what convention Delarosa will be attending next and how you can go about getting your own copy you can visit the official Hell Van Facebook page or by visiting Slowmutants.com.
I have come here to chew bubblegum and write horror, and I’m all out of bubblegum.
Senior Editor at Horror Facts
