Director: Jesse Thomas Cook
Writer: Tony Burgess (Screenplay)
Starring: Liv Collins, Sarah Power, Timothy Burd, Tony Burgess, Boyd Banks, Walter Borden
Plot: Two disparate young women working for a company that conducts euthanasia are dispatched to a remote estate to perform a custom assisted-suicide ritual, but unwittingly summon the wraiths of a Death Cult that once inhabited the property.
Tagline – Dying is a Wild Night.
Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Hexecutioners starts a Malison (Collins) takes a role for a company that conducts euthanasia, which will see the process go wrong on her first day. Not sure this is the role for her, Malison is teamed up with Olivia (Power) an experienced member of the team, as they work for one of the biggest clients they have ever had.
When the women arrive in the mansion, they meet the strange caretaker Edgar (Burd) who quickly unsettles the pair, as they learn they might well be dealing with a preparation they aren’t prepared for.
Thoughts on The Hexecutioners
Characters & Performances – Malison is a quiet timid young lady that does live alone, taking a new job in a euthanasia company, a role she isn’t prepared for. She struggles on her first case, which leads to her suffering nightmares before getting given to an experienced member of staff, who will look to help her deal with the pressure she is facing. Liv Collins does give us the timid character with ease her, making us believe everything she is going through. Olivia is the woman that has been involved in this business for a while now, she has taken many lives and is asked to show Malison how to achieve this without the side effects. Sarah Power does bring the more controlling figure to life well in this film. We only meet one side character in Edgar who is the creepy caretaker that does have more answers to the strange events in the mansion.
Story – The story here follows a rookie and experienced euthanasia employees that are taking one big job to pass on the experience, only for this job to go in a very different direction, one that will change both of the people involved. This is an interesting story, because it does dive into the ideas of paid euthanasia, seeing how the two people will both look to deal with the role they are working on. The mystery around the house is interesting too, seeing how it does become itself own character because of what has happened there before. With two interesting components, it does end up falling short at connecting them both, leaning more towards the haunted house and ignoring the bigger message about the role the two have taken.
Themes – The Hexecutioners does have plenty of horror involvement, which will get to focus on what Malison is seeing in the house, partly because of the role and partly because of the house itself. Having most of the film set in a singular creepy mansion does help create the mystery and scares we find ourselves going along the way.
The Hexecutioners does bring us plenty of interesting ideas, they just seem to fail to connect to escape the normal haunted house film.