Think of Young Frankenstein. Now, imagine that, instead of the old Universal Monster Movies, the target was every demonic possession and haunted house horror flick since the late 60s. And, instead of the comic genius of Mel Brooks, imagine it was written and directed by, say, the guys from College Humor.1 That's pretty much how this movie plays.
A young White couple, Jack and Vanessa, moves into a fixer-upper home in a predominantly non-white neighbourhood, a house everyone else avoids. Over course, it's possessed, with implications for their impending first child. The focus remains on random haunted house/demonic possession bits, with Vanessa ultimately giving birth to the titular hellspawn, The initial racial angle, however, gets handled rather like the Sergeant Pepper theme. It gets established at the start and alluded to towards the end. In between the script forgets about it.
The one significant Black character gives the most consistently entertaining performance. Keegan-Michael makes Keyas F'resnel-- a neighbour who turns up in the most improbable ways at the most unlikely times-- work, at least until his arc arrives at an ending so predictable it doesn't play as a joke or, really, anything.
The other recurring bits play like second-rate Saturday Night Live sketches. They're funny for maybe five minutes. They keep recurring. In particular, the writer/director team as the Vatican's crack exorcism squad runs out of laughs long before they run out of screen time. Hell Baby does feature a number of references to alcohol and marijuana. These suggest the audience best-suited to enjoy the film.
Most of the performance are both mediocre and over the top. Other than Keegan-Michael, Leslie Bibb rises about the material in the role of the possessed and pregnant Vanessa.
Riki Lindholme also gives her all as Marjorie, Vanessa's neo-Pagan sister. I have been a fan of Lindholme and her bestie Kate Micucci for years. In an alternate reality, they are remembered as a defining force in the pop-cultures of the 20-teens.2 Lindholme has often mocked the fact that she gets cast in parts that excessively sexualize her and/or require her to doff her top. This role has her embracing that reality, and she plays her lengthiest scene entirely nude.
Despite a fair bit of gore and so many jump scares that characters comment on their frequency, Hell Baby remains a horror-comedy, rather than a comedy-horror. Unfortunately, it's neither funny enough nor frightening enough to fully succeed as either genre.
Written and directed by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon
Rob Corddry as Jack
Leslie Bibb as Vanessa
Keegan-Michael as Keyas F'resnel
Robert Ben Garant as Father Sebastian
Thomas Lennon as Father Padrigo
David Pasquesi as Cardinal Vicente
Riki Lindhome as Marjorie
Alex Berg as Mrs. Nussbaum / Cheerful Guy
David Wain as Dr. Marsden
Michael Ian Black as Dr. Marshall
Rob Huebel as Mickey
Paul Scheer as Ron
Brittney Alger, Tara Cullen, Jessica Loyacono as Nurses
Sierra as Ghost Dog
1. The actual writer/director team are probably best-known for Reno 911!
2. Their own TV series only lasted one season. but they have established a lengthy career, in supporting roles, as cartoon voices, and writing some scores. Micucci has been the voice of Velma Dinkley for most of this century. Lindholme co-created and starred in Another Period, which lasted three seasons.
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