Hellbound (film)

Plot

Frank Shatter (Chuck Norris) and Calvin Jackson (Calvin Levels) are two Chicago police officers sent to investigate the brutal murder of a rabbi. As the investigation begins, Shatter and Jackson are summoned to Israel for questioning. Upon arrival, they realize that they are, in fact, pursuing a supernatural being – Satan's emissary, Prosatanos – who tried to wrest control of the world from God during the crusades. Prosatanos, however, was stopped by King Richard who trapped him in a subterranean tomb. During this encounter with King Richard, the source of Prosatanos' power – his scepter – was shattered into nine pieces which were subsequently sent to nine holy places around the world. These pieces remained safe until the end of the 20th century when Prosatanos was inadvertently freed from the tomb by two unsuspecting grave robbers. Prosatanos eventually collects all nine pieces of his scepter. Detectives Shatter and Jackson must now fight him to save the world.

Cast

Production

The film was shot entirely in Israel, between May and August 1993. In particular, the second part of the movie was filmed in Jerusalem.

The film's shooting title was originally Cold to the Touch.

Reception

Eoin Friel from "The Action Elite" scored the film two out of five and stated: "Overall, Hellbound is pretty lame, but on a purely guilty pleasure level it’s worth checking out. Just mute it when the sidekick is on screen." Charles Tatum from "eFilm Critic" gave the film only one star and wrote: "This film is badly written, badly acted, and badly directed. It does not work as action, cop drama, or even horror. It just shows that the now defunct Cannon Studios was willing to throw their money into anything, no matter how badly it was planned." Jerry Saravia on his blog wrote""Hellbound" is pure garbage that never exploits its central idea - it just assumes that a demon threatening you can be beaten by flying kicks. Hell has not been this boring since "Exorcist II."

On Rotten Tomatoes, Hellbound currently holds 33% of audience score.