For his second feature, Bad Day for the Cut director Chris Baugh gives us Hell - expanding the scares and sarcasm of his 2013 short as he riffs on the Dracula story by bringing it all back home.
Here, Glenroe goes gore as "disaster of a cub" Eugene Moffat (Peaky Blinders' Jack Rowan) and his permascowling father Francie (Bad Day for the Cut star Nigel O'Neill) get the contract to clear some land as part of a bypass development.
They should've demanded danger money - the fields around their Ulster stomping ground of Six Mile Hill are the 'resting' place of the vampire Abhartach. Stall the digger indeed.
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Baugh and writing partner Brendan Mullin have a knack for comedy with claret, and for their from dusk 'til dawn dust-up they've assembled a great cast, with Derry Girls' Louisa Harland and scene-stealer Michael Hough the other local heroes here. As the night has its way, the fatalistic banter proves as cool as the central quartet's chemistry.
Frustratingly, Boys from County Hell takes a little while to get going and - worse - doesn't give its villain his due once it does. No doubt the budget was as tight as Francie, but it's still a mystery as to why Baugh and Mullin didn't make the most of their ace in the hole.
Here's to more of everything next time around - there's enough here to keep the horror faithful hungry.
