| "To Hell and Back" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | "To Hell and Back" |
| Directed by: | Joseph Winter; Vanessa Winter |
| Written by: | Joseph Winter; Vanessa Winter |
| Produced by: | Samuel Zimmerman; Emily Gotto; Nicholas Lazo; Andrew Williams; Matt Bettinelli-Olpin; Tyler Gillett; David Bruckner; Josh Goldbloom; Chad Villella; Brad Miska; Jared Cook; Joseph Winter; Vanessa Winter |
| Music by: | Joseph Winter |
| Cinematography: | Jared Cook |
| Production | |
| Released: | September 14th, 2022 |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | "The Gawkers" |
| Next: | — |
"To Hell and Back" is a film short featured in the V/H/S film series. It is the fifth of five vignettes featured in the 2022 film V/H/S/99. It was written and directed by Joseph Winter and Vanessa Winter.
Plot[]
On New Year's Eve 1999, best friends and videographers Nate and Troy have been hired by what is revealed to be a coven of witches. Their task is to film the witches performing a ritual where a woman named Kirsten volunteers to be offered as a vessel to a powerful demon known as Ukabon. Despite agreeing to film the ritual, Nate is notably skeptical of his clients and thinks that the ritual may be a prank. The witches performing the ritual tell the duo that while they call to Ukabon, they will not actually summon it until the stroke of midnight on the new millennium, when the veil between Earth and Hell is at its thinnest. As the ritual begins, Furcas, an uninvited demon who has disrupted the coven's rituals before, makes its presence known. As the witches attempt to cast it out, Furcas grabs Nate and Troy and drags them underneath the witches' altar.
As his camera glimpses Furcas retreating, Troy slowly discovers that he and Nate have been sent to Hell. The duo encounter bloodthirsty demons, hazardous traps, and mutilated bodies spread throughout the cavernous landscape, prompting Nate to arm himself with a discarded pitchfork as a means of protection. As they make their way across Hell, Nate and Troy cross paths with Mabel, a damned soul who speaks in archaic terms and can tell that they are mortal, thus making them irresistible to hungry demons. She decides to help them escape by leading them to Ukabon, whom she hates, in exchange for the two of them writing her name in the witches' spell book. Nate and Troy also remember how the witches told them that the veil between Earth and Hell is weakest at midnight, and since Ukabon is the only conduit through which the duo can return to Earth, they have only minutes to find them before they are stuck in Hell for eternity.
While trekking across Hell, the group encounters more demons, and Nate and Troy bicker with one another constantly over their predicament, confusing Mabel with their modern ways of speaking. Eventually, the group enters a cave where they find Ukabon, surrounded by a cult of masked demons, preparing to enter Kirsten’s body. The demon cultists attack the trio, but Nate and Troy manage to kill them. As midnight rapidly approaches, Nate and Troy shout at Mabel to come with them to Earth. She is unfortunately stabbed by one of the cultists, reminding them to write her name in the book. The two friends jump inside Ukabon's cavernous stomach just as the ritual commences. The duo successfully return to Earth, albeit with Nate possessing Kirsten’s body. Furious that their ritual has failed, the witches kill Nate and Troy before arguing with one another about what went wrong. A dying Troy uses his blood to write Mabel's name in the book the witches used to summon Ukabon, then succumbs to his injuries before the tape ends.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Archelaus Crisanto | Nate |
| Joseph Winter | Troy |
| Melanie Stone | Mabel |
| Kim Abunuwara | Jane |
| Ehab Abunuwara | Husband |
| Ryann Abunuwara | Julia |
| Tori Pence | Kirsten |
| James C. Morris | Furcas |
| Alex Lacayo | Witch Alex |
| Vickie Hayden | Witch Vickie |
| Coe-Jane Weight | Grandma Great |
| Ariel Lee | Wormaid |
| Dustin Watts | Ukoban |
| Calen Chan | Winged demon #1 |
| Christian Russell | Winged demon #2 |
| Tyler Evans | Giant devil |
| Miguel Peña | Tortured soul #2 |
| Parker Cluff | Tortured soul #3 |
| Sena Warren | Cave tortured soul |
| Casey Warren | Bloodletter #1 |
| Alex Hasse | Bloodletter #2 |
| Beni Alexander | Bloodletter #3 |
| Halem Medina | Large bloodletter |
| Corbett McAllister | Troy's stunt double |
| Marc Miller | Bloodletter voice |
| Austin Anderson | Bloodletter voice |
| Jared Cook | Bloodletter voice |
| Vanessa Winter | Voice of Wormaid |
| Amanda Cook | Tortured screams |
Notes & Trivia[]
- "To Hell and Back" redirects to this page.
- There are a total of twenty-nine credited cast members in this film short.
- "To Hell and Back" creators Joseph and Vanessa Winter are also the filmmakers behind the 2022 found footage movie Deadstream. Actress Melanie Stone appears in that film as well.
- Actress Perla Lacayo from "To Hell and Back" is credited as Alex Lacayo in this vignette.
- Presumably, actors Kim, Ehab, and Ryann Abunuwara are all related.
- Actress Amanda Seria is credited as Amanda Cook in this vignette.
See also[]
References[]
1999 | Cult | Demons | Hell | Incantations | Mutilation | Mystical texts | New Year's | Pitchfork | Possession | Ritualism | Stabbings | Witchcraft | Witches