666 Hell Lane
07 February 2023
Vault Festival
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Another show at the Vault Festival, this time it was an improv comedy horror show, 666 Hell Lane. The basic premise is that some guests arrive at 666 Hell Lane, a spooky hotel in the middle of a dark forest, where the hotel keeper tells them a spooky story while they wait for their rooms to be prepared.
With improv shows, you never know what you’re going to get. Could be a fantastic time, could be a bit of a disaster. This one was definitely more of the former and just a little of the latter. The troupe played very well together, weaving a story of a little deli below Waterloo Station where guests who arrive to dine never leave. The action intensifies when several police men go missing while investigating missing persons cases at the deli.
While the story was mostly cohesive, with a few side-notes that were left to fade into the background, it wasn’t quite as horror focus as I had hoped from the title. There were definitely many laughs to be had with the energetic and creative cast hopping from character to character, but somehow it all devolved into a Rupert Grint fan festival of sorts.
Chaotic, as improv shows tend to be, the plot unfolded with many knock knock jokes and a little bit of cannibalism thrown in. A fun little romp that could have been a little more directed to stay on track, but was definitely highly entertaining.