Suburban Hell

Kilmer’s debut, a playful but poorly executed horror send-up of suburban life, struggles to settle into a consistent tone in the lulls between some delightfully over-the-top moments. Amy Foster and her best friends, Jess, Melissa, and Liz, exist on the outskirts of the Whispering Farms subdivision’s social hierarchy. Their lives are turned upside down when the christening of the group’s She Shed opens a portal to hell and compassionate Liz is possessed by a demon. As Liz alternately shocks the neighborhood with dramatic new fashions and a don’t-care attitude, degenerates into a pallid husk of her old self, and tries to kill her friends and their children, Amy works to convince her doubtful friends that demons are real and that their friend group alone can save both Liz and the neighborhood. A melancholy subplot about the death of Amy’s sister years earlier adds little and Kilmer’s critique of suburban life lacks bite, as the neighbors are annoying at worst. The story flounders awkwardly in the space between comedy and chiller such that even the darkest scenes don’t evoke fear. There’s the kernel of a great story here, but Kilmer doesn’t quite pull it off. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. (Aug.)