'The Bondsman' Review: Switch Off and Watch Kevin Bacon Mulch Hellspawn
- Dan Bremner
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
By Dan Bremner - April 8, 2025
Resurrected bounty hunter Hub Halloran gets an unexpected second chance at life, love, and his nearly-forgotten musical career - only to find that his old job now has a demonic new twist.
Once upon a time, The Bondsman would’ve been a long-running CW hit, running seven seasons, 22 episodes a piece, all cheap effects and melodrama, probably sandwiched between Supernatural reruns. Instead, it’s 2025, and here it is on Amazon Prime, a glossy eight-episode jaunt that’s both a throwback and a yet another streaming show. Kevin Bacon’s undead bounty hunter Hub Halloran is the hook, gruff, grizzled, and somehow still charming, but even his laconic swagger can’t hide the truth: this is a “Fake” streaming series with a capital F, the kind that blips onto your screen and vanishes from your brain by the credits. It’s fun enough, sure, but not one you'll remember by the end of its quick and easy eight-episode run.
Set in the fictional Landry, Georgia, the Southern vibe is a quirky standout filled with mossy swamps, dive bars, and twangy accents that give it a sweaty, lived-in feel. It’s like Justified ditched the crime for demons, with Hub trucking through a backwoods hellscape that’s equal parts eerie and absurd, shot in crisp widescreen with moody amber glows and slick camerawork that adds some energy to the action. The setting’s got character, think rusty pickups and neon-lit jukeboxes, and it’s a refreshing twist on the usual urban sprawl of these shows. If only the story leaned harder into that vibe instead of coasting on generic fumes.
Bacon, though, is the real reason anyone is here (Who said star-power was dead?). He's in proper ‘80s energy mode as Hub, the titular Bondsman. He’s a Southern-fried badass, back from the grave to hunt hell’s escapees, all while nursing a busted marriage and a dusty guitar. He’s got that hard-edged charm with a shotgun and every grunt, cigarette drag and chainsaw swing lands like a bloody jolt. It’s a blast watching him plough through this schlock, and you can tell he’s having a riot. There’s even a kick in watching him strum a mournful tune between kills, a faded star still chasing a riff, shame the show doesn’t lean harder into those barroom ballads.
The action is a gore-soaked treat, Evil Dead-like with a Georgia twang. Heads get smashed, faces are peeled off, guts spill, and demons go down in wet, glorious splatter-fests as the season boasts an impressive body-count. Heavily practical effects standout in chunky and fleshy fashion, with just enough creaky CGI to remind you it’s 2025, not 1995 and they had the overblown budget to cut corners with some questionable effects. Hub’s flaming chainsaw impalement of a hellspawn is the kind of bonkers imagery that brings the over-the-top juice, and the half-hour episodes keep it snappy, no dawdling, just blood, guts, family and music. It’s silly and visceral fun at the best of times, the sort of thing you’d cheer at a midnight screening, even if it’s not rewriting the horror playbook. This genuinely could have gone hard as a mental 2 hour action-horror film with country music sequences.
Thing is, The Bondsman can’t shake its derivative stench. It’s R.I.P.D. redux, an undead lawman, demon-hunting gig, and Bacon even starred in that Ryan Reynolds flop, making this feel like a weird full-circle cash-in. Toss in shades of Preacher and any other supernatural procedural show (Very heavy Ash Vs. Evil Dead vibes here), and you’ve got a stew of “seen it before” that lacks the wit or weirdness to stand out. The family drama, Hub’s ex (Jennifer Nettles) and kid (Maxwell Jenkins), tries for heart but lands flat, with an added dose of “Bastard new boyfriend” drama with Damon Herriman’s sleazy “Lucky” that Hub has to deal with and the “demons of the week” never get fleshed out beyond gore fodder.
Those short episodes, though? A real blessing. Eight half-hour hits make it an easy binge, perfect for a lazy weekend (I watched it over the release weekend) when you just want to switch off and watch Bacon mulch hellspawn. No fat, no fluff, just straight-to-the-point chaos as Hub balances trying to be a father and attend his demon hunting duties (Often at the same time) that doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s the kind of quick-watch that fits our streaming age, even if it’s not leaving any scars on your memory. You’ll knock it out in a night and move on, no fuss or real regrets.
The Bondsman starts with a fun, albeit generic first season that mixes southern-crime with supernatural action-horror to mostly enjoyable results. It's nothing memorable and it fails to live up to the higher pantheon of Amazon Prime Originals like The Boys, Reacher or Invincible, but if you like your Bacon bloody, there's much worse ways to spend 4 hours, and it goes by very quickly, just don't expect to remember much by the end of it. I'll check out a second season, but it desperately needs a shot of creative juice to make it stand out more.
The Bondsman is streaming now on Prime Video
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