The hype on this video made it one of the most anticipated skate vids of 2009 for me personally. Creature’s 3rd full length mash up may not have made the Halloween deadline they would have liked but they got there in the end with hard graft, blood, sweat and tears and the results are fantastic. The format for their videos may not be for the purists out there who love to see full sections of their favourite pro riders but I think that Creature have hit the nail on the head again as this is a brilliant video that will get you hyped to skate.
Truman Hooker kicks things off with his creative, street style. Every trick he pulls out of thee bag is massive, carved out on really obscure spots, fast as fuck and definitely none of this slow, flip in, grind two inches stuff. This is raw, balls-out street skating the way it should be providing an amazing start to the video firing you up for more.
Next it’s one of the montage sections with Al Partanen steezin his hammers on transitions in Japan. Adrian Mallory brings his own creative style to the party alongside Darren Navarette’s slow motion vertical prowess, some shot in 16mm to give it some art barf but the footage overall is still presented with a raw edge. How could it not with the skaters on show here.
More montages appear throughout the video, which is what takes up the sections of Navs, Parts, Alex Horn, Sam Hitz, Neil Heddings and co which allows the young blood a chance to show they rip just as hard. This is somewhat annoying though as I wanted to see a full Heddings part as it’s been so long but don’t get me wrong the montages are rad. You have Pool Law which is just amazing. If you have never set foot in a pool before and are eager, this will be the catalyst you have been waiting for. Bridge Law is a montage of Washington Street and Burnside footage where the skating gets seriously gnar…you even get to see some blood and Heddings’ Vans tattoos on his feet, what a treat!
Devin Appello has a mad section with ‘fuck off’ music that could melt your mind. Some of the spots this dude skates are insane with tricks that are just banger after banger. Newcomer Sean Conover seems like he can flip in and out of any trick and BAKU make a guest appearance which is just immense. If you don’t know who BAKU are where the fuck have you been! This section is barrier skating at its very best with various tricks from the Beast of Guaveden who, after watching his blunt 360 flip, I realised was Chris Haslam but apparently that’s old news. Deerman of Darkwoods caps this section off with skating that will blow your tiny mind. After watching this section you will never say ‘this tranny is too tight’ again, unless you are one of those freaks who loves the filth of Thailand. Shocking stuff. There are a few other guest skaters in this flick as you would expect which include the likes of Hewitt, Guzman, Duane Peters and co but Sammy Baca stands out from the pack with footage from South America which has some insane tricks made much more impressive by the fact he seems to have a broken arm.
Adrian Mallory and Silent Mike have a crazy section with big tricks hucked out at fast speeds. Mallory seems like he’s just hanging on to every trick purely because he just doesn’t feel the need to slow down ever while Silent Mike is another of those guys who make the whole thing look effortless, much like Taylor Bingham whose blinding skating is fueled by a mean dose of gangsta rap which splits up the hardcore nicely.
The section most people want to see is David Gravette’s and you won’t be disappointed. It has his usual bail slide thing going on and its pretty much all hammers and handrails from start to finish with a really good mix of street and transition to boot. 2010 should be his year for Creature if he can keep himself injury free, it’s all his for the taking.
The end is another montage, this time with sessions on the Ramona vert ramp but with special smoke and green lighting. I wasn’t too sure about this section on first view. Even though it has some great skating, I had to watch it a few times to as it feels slightly disjointed from the rest of Hesh Law but that’s Creature all over, you just don’t know what’s coming next and they do things their own way and for good reason.
The real travesty lies in the end credits where Scottish ‘Overlord’ Stu Graham has just 4 tricks on show. The unfortunate lack of his presence is felt throughout the full production and it truly is a massive shame that he could spend so long living in the USA and not return with more footage than this. In my opinion there was not one smith grind in a pool throughout the whole edit that could have stood up to his. I’m sure I speak for many people in the UK when i say that I feel totally gutted about this outcome as we were all expecting much more from a guy who now has his name on a Creature deck.
The DVD has some extras like ‘Tales of the Larb’ which is a random cardboard animation and a concept by Sam Hitz and Mark Widmann, and Butt Country makes a comeback and Partanen has a section remix which is amazing – not sure why it wasn’t like that in the main video Bloodshed is an extra movie made by Buddy Nichols and Rick Charnoski shot in B-Movie/Slasher style and is funny as fuck. The plot is based around a pool that should never be jacked and the skaters pay in Blood for their actions. The best actor award goes to Steve Olson in this, his skills are equally as rad as the pool skating which is of course, awesome.
Overall Hesh Law is one of those skate videos that some people are going to think is the best thing ever and the style clowns will just think it’s a load of shite. I personally think it’s a great video and that you should own it. Go get a copy and remember what fun skateboarding pushed to its limits is all about.
TH