I love indie cinema. While it can be argued that blockbusters have access to budgets and resources that could make something more grandiose and special, I am more drawn to what someone can do with a lack of resources. It’s why festivals like Sundance are exciting to me, producing endless trails of filmmakers who fall outside the mainstream, introducing works that may be deserving of your time. They don’t have to deal with four quadrant storytelling or worry that they didn’t make x profit in order to be considered a success. The indie filmmaker is usually someone who is making art as a form of self-expression, desiring more to tell a story that is absent from the market. If I can come out of a film and wonder “Who was that?” then I know that I’ve spent the last two hours seeing something worthwhile.
For me, Hellbender (2022) is one of the most out of the blue discoveries I have found in a long, long time. It could just be that I’m not well-versed in horror, but the work of The Adams Family (no relation to the mysterious and ooky tribe) feels like one of those stories you only read about in fiction. Following its premiere on Shudder, Letterboxd ran an interview with the multi-hyphenate group featuring John Adams & Toby Poser along with daughter Zelda Adams that reflected just how rink-a-dink their operation was. Between the three of them, they are credited for doing most of the work it takes to make a film, save for special effects by Trey Lindsay. It’s the type of dedication where, at very worst, you want to see just how they pull things off. Many indie films have been made this way before, and I’ve been excited by the ones that take genuine risks.
And let me just say that coming out of that interview I’m left in amazement that The Adams Family exists. It’s honestly quite sweet. Among the more interesting tidbits is the fact that John and Toby allowed Zelda to watch R-Rated horror movies when she was very young. There are even references to Zelda watching Saw (2004) in Russian just so she could keep things interesting. The theory was that she was allowed to watch whatever she wanted so long as she believed that she could handle it. With that said, there is a funny side story of them refusing to let Zelda watch The Sopranos with them because she was four. I love how much this family is supportive of each other’s interests and nourishes the creative spark. Hellbender isn’t their first film, but it does feel like one that could become successful with more word of mouth.
It is said that they filmed and edited Hellbender in their home, which among other things had spotty wi-fi and a bed full of mystery. They would be driving two hours to set and blasting Courtney Barnett (a major plus for me). There’s a real indie spirit vibe to this film and I think that it informs what works so well. It has a grittiness that reflects shooting strategically, where they effectively incorporate limited lighting and claimed to just put out cat meat in order to attract maggots for a moment midway through the film. Even the fact that they’re family adds this great subtext to the mother-daughter story, reflecting chemistry that feels so organic. By the time you realize that despite all of this they still had to social distance, you are amazed that it turned out half as well as it did.
According to the film, a hellbender is a cross between a witch, a demon, and an apex predator. They wander the earth while protecting the forces that could lead to hell. As someone who loves a good tale of witchcraft, I enjoyed how they managed to take a familiar topic and essentially make it feel new. This is a coming of age movie, where family secrets come out and protagonist Izzy (Zelda) must learn from Mother (Toby) how to control her power. Given that this brings with it a need for distance, it plays perfectly into the pandemic culture, allowing for many of the shots to reflect minimal actors surrounded by a mixture of settings from forests to swimming pools and even a strange underworld in the third act that is every bit as brilliant in its hallucinatory execution.
Much like when I saw The Witch (2016) or The Love Witch (2016), there is something exciting about watching a film by someone who already feels accomplished. Since you have no previous experience, you are left very impressed by the small things that they do. They almost feel raised from a satanic cult and somehow duped a studio into giving them a budget. Hellbender happily joins that list simply by having a skeleton crew. I don’t know how you make this movie with so little resources. To elaborate, I don’t know how it can look this accomplished and have a story this immersive. Everything about it feels so grimy, as if running through the forest and landing on something that you’re not supposed to see. This is the epitome of a hidden gem, something that makes me believe in the power of cinema once again, making me wish there were dozens of other contemporaries just like this.
The film starts with the familiar hallmarks of witchcraft. As the credits roll, a garage metal band is playing. They’re all donned in black-and-white make-up, playing something that sounds like borderline chanting as if propelling demons from the soil. Already there is a dynamic at play, of a family about to discover some darker truths about each other. With nothing more than a guitar and drum kit, The Adams Family has found a way to convey the atmosphere of their strange little world. It isn’t clear what’s about to happen, but even the lighting feels like it hides something more nefarious. You are immediately drawn in.
It should be noted that this isn’t one of those hyper-active horror movies with jump scares and overbearing music cues. While there’s plenty of grotesque scenery, they all play organically with the characters. At the center is a more interesting coming of age story where Izzy tries to understand why she feels different from everyone around her. She’s not allowed to get close to anybody. When she lives in the wilderness, there is an established sense of isolation that makes her feel disconnected from the world around her. It can be meditative, but it’s also at times literal hell, finding her searching for a greater purpose. Whatever supporting characters there are (including relative Lulu Adams) come and go in a natural way, never exposing the limits of a pandemic production. In fact, it’s almost a non-issue save for a few comedic lines like where Izzy tells Amber (Lulu) that she can’t get closer before joking that nobody can.
There is a playfulness to the discovery. Izzy feels like a real teenage girl struggling with the need to fit in. By the time that Mother introduces hellbender culture, the transition is so natural that the world doesn’t feel surreal. Even with some hallucinatory imagery, this feels like the fantasy clashing with reality. This is her identity now. Kudos on managing to make the special effects pop, making things as curious as keys appearing from palms turn into compelling visuals. There is a whole world that has been thought of, and it was enjoyable watching everyone get to dig into these moments with enthusiasm. It’s a story of a daughter learning her powers from a mother who may be too nurturing, but it only leads to a more surprising third act that reflects what works best here.
More than anything, is a good character drama. Izzy and Mother’s relationship has moments that are genuinely sweet, even as they become downright satanic. It definitely helps that everyone knows each other and the crew work compliments the performances so instinctively that even the mundane conversations pop. There are small moments where personality shines through, such as a Ranger (Shawn Wilson) asking Izzy to leave before noting that she has good fashion sense. It’s also a moment of misdirect where Izzy barely gets away with hiding her identity from the outside world. It’s horrifying but also silly, reflecting the smart ways that the writing gets to the raw nerve of these characters.
I think more than anything, the thing I loved about Hellbender was the sense of discovery. Here was a horror movie being done in a way that is practical but also very effective. With limited resources, The Adams Family created something provocative and exciting. I can only hope that others catch onto it as the year carries on, proving once again that great indie cinema exists outside of major markets. It’s a film that takes rural witchcraft in a compelling new direction, if just because it’s one of the few times that the familial dynamic feels so lived in that even the way that everyone looks at each other holds these deeper meanings. Also, there’s clearly a love in the craft that makes you wish that more families could be as complementary in their shared interests.
The good news is that Hellbender is currently available to watch on Shudder. As of this publication, there are also other films by The Adams Family available on Amazon Prime including Knuckle Jack (2013) and The Deeper You Dig (2020). There are also others available for paid rentals. For now, I like the idea of seeing if the rest of their work exudes a similar essence of love for good storytelling and dazzling visuals. Given that it features the central trio in most of them, I’m sure it will be just as fun to watch them grow into something more confident. I hope this is going to be a worthwhile journey because it’s been a while since I’ve seen filmmakers show up randomly and impress me that much. They deserve at least a passing glance.
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