It’s not always easy being a teenage girl. Combine the average struggles of one with an insanely overprotective mother and near-isolation in the woods, and it would be a worse time than usual. What would be even more challenging than that, however? Learning your family has ties to witchcraft and developing an insatiable hunger for flesh. This is what a teenage girl faces in the modern folk horror film Hellbender, and it’s a stylish exploration of womanhood and youth rebellion.
Created by Wonder Wheel Productions, the same team behind the 2019 dark thriller The Deeper You Dig, Hellbender is about family by a family. This lean film was written, directed, and performed by Toby Poser, John Adams, and their daughter Zelda Adams, and it portrays the relationship between a mother and daughter who have an unconventional bond. After its world premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival, Hellbender has made its small screen debut on Shudder, and anyone intrigued by contemporary depictions of ancient occult forces should check it out.
Opening with a witch hanging from an earlier era, the film quickly shifts gears to the present where teenage Izzy (Zelda Adams) and her mother (Toby Poser) are playing a high-powered rock song in their two-piece band with their faces painted in a way that’s equal parts tribal and glam. These two share a strong bond, and because of a “sickness” her mother insists she has, Izzy sees very few people living in their isolated wood-front property, but she aspires to experience more of the world. Making this dream more difficult is the fact that Izzy’s mother has magic powers and uses them to watch over Izzy whenever they’re apart. One day while Izzy is out exploring the woods, she comes across their teenage neighbor named Amber (Lulu Adams), and after agreeing to spend time with each other, Izzy soon begins to realize the true reason behind why her mother shelters her. The answer is rooted in her family’s long lineage of witches, and not only does Izzy learn she has supernatural abilities like her mother, it’s a far more feral version of witchcraft fueled by the life force of other living entities.
For being a small, family-crafted independent film, Hellbenderis remarkably tight and slick-looking. The cinematography and editing are both well-executed, on-par with more high-budget productions with extra manpower behind them. The story is fairly simple, but rarely do moments feel stretched to fill time or unnecessary. The few times when special effects are necessary also impress, particularly one where the mother and daughter come across a hiker in their forest. During the peaks of their magic-fueld dazes, the audience is assaulted with disorienting, trippy sequences that are a visual feast, and even the simplest shots of the woods in the film feel majestic.
Extra kudos to John Adams and his catchy garage rock-style soundtrack. Even when the audience isn’t seeing Izzy and her mother personally rock out to the music their band plays, their raw guitar sound and prominent drum beats carry over into the general score, akin to music other two-piece bands like The Kills might play. The riot grrrl-esque essence the film often exudes gives it an energetic, youthful vibe which is unusual for folk horror, and it sets it apart from its peers as a result. Oftentimes, it embodies the spirit of 90s teen-centric horror films like The Craft because of its soundtrack and subject matter, albeit in an indirect and likely unintentional way.
Hellbender shows audiences both within the narrative and through its production value what family is capable of. In the story, this concept takes a darker turn, exploring how overbearing upbringings have the ability to create monsters. As a production, it’s simply inspiring, displaying how there’s nothing a tight-knit family can’t accomplish if they set their minds to it. Either way one looks at it, this film has an undeniable power to captivate.
—Andrea Riley