Hellbender is not for the faint of heart. The creative trio of Toby Poser, Zelda Adams, and John Adams — who wrote, directed, and produced the film — return with this modern-day folk horror about a mother-daughter duo's dalliance with hell. From beginning to end, Hellbender is an impressive, at times shocking, and enthralling triumph.

Hellbender — with its clever tagline that reads “Growing up is hell” — follows 16-year-old Izzy (Zelda Adams) as she begins to question her way of life. Due to a rare illness, she has lived in isolation with her mother (Toby Poser) in the mountains of New York, away from the rest of civilization. Izzy begins to question her reality and rebels by befriending a girl (played by real-life sister Lulu Adams) who lives in the area. However, Izzy’s coming-of-age is derailed after she eats a live worm as part of a juvenile game and finds an insatiable and violent hunger awakened within her. Izzy then discovers the dark secrets of her family's past and the ancient power in her bloodline.

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hellbender review
Toby Poser and Zelda Adams in Hellbender

Filmed on a shoestring budget, Hellbender is a hellish endeavor that pushes its audience to the brink. With an opening act that will surely weed out those with a weak stomach, Hellbender pulls from the long-standing horror subgenre to tell a personal story about a mother-daughter’s relationship being tested by the latter’s coming-of-age journey. While its production limitations are obvious, the Poser-Adams clan have perceptible control over their craft, which is restrained in parts and ambitious in others. The Catskill Mountains make for a brilliant backdrop with clever cinematography and the rugged landscape providing the perfect setting for a folk horror rooted in horror history.

Adams and Poser utilize their preexisting relationship to perfection as there is an ease and trust in their dynamic that allows their characters to feel real and grounded. The added detail of them being in a mother-daughter metal rock band, aptly named H6LLB6ND6R, is particularly poignant as it reflects the artistic relationship that exists in front of and behind the camera. Unintentionally perhaps, the film plays like a documentary of a family steeped in black magic. The camera is often nestled in places that make it seem like an invisible film crew is observing the chaos Izzy’s experience unleashes. In other moments, the film feels like a homemade project for the family of filmmakers, one that adds to the dynamic presented in the narrative.

hellbender review
Zelda Adams in Hellbender

Hellbender successfully rides the wave of perceived authenticity due to its low budget, just as found-footage horror like The Blair Witch Project has done. It feels uncomfortably real. Despite the sometimes amateurish filming, Hellbender feels like a proper daughter to the legacy of folk horror about the dark, often empowering, and frightening power within. Giving this film an air of sophistication is the lack of patriarchal ties — there is little in the way of focus on this power structure and neither are there attempts to preach on its need to be dismantled. This is a story primarily about mothering and the bond between mother and daughter who happen to be drenched in the occult.

Hellbender is surprisingly rich with depth and an acute understanding of its narrative, becoming intentionally darker, more disgusting, and scarier the more it progresses. If audiences find themselves strong enough to stomach it, Hellbender is well worth the watch.

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Hellbender premieres exclusively on Shudder on Thursday, February 24. The film is 86 minutes long and is not rated.

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