Hellbender (2022) - Movie Review

 

Now this is a family picture right here!

I mean, yeah, it’s a story about the relationship between a mother and daughter, but this is one of the more holistically family-oriented films I think I’ve ever looked on here. Pretty much every aspect of the production here (directing, writing, producing, acting, camera work, editing, soundtrack) is shared among the four members of the Adams family: Father John, mother Toby Poser, and daughters Zelda and Lulu. I’ve said a few times before that I think women who love horror are awesome people, but it’s another level when an entire family bonds over that kind of subversive material.

For such a small crew, it’s quite fascinating just how well this film clicks together as a production. The cinematography does a lot to sell the mysterious beauty of the woods that surround the mountain home of Izzy (Zelda Adams) and her mother (Toby Poser), as does the fantastic soundtrack behind it. The spacious textures combined with Zelda’s breathy vocals create this strange and almost mystical atmosphere, and with Zelda whispering “kiss the chaos” into my ear over the film’s frequently metal imagery, it sure felt like some witchcraft was going on here. Credit is also due for the visual effects done by Trey and Samantha Lindsay (the only non-Adams crew working behind the scenes), which bring some Mandy-level brain-sears to the screen. The visions that Izzy and Mother see when they put their hand to a Bible Black especially are trippy as hell.

With the narrative’s focus on wood witches and the nature of dark magic, it plays out like a modern take on The VVitch, as we see Izzy learn about her family’s heritage and begin to grow within her own powers. The explanations for how the magic works in this world, involving plants and mushrooms and the fear in the blood of living things, are quite interesting, as is the delving into the dark feminine in Izzy measuring up her newfound power with the extent to which her Mother has tried to keep her away from the rest of the world, even before she became part of the family tradition. Looks like at least someone out there agrees with me that Everything, Everything would have worked much better as a straight horror movie.

Beyond just the aesthetic touches with the music and the lo-fi practical effects, the exploration of personal power and the freedom to wield it vs. the dangers it could pose feel very in-line with the ethos of metal and horror, using the macabre and the ‘unnatural’ to attain a sense of self. At just under 90 minutes, it doesn’t waste any time in showing Izzy growing into her own and wanting to spread her blackened wings, and it being made by a family working in tandem makes its wickedly comforting air that much more genuine. It’s a story about the importance and perils of family and femininity that feels like the product of a real family giving each other the space to express themselves, as a means to convey just how important it is that parents allow their children to do so. Never before has black metal been this wholesome.