Hellbender

There is quite a lot of this about at the moment: folk horror. It’s never disappeared really just had a lower profile with films coming out under the radar. But in recent years there has been a clear resurgence with a slew of academic studies and arguably kickstarted by the success of The Witch.

More recently the excellent documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror covering at television and film, as well as the traditions around the world and beyond the UK, US and Europe nucleus.

That in a very roundabout way brings us to Hellbender which has been gathering some favourable plaudits. Opening with the brutal hanging of a witch who at first doesn’t die eventually going up in flames after being shot, the film sets is stall out. Into the present day with Izzy (Zelda Adams) and her mother (Toby Poser) rehearsing their rock band.

Out in the sticks surrounded by forest, it quickly becomes clear that Izzy and mother lead an isolated life on their private property which appears to include a huge area of the forest. And which they guard jealously as one lost man to his cost finds out. Life is fairly tranquil with just the occasional trip to town for supplies and mother doing her ritual and offerings.

With Izzy being home schooled, and not able to touch people, she’s short on friends until she stumbles on Amber (Lulu Adams) who is taking advantage of little used cabin to dip into the property and use the pool.

They build up a sort of rapport which gets Izzy thinking that she and her mother should venture out more and start to play in front of audiences something that mother is dead against. Thus begins a tug between Izzy and her mother with her burgeoning curiosity about the people and life away from mother and the property.

There’s a certain amount of tick-boxing here with standard folk and witch tropes abounding; ritual, spells magic and so on. That however doesn’t detract from what is a good solid story that does try to do something different once Izzy finds out what a Hellbender is and what that power entails.

With the pulls, pushes and temptations, the main emphasis of Hellbender is the bond between mother and daughter. This is flawed by mother’s knowledge turning into a schism once Izzy becomes more aware of her potential.

Adams and Poser are excellent which in some respects shouldn’t come as any surprise as they are well acquainted being real life mother and daughter, as well as being co-directors and writers with father and husband John Adams, not forgetting sister and daughter Lulu.

Visually the directors make the best possible use of the small budget and the rural and forestry landscapes with even daytime having an eerie and disquieting ambience. The various sigils and cleans bones scattered around that add very much to the otherworldliness of the setting and the entire film.

The Adams’ are experienced filmmakers seemingly happy to take on any challenge (This was made during lockdown.) and Hellbender sits well within with Adams’ diverse collection of productions, which are well worth seeking out.

Hellbender is available on Shudder.