Hellbender might just be the indie low-budget film to bring me back into the genre after a year-long lull. Let’s face it…2021 had a lot of people feeling down in what was supposed to be a post-Covid resurgence, but I have hope, 2022 is going to be a heavy horror highlight for me. That’s how excited I got when I watched the Hellbender trailer. A punk aesthetic folk horror film with blood-spewing witches, lots of drooling dark red blood…bile…slime…not sure, but I’m a sucker for it.
What you get for a plot is pretty light, Izzy drinks a worm that unleashes magical powers that have been brewing in her family tree for generations. Fast cuts of witchy bonding between Izzy and her mother quickly bring a darker tone as the two question each other’s motives and why this power is bequeathed.
Premiering at the 25th Fantasia International Film Festival in August 2021, this is the sixth feature film written and directed by the filmmaking Adams family, Toby Poser, John Adams, and their daughter Zelda Adams (The Deeper You Dig, Halfway to Zen, The Shoot). Zelda stars in the film, along with her mother and sister Lulu, and took home the Best Actress award at the Fantasia International Film Festival.
Hellbender will have its streaming premiere on Shudder, February 24th, 2022.
