A teen and her mother live simply in a home in the woods, spending their time making metal music. A chance encounter with a fellow teen causes her to uncover a connection between her family and witchcraft, which causes a rift with her mother.
ヘルベンダー, Хэллбендер, 헬벤더, H6LLB6ND6R, Hellbender. Dorastanie to piekło, 地狱血脉, Divoženka, บ้านฝ่านรก, Геллбендер
Canada
Fantasia International Film Festival
South Korea
Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
USANR
Russia18+
UK
USANR
Germany16
Canada
Germany
Russia
South Korea
UK
USA
Just a couple of gals in the woods, making music and doing witchy shit. Ya know living their best lives.
Magic comes from the fear, the fear of death.
🪱🥁🤘🏼
H6llb6nd6r!
A dark coming-of-age story about a girl curious about the outside world her mother is protecting her from, growing more curious after experiencing an unfamiliar reaction to eating a live worm she starts to question what she really is!
Fucking hell this was awesome! Hellbender is an innovative and fresh take on the folk horror genre and oozes all that witchcraft charm. It packs a major punch with all the eerie visuals and in-the-woods setting— shot during the daytime which I was pretty into, but it’s mostly the mother/daughter duo that keeps this movie grounded.
I’m going to keep an eye out for future releases from the Adams family…
"I can't get close to people"
"None of us can."
didn't expect this contemporary folk horror jam to hit me so hard, but agoraphobia/anti-social pandemic life is settling in and this is some sort of inspired amalgam of Josie and the Pussycats and Blood on Satan's Claw that I didn't know I needed in my life and manages to capture the awkwardness of coming-of-age alongside how flat out terrifying it can be
really need to see that last fifteen minutes or so on a big screen asap
Coming of age woody witchy lo-fi garage post gothy post punk band fuckery. What I'm saying is a portion of you lot will love this
I guess because I don’t usually read horror news, I didn’t realize the Adams family was a thing but I love that there’s a real life family with that name that’s making horror movies and what a treat this was!
A slow burn with lots of trippy visuals is exactly my kind of movie and when it has a good mean streak to it? Even better. I admit that I was indescribably exhausted last night when I watched this so I really need to go back and watch it again when I’m not fighting sleep, but I know a good horror movie when I see one in any state of mind and this is certainly a good one!
A sturdy little genre work that transcends its "amateur" roots by sheer love of craft.
These two spent the pandemic right: gathering various flora and mycelium up in the mountains and feasting on the warm blood of obnoxious extroverts who refuse to stay away from them.
Another solid effort by the Adams Family. This is a quite inventive micro-budget coming-of-age folk horror that tackles some interesting themes surrounding nature vs nurture in a fun and twisted way. There’s something very endearing about this little film. Similar to their previous film The Deeper You Dig, there are lots of insanely striking hallucinatory visuals to sink your teeth into, with an emotionally charged central relationship at its core. Toby Poser and Zelda Adams being an actual mother and daughter in real life definitely helps make it work as well as it does. The soundtrack is quite fun and their approach to black magic is very creative and unique. The effects are also pretty neat considering their resources. Great stuff.
Sooooooo cool. I love these indie horror flicks that are so hipster they hurt. Shudder originals are like A24 but less pretentious and appeal more to classic fans of the genre and not film school types, overall, they’re a very exciting studio who seems to get better and better with each new release they put out.
Hellbender is great, it’s part coming-of-age, part mystery, part witchcraft tale, so many elements combine to make a very interesting and satisfying watch. The 2 lead actresses, who also both wrote and directed, have excellent chemistry together and felt so believable and natural. I liked that we got to follow both of them at different times of the story, quite clever direction and writing…
Really sad to say that this completely missed for me, which was a surprise after seeing so so so many positive reviews from people who I usually share film opinions with. The pros are nice -- Instagram-perfect shots of ritual tools and lush, rainy woods -- but pretty visuals couldn't make up for what I found lacking. The CGI showed the budget (which is fine, but I'd just simply not use it!), the dialogue read very YA and stilted, most of the acting was distractingly amateur, and the plot dragged and disconnected for such a short film. There's DIY lo-fi and then there's cheap-looking. I like the former, but this was the latter to my eyes.
I wish I would have liked it more and I honestly think it's really cool how this was made, but I struggled from the very first scene.
Folk horror meets teen coming of age story. We focus on a mother and daughter living alone on a mountain - the mother harbouring a dark secret, unknown to her daughter. Hellbender is gorgeously shot - the woodland locations blend well with the subtle horror visuals. The metal soundtrack is great too - it's a real triumph for the family team behind it all. The crux of the story focuses on the importance of telling the truth and being true to your nature. The coming of age aspect is the perfect vehicle to impart this message - lying to people you are supposed to care about is never a good idea - even if you think you're doing it for…
