Hellbender

Hellbender is a micro budget horror film that is the very definition of a mixed bag, and most of this stems from the fact that the filmmakers reached far beyond what their budget permitted.

The performances range from great to terrible. The cinematography ranges from competent to atrocious. The editing ranges from effective to irritating. The dialogue ranges from emotionally resonant to laughably stupid. And, the visual effects range from extremely convincing to embarrassingly unconvincing.

Still, what keeps this movie elevated above its low-budget flaws is its story. It's tragic and it's executed in a way that I haven't seen before. And that alone is something worth praising from the rooftops.

Aside from some character motivations that were too muddled and confusing, I loved the two lead characters and how they were portrayed. This is a coming-of-age story that concludes in the exact opposite way that one would traditionally expect: with every parent's worst nightmare.

There is a great deal about Hellbender that does not work, but there is just a bit more that does. And the climactic final scene legitimately gave me chills.

I love supporting tiny indie films. Go watch it if you can.

On it's surface, it's a decent supernatural "coming of age" story of a young girl, raised in isolation by her doting mother, who slowly learns of her true nature. It's a slow burn, with steadily increased tension as the pacing ramps up to a suitably bloody and chilling close. Extremely nice camera work and visuals and decent acting, even with some fairly clunky dialog. The soundtrack - with songs performed by the characters - are impressively good for the genre. But the real standout aspect of this film is that the three female leads and one secondary male character are an actual family: The father, John Adams, wife Toby Poser, and daughters Zelda and Lulu Adams. John, Toby and Zelda are listed as writers/directors. John composed the songs which apparently Zelda and Toby performed (though I'm not certain on that part, it could have been dubbed). This is a real family effort, and they are to be admired for it. I can only imagine what fun this crew has making these movies, and hope they continue. They have a real knack for the genre, and are a lot of fun to watch.

"It's all in the pumping blood"

A low budget independent quality horror film by the Adams family. I loved the visuals, cinematography, atmospheric setting, elevated music and a well defined sound. I'm impressed by how they showed many meteorological seasons flawlessly and believable explanations for the secrets of witches and dark magic.

It's such a shame that indie horror films like this struggle to find proper budget they deserve. Imagine the possibilities if this film had a decent budget for VFX.

For years you've been taught one thing from your mother, that your condition means you can't be around others, you've been hidden far away, a two girl band you like to play, in the woods where you've behaved and been no bother. As you grow older you sense changes happening, you make some friends and they seem really interesting, until they make you twist and squirm, after swallowing a worm, then life becomes a bit more challenging (and rewarding depending on your perspective).

Well made and well performed, as Izzy discovers all is not what she had been led to believe and new opportunities are opened to her once she changes her diet.

This is not a classic horror movie. I would describe it as "Coming of age/indie/art horror". If you want to have some mindless fun, people get killed by murderers or evil spirits, stay away. This is a classy, stylish movie, depicting the nature of evil, at least, some kind of supernatural evil. The actors are nearly excellent, natural performances, clever script, great cinematography and keep in mind that this is a low budget movie.

The ending is kinda brilliant and lazy simultaneously, i mean, i liked it, there is no ambiguity, everything is clear, however, it's like they finished the movie abruptly because they run out of money. Still it's brilliant though.

I like this movie very much. 7.2/10. But i think it's gonna be a polarizing movie. If you know what to expect, you will like it too.