When a film opens with the attempted execution of a cannibalistic witch-creature that can be killed neither by hanging nor hail of bullets, then tops it off with some fantastically affected Satanic Panic-styled heavy metal music and a giant “666” flashing on the screen, you’d better believe you have my attention. But while the opening minutes of Hellbender — the tale of a teenager who slowly begins to discover her family’s long association with the occult — seem tailor-made for my sensibilities, the bulk of the film can’t live up to its wonderfully mental opening sequence, leaving it feeling flat and rather uninspired.
Part of the problem is that, in addition to never matching the wildness of its opening, Hellbender is, at its heart, a short film that’s been awkwardly stretched into a feature. By cutting several scenes, the familial filmmaking unit (John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser, all of whom also star as well as direct and write) might have better honed their story into something truly special and memorable.
Instead, Hellbender’s most interesting elements (its mythology and clannish paranoia) are sacrificed for overstretched and borderline dopey bits about rebellious teens. The visual and thematic possibilities hinted at early on, along with its mostly successful “twist” ending, could be something of real note for genre fans under the right circumstances, but as it stands, we’re left stuck in an awkward limbo between being given too much and wanting much more.
Originally published by ASHEVILLE MOVIES.
James is a writer, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.