GROWING UP IS HELL The sixth feature film from acclaimed filmmakers The Adams Family (The Deeper You Dig), Hellbender is a spell-binding folk horror and coming-of-age story, boiling over with adolescent rage and wicked witchcraft. Teenager Izzy lives in isolation with Mother because she has a rare immune disorder. Or so she is told. After befriending local girl Amber, Lizzy begins to question the reality of her disease. And when she eats a live worm as part of a teenage game, she soon develops a ravenous hunger for living things, learning that she is the latest in a line of “hellbenders”, supernatural beings who possess immensely powerful abilities. Featuring a fantastic punk rock soundtrack with songs from the family’s band, H6LLB6ND6R, this truly unique film expertly blends beautiful and naturalistic cinematography, impressive and stylistic VFX and stunning performances from real-life mother and daughter team, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser.

For in-depth thoughts on Hellbender, please see my colleague Mike Vaughn’s review from its original festival debut here.

Video Quality

Hellbender debuts on Blu-Ray with a 1080p presentation in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio from an HD master that captures the homemade aesthetic with care. The transfer holds up favorably with deep black levels primarily free from crush. Objects are defined in the shadows and retain their depth in low lighting. You may experience a hint of banding in a handful of moments, but it is largely a non-issue. The highlights observe a welcome stability to sidestep potential blooming. There are no ugly digital issues with this one. The practical effects are confidently executed with every unique, stomach-churning element blending peerlessly. The film is alive with grotesque textures and fine detail throughout. This is not the most overly vibrant film, but certain colors come through to wake up the screen, and everything appears accurately saturated. This is a faithful disc that showcases the work as necessary.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with an LPCM 2.0 stereo track that brings this story to life within its creative confines. Dialogue is primarily contained in the center channel with little in the way of expansion. Every exchange is reproduced clearly. The atmosphere conjured by The Adams Family is filled with unsettling effects and an accompanying score that will give your speakers a spine-tingling layer of texture. The songs performed in the film are also pretty rad, and they happen to sound pretty great. Key sequences engage the low end to an extent, but things don’t get too crazy without a dedicated channel. The track does a good job of ensuring neither sound effects nor the music ever overshadows any exchanges. This track accomplishes what it needs to for a favorable listening experience. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.

Special Features

The first pressing of the Arrow Video Blu-Ray of Hellbender includes a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Natasha Ball and Kat Hughes, as well as a filmmaker statement from Toby Poser. This provides a great analysis of the movie, the creative figures, and the themes of the film. The on-disc special features are as follows:

Audio Commentary: Filmmakers Toby Poser, John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Lulu Adams provide an informative commentary track in which they discuss the details of the production, the friends and family who contributed to the film, the shooting locations, continuity mistakes, and so much more that is a lot of fun.

From the Forest She Rises: A new 13-minute visual essay from filmmaker Jen Handorf that explores myth and folklore, women and their connection to nature, parallels to other films, and more.

Black Magic Tricks: A ten-minute featurette on the visual effects of the film by VFX artist Trey Lindsay in which he breaks down a few key shots.

Behind-The-Scenes Footage: A seven-minute selection of fly-on-the-wall footage from the production is provided.

Fort Worden: A 58-second eerie short film from Zelda Adams created during the production of Hellbender is provided.

Music Videos: Music videos produced by the Adams Family for their band H6LLB6ND6R are provided.

- Hit & Run (2024) (3:20)

- Drive (2021) (2:03)

- Lovely (2021) (2:42)

- Black Sky (2020) (2:24)

Trailers

- Hellbender (1:53)

- The Deeper You Dig (2:14)

Final Thoughts

Hellbender is one hell of a coming-of-age story that takes the familiar realm of witchcraft and builds up its own twisted lore. The Adams Family creates films that are very punk rock in both a literal and metaphorical, DIY sense. Some audiences might not appreciate the areas that are rougher around the edges, but the creativity on screen is readily apparent from the earliest frames. Out of all of the films we have seen from the family, this is the one that feels most assured and representative of their ethos. It is a fun, bizarre ride. Arrow Video has released a Blu-Ray featuring a steady A/V presentation and a worthy array of special features. Recommended

Hellbender will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on September 16, 2025.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Arrow Video has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.