The Adams Family's filmmaking evolves alongside a body-snatching parasite in Hell Hole

While Adams and Poser have prominent roles (as they typically do), the on-screen absence of their daughters is certainly felt in this production. While eldest daughter Lulu is credited as a co-writer alongside her parents (and whose year abroad in France surely influenced a compelling Francophone component of the film), youngest Zelda appears uninvolved. As a young adult, it obviously makes sense for the magnetic Hellbender star to forge her own path apart from her family’s filmmaking practice. As a current Columbia University student, model and musician, it appears that she’s doing just that; here’s hoping that she continues to be involved in future Adams Family projects down the line as her schedule allows.

What’s more anomalous is the fact that the family brought cinematographer Sean Dahlberg onto the project, a role that is typically also shared by Adams and Poser. While Adams still contributed to the film’s edit and original music, aspects which root Hell Hole in the punk, DIY spirit of their previous works, their presence behind the camera is missed. While Dahlberg—whose credits include a slew of horror films and music videos—is a great match for this ambitious monster movie on paper, he can’t replicate the familial gaze of their previous films. Given their daughter’s lack of pronounced involvement, as well as robust acting duties for Adams and Poser, it makes sense to outsource this department, but the visual sensibility is noticeably different. It’s like giving a stranger a camera to take a family photo—the same smiles and attitudes permeate the picture, but the baked-in quirks of the kin behind the camera will inevitably be replaced by a palpable unfamiliarity.

Of course, the true star of Hell Hole is the creature created by MastersFX, with additional special effects makeup courtesy of Todd Masters. Trey Lindsay, who’s worked with the family since The Deeper You Dig, also contributed visual effects and stop-motion animation, which lend the creature an uncanny yet tangible presence, especially as its tentacles writhe and morph in order to slither into any human orifice available (before you ask, absolutely no holes are off-limits). The film makes an interesting observation by noting that, for some unstated reason, Emily and Sofija are immune to the slithery parasite, which only seeks male hosts to lay its eggs within. Considering that previous Adams Family output have contained interesting musings regarding gender—particularly womanhood and the feminine experience—it’s odd that this plotline didn’t materialize into a stronger thematic preoccupation here, especially with the compounding factor of the monster’s explicitly phallic extremities.

Rejecting their unique brand of Americana folk horror in order to investigate the slimy nature of U.S. international interests, the Adams Family continues to thrive, even if Hell Hole is a marked departure for the team on creative and collaborative fronts. It may not feel like the most emblematic of the family’s close-knit filmmaking style, but it is undeniably branded by their touch, rife with naturalistic dialogue and sludge metal galore. Above all, the film emphatically demonstrates the filmmaking collective’s ability to grow and adapt to change, not unlike the film’s novel body snatcher.

Directors: John Adams, Toby Poser
Writers: John Adams, Toby Poser, Lulu Adams
Starring: John Adams, Toby Poser, Petar Arsić, Aleksandar Trmčić, Marko Filipovic, Anders Hove, Max Portman, Olivera Peruničić
Release Date: August 23, 2024 (Shudder)