Streaming on Shudder Friday, August 23rd
An American group setting up fracking in a foreign land unearths the body of a French soldier who is carrying something that will not work out for him and possibly them.
Written by John Adams, Lulu Adams, and Toby Poser, and directed by John Adams and Toby Poser, the film is possibly the Adams Family’s most fun horror film so far. This one is gooey-er, grosser, pushing different buttons than their usual it seems. This is a fun film with a bit of a message to it that most won’t notice right away or will notice and forget about while the mayhem unfolds. The message is clear here though but will not be spoiled, same with most of the story. What you need to know before getting into this one is that it’s fun, well-written with solid direction, and has a story that is entertaining from start to finish. This is how you make a bit of body horror and include an important message without hammering it home or showing it down the viewers’ throats. This is solid horror filmmaking through and through.
The cast is fairly small and each and every one of them is lovely to watch freaking out when stuff hits the fan. Toby Poser is particularly great to watch here with a bit of mean part, something she seems to have fun with. She’s the central performance no matter what happens here, pulling the eye to her and keeping the attention in many scenes where there is a ton going on. Olivera Perunicic, Bruno Veljanovski, John Adams, and the rest of the cast are fantastic here too. They all give solid performances and make the film one of those that keeps your attention no matter what is happening or being discussed. They all do great with the horror elements once they kick in.
The special effects here are almost a character of their own, taking over at times and becoming the center of attention in a story with plenty to pay attention to. These effects are stunning most of the time with a couple events of CG blood not looking quite right, but this can’t be held against the movie. There are plenty sequences of body horror, gooey grossness, and sheer horror fan joy here to make the few moments when things look off entirely forgivable.
The cinematography by Sean Dahlberg (and team) brings it all together in a cohesive manner, story, direction, acting, special effects, all of it looks fantastic in the images brought to the screen. The work here is lovely to watch, with proper framing, lighting, and all the good things cinematography is supposed to do.
Hell Hole is a fun body horror take from the Adams Family, thus proving their can do just about anything they want and give their viewers a solid film that adds to the subgenre they are playing with. Hell Hole is entertaining as hell, has some great special effects, and the cast gives fantastic performances. This is the kind of fun film that makes a perfect horror fan’s Saturday night.