"HELLBENDER" (2021)

A lonely teen discovers her family's ties to witchcraft.

(IMDB)

hellbender 2021 poster.jpeg

WHERE?

Shudder on Amazon Prime Video

WHY?

I like well-done supernatural horror and thought the movie trailer was decent. Check it out here: Hellbender - Movie Trailer

THOUGHTS?

2021's HELLBENDER was a quaint but engaging coming-of-age story for a young American witch who lives with her mother in the mountains near a small town.

I thought it was impressive that a family made and starred in this movie.

The opening scene and build-up of discomfort between mother and daughter, along with some decent special effects and beautifully-kaleidoscopic dream sequences, kept my attention until the film's end.

I found almost every shot of the film so centered, or well-angled, that each felt picturesque and worthy of being a movie poster.

Without spoiling too much, there's some really cool scenes with keys and voodoo stick-formations.

The acting is pretty subtle, never cranking up the emotion too high or beyond the main actors talents.

Unfortunately the ending felt rushed and confused me with its inclusion of special effects that felt bizarrely sub-par compared to every other previous instance of special effects in the film.