Shudder Saturday: Hell Hole (2024)

While I very much appreciate the work of the Adams family, a film-making unit who have spent years writing, directing, and starring in their own low-budget movies, I've sadly yet to watch more of their filmography after thoroughly enjoying Hellbender. Seeing that Hell Hole was now available did make me consider visiting some of their other features first, but then I decided that I would instead just check in with them on their latest outing.

This is the tale of a fracking crew that ends up in trouble when it accidentally digs up the cocooned body of a French man. The man is still alive, but he doesn't want to be. That's because he has some kind of parasite living inside him, one that shows itself occasionally by protruding from his ears or nostrils. The crew aren't sure of what to do, but their remote location means that they can hopefully deal with the situation before it becomes a problem for too many other people. 

Shot in Serbia, this feels like someone offered the Adams family access to a great location that they then planned a movie around. Things may not have happened that way, but the fact that they make such great use of the setting, with some lovely establishing shots reminding you of how isolated and at the mercy of the environment and weather the main characters are, makes me think they did. Thankfully, they came up with another fun genre sandbox in which they could play around.

Co-directors John Adams and Toby Poser, who also co-wrote the movie with Lulu Adams, also take on a couple of main roles, playing two of the people in charge of the whole crew. This allows them to remain as the decision-makers for most of the runtime, trying to figure out what is best for the safety of everyone around them, but it also gives viewers familiar with their work a couple of familiar individuals to worry about as things begin to get more dangerous. Adams and Poser head up a small cast that also includes Olivera Perunicic, who manages to do well with what she's given, Maximum Portman, Bruno Veljanovski, Petar Arsic, Joana Knezevic, Boris Lukman, and a cameoing Anders Hove. The quality of the performances may vary somewhat, but nobody stinks.

It's a shame that the same cannot be said for parts of the screenplay. The first half of the movie is full of exchanges that just don't work as well as they should. There isn't enough jargon and work talk being thrown around to ensure that the setting is as fully-realised and detailed as it could be, and the workplace banter feels a bit strained (with Adams and Poser a lot less comfortable in their roles until they can start to focus on the parasitic horror side of things). There's a general feeling of everything being a bit bigger and more ambitious this time around, compared to past films from this collective, but it's admirable that this doesn't completely drown out the interesting and unique voices of film-makers who have been crafting a rich and rewarding filmography for just over a decade now.

There will be many who dislike this, especially if they keep trying to compare it to the classics influencing it, but I would encourage most horror movie fans to give it a go. There are some fun special effects throughout, interesting conversations about the nature of the beast, and self-preservation, and a third act that somehow manages to mix tension, gloopiness, and an ending that will leave you with a wry grin on your face as you consider how well it ties together a number of important thematic strands.

While not the best feature from the Adams family, this is still very good, and they are still incredibly deserving of your time and support. Do check it out, and please let me know if you end up enjoying it as much as I did.

7/10

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