Anyone who has had the great pleasure of seeing the previous two films from the filmmaking collective known as the Adams Family (parents John Adams and Toby Poser, daughters Zelda and Lulu Adams)—The Deeper You Dig and Hellbender, easily one of last year’s best horror offerings—knows there is something special and twisted about the way these folks create. And the indie horror community is all the better for it. They not only write, direct, produce, and star in their films, but they operate the cameras, handle some of the special effects, and even write the songs and score featured in their latest work, Where the Devil Roams. They are the complete creepy package, and their films are beautifully realized and utterly original.
Perhaps not by coincidence, Where the Devil Roams centers on another type of unconventional family, living and surviving the Great Depression by working as sideshow performers on the dying carnival circuit. In order to attract any clientele, the acts at this carnival perform what is basically a horror show, with acts that combine fire-and-brimstone incantations with straight-up devil worship. The family have a singing act (with mute daughter Eve singing—the only way she communicates with words), which doesn’t generate much of an audience. But when Eve notices that one of their fellow performers has an act in which he cuts off his fingers and they mysteriously are reattached to his hand for the next performance, she steals the ancient artifact that allows this trick to work. What she doesn’t realize until it’s too late is that the artifact requires an incantation in order to work, and since she doesn’t speak, this presents an issue when she uses it to save her parents during a particularly brutal attack that they suffer after breaking into a house on their journey between carnival setups.
It’s probably worth mentioning that even before this attack, the family has this habit of killing anyone who crosses them, with the mother being especially murderous and the father eager to teach Eve the finer points of body dismemberment (don’t cut into the bone, children). The casual nature of these killings almost makes them more horrific, and the way that Eve innocently takes beautiful black-and-white photos of their handiwork is unsettling. Still, the closeness and protective nature of this family is strangely moving and forces the audience to care about these killers, even when they murder someone who isn’t a threat to them. We want them to make it to their next destination unscathed, and when that objective is threatened, we want Eve to keep her brood together. Sadly, her misunderstanding of the ritual to keep her parents with her leads to some grotesque outcomes.
Where the Devil Roams has an early-Lynchian quality to it, especially with its emphasis on droning music, beautiful singing voices, and its artistic devotion to haunting composition and never being in a rush to get where it's going. The second you get impatient with this film, something hellish and frequently unexpected is unleashed. And get ready for a helluva final shot. I realize the Halloween season is behind us, but seek this one out like a fine after-dinner drink after gorging on mainstream horror for the last month.
The films begins its limited theatrical run on Friday, followed by its digital release on November 7.