A genre film festival simply isn’t a genre film festival without The Adams Family. The filmmakers, musicians, and real-life family – made up of John Adams, Toby Poser, Zelda Adams, and Lulu Adams – have taken the horror world by storm ever since the release of Rumblestrips more than a decade ago. Since then, the Adamses have released several beloved films that made waves on the festival circuit, such as The Deeper You Dig, Where The Devil Roams, Hellbender, and most recently, the haunting Mother Of Flies.
As they say, there’s no rest for the wicked, and a year since Mother Of Flies played FrightFest, the Adamses are back with their latest release, The Glorious Dead. Enjoying its international premiere at this year’s festival, The Glorious Dead follows small-town sheriff Deb (Toby), who recently lost her beloved husband Hank (John), and her deputy Mikey (Zelda), as they answer a series of strange calls. Blood drops from taps, all of the animals in the town have vanished, and people appear to be going missing too. But most unusual of all, the dead appear to be coming back to life, and paranoia runs rampant among the community.
Following in the footsteps of their previous work, The Glorious Dead is another delightfully bizarre instalment in the Adams filmography, offering a twisty mystery that arguably poses more questions than it answers. The filmmakers thrust you into a world where you have to let logic and reason go and simply accept the facts being thrust at you just as Deb and Mikey do. When faced with the strangest of occurrences, they waste no time questioning their reality and continue their investigation between several lengthy, Lynchian monologues that give you an insight into who they are, while still keeping the shroud of mystery firmly in tact.
As the narrative winds on, The Glorious Dead barely explains the strange happenings in the town, lurching from one strange happening to the next as bodies rise from the ground, unusual fleshy creatures stalk the snow-covered surroundings, and holes compared to orifices begin appearing in people’s backyards. Rather than feeling unsatisfying, however, considering how many plot threads become tangled and the lack of solid answers, The Glorious Dead is a deliciously unnerving piece of cinema that becomes increasingly haunting and gripping with each new curiosity. There’s also plenty of action, fight scenes, and gore on offer through its tight 80-minute runtime, with the brutality ratcheting up as the town becomes increasingly scared by the impending apocalypse.
Toby delivers an incredible performance as Sheriff Deb, haunted by the loss of her husband while trying to maintain an air of calm authority while dealing with a panicking town and increasingly disturbing phenomena. Her relationship with Mikey is fascinating to watch unfold, with Zelda offering some comic relief in the role with rib-tickling observations that cut through the sense of hopelessness permeating every scene. The ensemble cast is similarly captivating as the oddball residents of the town, helping to maintain the uncomfortable energy the Adamses cultivate from the very first scene right through to The Glorious Dead’s bonkers final act.
The Adams Family have always had a penchant for the weird and wonderful, and The Glorious Dead might just be their most unique film yet. The slow-burn mystery boasts solid performances, disturbing imagery, and a head-scratching story that is sure to prove divisive among horror fans. The Adamses continue to cement themselves as filmmakers who make bold decisions and retain a strong, artistic vision through each of their projects, ignoring what may prove popular to the masses and simply making the films they want to make, amassing a dedicated fanbase in the process excited for whatever they do next. And after The Glorious Dead, they’re sure to have legions more eagerly anticipating their next project.
The Glorious Dead had its international premiere at FrightFest 2026 on Sunday, August 30
