Vague Visages’ Where the Devil Roams review contains minor spoilers. The 2023 movie (now on Tubi) stars the filmmakers: John Adams, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser. Check out the VV home page for more film reviews, along with cast/character summaries, streaming guides and complete soundtrack song listings.

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Where the Devil Roams — the best film yet from The Adams Family (Hellbender) — celebrates the spirit of innovation. Described as a “picture show,” the 2023 horror film utilizes a “new magic” premise, with a traumatized family of sideshow carnies hoping to perform on the big stage. Where the Devil Roams stays tonally consistent from the bloody first act to the wild finish line, fully in tune with its spiritual themes.

The Adams Family crafts a superb piece of filmmaking with Where the Devil Roams. On the surface, Toby Poser’s Maggie functions as the narrative foundation, with her sweet soliloquies heavily contrasting with her violent behavior. But it’s the screenplay that holds Where the Devils Roams together, as The Adams Family not only challenges viewers with shifting, discombobulating tones, but also challenges themselves by creating fully-developed, lived-in protagonists (or antiheroes). Maggie, a nurse, leads her vagabond family through trials and tribulations while revealing a dark truth about her upbringing. Meanwhile, Maggie’s country doctor husband, Seven (John Adams), struggles with PTSD due to war flashbacks. The couple’s mute daughter, Eve (Zelda Adams), only speaks when she sings, and let’s just say that the young woman learns to harmonize with a dark energy. Where the Devil Roams has all the heart and soul of The Adams Family’s early dramas, along with the nastiness of their relatively recent horror thrillers like The Deeper You Dig (2019) and the aforementioned Hellbender (2021).

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Where the Devil Roams places the audience in a familiar yet strange setting, creating a customized vibe to complement the practical steampunk aesthetics. For example, modern rock music blends with old-timey costume design; innovative gore drowns out some of the folksy dialogue. And so The Adams Family maintains an off-kilter tone as the focal characters descend deeper into the darkness while targeting rude and demeaning people. Beyond the rock music, various well-placed sound effects allow the audience’s subconscious to take over, whether it’s the snip of a knife or the surgical slashing of human elbows. And each violent act is indeed justified by the tight screenplay, which reveals (and reinforces) the core motivations for each main player. Maggie, Eve and Seven respect each other and themselves; however, they’ve been conditioned by the world to survive by any means necessary.

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The Adams Family’s aesthetic innovations translate to the best performances of their respective moviemaking careers. If Zelda stands out as the clear star with her charisma and musical talent, it’s Toby who holds down the fort with her monologues and unique way of punctuating a scene. And a final act twist in Where the Devil Roams forces John into a unique mode of character acting, one that fits perfectly with the escalating drama. Even Lulu Adams stands out as Axe Girl during a brief yet crucial sequence. Together, The Adams Family and their collaborators produce bloody original work.

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“Did it feel like you were on a rollercoaster?” Maggie says during Where the Devil Roams’ final act — a quiet moment that will undoubtedly resonate with genre fans of all ages. After all, what is modern horror if it doesn’t make one shudder and smile, over and over and over? Even with all the violence stripped away, an alternate cut would still work as a traditional drama, a buddy road movie or perhaps something more in tune with Agnès Varda’s Vagabond (1985). General audiences can access and appreciate The Adams Family’s Where the Devil Roams from various perspectives — the mark of an enduring film.

Where the Devil Roams released in July 2023 via Yellow Veil Pictures. 

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor.

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