Indie Horror Thriller ‘Hannah Goes to Hell’ Casts Krysy Fox, Adrienne Barbeau, and Aaron Abrams
“Hannah Goes to Hell” is an upcoming work of independent horror, a sector of filmmaking that has a long history of giving talented no-name actors their big breaks. On the other hand, there are those actors who’ve never broken out into the mainstream but have found a place as indelible genre-film mainstays. The cast of “Hannah Goes to Hell,” the sophomore effort of director Anne Welles, reads like a roll call of horror regulars, old and young.
A Second-Time Director, a Women-Led Production, a Mother-Daughter Acting Duo
In addition to directing “Hannah Goes to Hell” (which follows numerous short films and her 2017 feature debut, “An Accidental Zombie Named Ted“), Anne Welles will co-produce through her company, SlackJaw Film, which she co-founded with an aim towards making compelling genre films that provide great roles for women.
The other founder and producer of SlackJaw is Krsy Fox, an actress whose filmography is very horror-heavy. Her first-ever role was a very small one (playing a character credited as “Tanis Vampire #1”) in 2006’s “Underworld: Evolution”; much more recently, she has appeared in the horror anthology “Allegoria” (2022), 2024’s demonic-haunting flick “Little Bites” (in which she played the lead role, and which she also co-produced), and “Terrifier 3” from the same year.
It almost goes without saying that Fox will have a prominent acting credit in “Hannah Goes to Hell.” Indeed, she will portray the titular Hannah. She’ll be acting alongside her daughter, Elle Riot Fox, who will play none other than the daughter of Hannah. The younger Fox previously acted with her mother in “Little Bites,” but this role wasn’t nearly as prominent, nor did it provide such unique life-art symmetry. In the upcoming film, Hannah is a widow, and her venture into Hell is actually her return, with her daughter, to the haunted town where she grew up and where she must now help care for her very ill mother.
Heads Up, Fans of Classic Carpenter!
Hannah’s mother will be played by a veritable icon of 1980s genre fare: Adrienne Barbeau. This 80-year-old actress is best known for her leading roles in John Carpenter’s “The Fog” (1980) and Wes Craven’s “Swamp Thing” (1982). In the former, she plays a radio DJ who uses her occupation as best she can to help her coastal California town as it is besieged by vengeful ghosts. In “Swamp Thing,” which is an incongruously (from a modern perspective, at least) low-budget DC Comics adaptation, she portrays the researcher with whom the titular monster is besotted.
Barbeau’s other credits include Carpenter’s “Escape from New York” (1981), George Romero’s anthology “Creepshow” (1982), and a 1989 exploitation comedy that you’ve probably never heard of but are guaranteed to remember for its title alone: “Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death.” In subsequent decades, she’s appeared in 1998’s “Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island” (it may be family-friendly, but don’t try to claim it isn’t horror), the 2017 horror-icon roll-call flick “Death House,” and the 2018 Bigfoot horror film “Big Legend.” Her “Hannah Goes to Hell” role of a bedridden mother would seem to be a thanklessly passive one, but who are we to fear that Barbeau won’t find a way to make it her own?
Plenty More Names for the Horror Roll Call
In any case, Hannah won’t be alone as she deals with her mother’s illness and her hometown’s mounting supernatural evil. Her brother will be played by Aaron Abrams, who has acted in a lot of TV series – horror (“Hannibal”) and otherwise (“Children Ruin Everything,” “Rookie Blue,” “Blindspot”) – as well as this year’s slasher film “Clown in a Cornfield.” Other recognizable names in “Hannah Goes to Hell” include Kirby Bliss Blanton (“The Green Inferno”), Daniel Roebuck (“Final Destination”), and Yoson An (“Heart Eyes“).
“Hannah Goes to Hell” is slated to begin filming in Los Angeles later in December; no release dates have yet been announced.
