The Adams Family Talk Their Snowy Horror The Glorious Dead at Fantastic Fest (INTERVIEW)

If you’re a horror fan, you probably know the Adams Family (not to be confused with The Addams Family) — the family of independent horror filmmakers putting out some of the coolest micro-budget work there is. Their latest film, The Glorious Dead, is arguably their most ambitious outing yet, following a small-town sheriff unearthing a mystery in the wake of the Rapture.

We at FandomWire got to speak with Toby Poser, Zelda Adams, and Lulu Adams about their latest film, their approach to low-budget horror, and what is next in the pipeline for the prolific family of filmmakers.

The Glorious Dead Interview

I’ve been watching your films since Hellbender, so it’s been really cool getting to see you evolve as you’ve grown up; how these stories are changing from the coming-of-age stories that were the earlier ones to now playing adult characters. So how exciting do you see it to play these different types of roles?

Zelda Adams: It’s so so fun. Yeah, it felt really weird playing somebody like a deputy in The Glorious Dead. I was like, “Wait, I’m too young to play a deputy,” then I was like, “No, I’m not. I’m freaking 22 years old. I can do that now.” So it’s really fun, and I can’t wait until I’m 80 years old, looking back on how the roles have changed since I was six and [Lulu was] 11.

Lulu Adams: I love it because it also keeps it new every time. We’re always trying to do something new in our films and talk about what’s going on for us. But it’s so fun to evolve and try different roles and see my family play different roles.

Toby Poser: Ditto. It’s just fun to step into new skin every time, and I’m grateful that we have an opportunity to play like that.

You mentioned how you like doing something different with every film, and I really like that with you guys, each film is a slightly different subgenre. What excites you about working with these different styles and approaches to horror?

Toby Poser: I think if we’re going to be making movies for a long time, which I hope we are, you have to allow yourselves to expand. So every time it’s a great opportunity. It’s almost like a challenge — let’s do something new.

Zelda Adams: I agree. That’s one of the perks of horror is that there’s so many different directions that you can go in, and so many routes of fun and making up your own rules. So that’s why we were really excited about this movie: because it felt like something really different for us — a different kind of horror — so it was just an adventure.

I think one thing that stood out to me about The Glorious Dead in particular was that, like your other films, there’s some very heavy subject matter, but this one had a lot more humor in it. Why did you think that was an important part of telling this story?

Toby Poser: I think the darker you go, you have to give yourselves the humor as well. Same thing with love. The more hate you have, the more love you have room for. That humor is always important for us. We laugh a lot. We have a twisted sense of humor. And I think if you just believe what you’re doing, the natural humor will come out.

Zelda Adams: Yeah. Also, our motto going into this movie was we just wanted to have fun. We wanted this movie to be fun, so I think just as a result, we definitely had some humor in it — at least I hope.

And for you guys, what do you think was the most fun part of it? Was it the action side of things? The monster side of things? What did you have the most fun making?

Zelda Adams: I love the action side of it. We have such a fun sequence in the end. I had a great time running around, going crazy, playing with props and blood. That was really fun for me. And also because we both grew up playing soccer, so we’re both really athletic. So getting to do that in front of the camera was just a blast.

Lulu Adams: To add onto that, because of soccer, I played the monster with my father, and I really enjoyed the action sequences too because there’s one where I get to kick a head and it was so fun. But I couldn’t see in the costume, so it was fun trying to get the right technique. But again, you’re kicking a head. It was just so playful.

Toby Poser: I think that’s how the Mayans actually created soccer. I think they were kicking around skulls. I really enjoyed working with my dear friend, Judith Roberts, who plays my mother in the film. She’s such an icon, and she’s the loveliest human on Earth. So that was really a standout moment that I’ll never forget.

I do want to talk a little bit about the monster — I thought the design was awesome. How did you guys come up with that idea?

Toby Poser: Well, we have a lot of leftover silicone skin and prosthetics and body parts that this cool guy James Bell makes, and we recycle them through all of our films. Like for the past seven years, we’ve been using some of those same things, and we’ll probably rip them apart eventually from the costume and use them in other films. So it came like that.

And we wanted the monsters to be humanoid because the more familiar they are, the more eerie it is. Because they’re monstrous and ‌terrifying, but they’re also human and familiar.

Yeah, and being in the costume — how did that feel?

Lulu Adams: It was amazing. It was uncomfortable in many ways, but it kind of helped me get into the role, as well as I was the warmest of all of them. It was still f**king cold. It was dead winter, and we had so much snow. Mother Nature really was giving us that winter snow that we needed for the film.

But I think everyone else was much colder than I was, and I had this great suit that kept all the heat in, and it was quite a heavy suit as well. I loved it. It was so immersive because I was very much in that suit and I loved looking at it in the mirror or when people drove by us, I was like, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” I was terrifying the neighbors.

That’s really interesting because normally you hear about heavy prosthetics being overwhelming and oppressive, but in the winter, that makes sense. I love the wintry vibe of this one. Was that always the intention to set this in winter, or is it something you just kind of stumbled into with the shooting schedule?

Toby Poser: Yeah, we knew we wanted a winter film. We only had Zelda for a short time. Lulu was home for a rare change. And we love blood on snow. We think winter’s gorgeous, the Catskills in particular, and the Northeast had a doozy of a winter, and we just took advantage of it.

I hope I’m not speaking out of turn with this, but your performance particularly, I felt a lot of Frances McDormand from Fargo. I wanted to know, were there any influences that you were looking toward when writing and performing your character?

Toby Poser: I love her. And we knew that there were going to be some connections to that because she’s such an iconic winter sheriff woman, and that’s a high compliment because she’s the coolest. But we thought it was important to show these characters of authority whose life is all about order when order is completely thrown into the wind. So once you step into that costume, it was like, “I know who this is, and I know what a small town is like, and I care for my small town like a sheriff would.”

A lot of your films are more ensemble-driven, but I think in The Glorious Dead, you are clearly the lead. Was that a cognizant approach that you wanted a “starring vehicle” for yourself, or was it just the story you wanted to tell?

Toby Poser: There was a convenience to it because we only had Zelda, I think, two weeks on Winter Break. But originally, John was going to be the character, and I was not even going to act in the film. Then we realized we were starting to build the story, and we thought, “No, this should be a small-town woman who’s lost her husband.” And he kind of prefers to be behind the camera, and I needed my health insurance through SAG, so it was like, “Let’s roll.”

A lot of your films are made very economically, I would say, but do you find this low-budget approach limiting or liberating?

Toby Poser: Liberating. 100%. When you are not under the pressure of money and you don’t have to answer to anyone, the resources you have are enough. Like sometimes, filmmakers will say, “Well, I need money” or this and that, but in the time you’re waiting for that money, you could be making some good s**t. Just start making it.

And we are happy with our resources. It just makes our imaginations explode by using what you have. It makes you focus on the story as opposed to the bells and whistles. So it’s an incredible gift, and we take a lot of cues from Mother Nature and the universe that are always dropping us beautiful hints. Whether it’s a cool tree or a carcass in the snow, we are going to use what is given to us, and it is more than enough.

Zelda Adams: I completely agree. I think what people might consider our disadvantages really are our advantages. We work with one small camera. We have a Ronin Steadicam. But because of that, we can just go out and film within a matter of ten minutes. And if we don’t get what we need on a certain day, we go home, we put it in Premiere Pro, check it out, and we can go out and shoot again the next day.

There’re no bounds to creating when you work with a small crew and you’re willing to get creative with what you have, and it pushes us into creativity and individuality. It really pushes you to make up things as you go that I think then become way more original. And it’s also just enjoyable to create and brainstorm together while we’re having lunch.

You guys are making these movies at a pretty incredible pace of one a year, basically. Obviously, you love making movies, but do you guys intend to continue this? Do you think it’s sustainable in the long term?

Toby Poser: I do.

I’m curious — how many do you map out in advance, or are you finishing one and then starting the next one?

Zelda Adams: I think that’s it. We kind of finish one, and then we’re doing the festival circuit, and we start thinking, “Okay, well, what’s next?” Because we love making these movies, we love showing them at the festivals. What feels feasible for us? Where is each of us going to be within the next year? So it’s kind of assessing what the four of us are doing and which idea we have that’s been bouncing around feels like the best one to get started on.

Toby Poser: We’re actually shooting our next one as we’re on the circuit. It’s got a very different vibe. It’s going to be our most urban and kind of nasty little global — I call it a giallo. It feels like a giallo to me. It’s very different and gritty, and I’m really excited.

I think in your films, and especially this one, the soundtrack plays a big role in making it feel so propulsive. Can you talk a bit about the music in your films?

Zelda Adams: We have a band together called H6llb6nd6r, and it’s so fun making the music for each of our films because it feels like such a strong spine for all of our films. And this one, we really wanted to do something different. A lot of it was John in your bedroom, making the score for this movie, and he told all of us that he was really looking to do something a bit more stoner metal rock to match the dark, hell, devil vibe. And more instrumental too — less lyrics to push the story along. It’s just really fun getting to create with a new sound.

Well, you guys are obviously very prolific independent filmmakers, so I want to know, big picture, what do you think is the future of independent filmmaking?

Toby Poser: I think independent filmmaking is at a great spot because you don’t have to have tons of money to shoot something that looks great. For instance, our new one, we’re shooting a lot of it on a little Osmo and a phone because we’re using an effect that those actually work better with, that John’s editing with. The kind of camera we use anyway is a Canon C70. It’s lightweight. It’s not too expensive. So I think people have the opportunity to show what artists they are, and I think they’re going to keep doing it. You guys, you’re younger than me — what do you think?

Lulu Adams: Yeah, I think to be born out of that, it is so much more accessible nowadays. And even films like [Tangerine] being shot on their phones, and young filmmakers — recently it was Obsession and Backrooms — I feel like it’s so much more accessible and loved as well to be so raw and low-budget. I think it is a great time, and I just hope it means that more people from all backgrounds are making films.

Zelda Adams: Yeah, I agree. And I think a lot of the future of indie filmmaking is in horror, and we’ve been feeling that a lot this past year. And if you look at found footage, that’s such a testament to being able to make a movie with minimal technology. So yeah, I think horror is gonna birth a lot of amazing indie films and filmmakers.

Toby Poser: Amen.

The Glorious Dead screened at the 2026 edition of Fantastic Fest, which ran September 17-24 in Austin, TX.