The Hole (2009)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Finding a seemingly infinite hole in the basement of their new home. Two brothers and the girl next door soon find their fears start coming to life. Not a particularly original concept, playing with fears either conscious or not but always a good opportunity for some inventive scares. I believe this was Joe Dante's 'comeback' after a few years in a directing Haitus. At the time I remember being interested, along with John Carpenters 'the ward' which was his first feature in a decade. The Ward I watched with unspectacular results. The hole doesn't make a promising start as we are introduced to the two stiff lead brothers, they crawl into their role eventually but are largely unemotive (is that a word?). It's the introduction early on to Haley Bennet who plays the girl next door that really lights up the film. She is the star, and does an amazing job with some of the more drub dialog. She is the key for making the relationships believable. Bruce Dern gets five minutes to chew the scenery, which is an added bonus. The hole (in 3D, which I forget about and counts for some of the bad visuals) gets straight on with the horror, the horror is family friendly and really does play to its target audience. Age old fears are played with - toy clowns, what's under the bed etc. Nothing new for anyone with even a vague knowledge of the genre. There are effective scares here as Dante plays with an unnerving tone, there is an over reliance on score but it doesn't bother too much. There are some outrages character decisions as the tale becomes more fantasy than horror. You really just have to skip over that. In the end The Hole is an entertaining teen horror, the fast pace is ideal to cover plot holes and it's never dull if all a little predictable.

This is really a kids film. I went in expecting something more like the Ring or Ouji and taking the blurb to heart I was prepared for some spooky creepiness. I wasn't disappointed with the special effects, and the creepy girl crawling back into the hole definitely got my attention, but the pace and dialogue are definitely aimed at engaging and relating to a pg audience and not really scary or interesting by horror movie standards. Also, the acting was really pretty lame, the little boy was OK, but the other two had such forced and stilted interactions with each other and the other characters that it was actually an effort not to just give up watching part way through. It felt very compartmentalized and I was honestly disappointed at the lack of deaths happening, not even deaths off-screen or something. The old guy who owned the place before the family moved in promised they would all die, but it didn't even come close, 0 out of 3(4?)! When the clown doll didn't grow Freddy claws and slaughter the kid I knew something was up and that is when I looked it up on my phone here and saw that the rating was pg13 and I just sat through the rest of it ashamed for myself and the movie.

Why You Might Like It: This is a pretty solid thriller/horror film that will spark your interest early and keep you watching. The suspense of what is in the "Hole" will keep you entertained and there is a serviceable amount of creepy/scary moments. I thought the overall story was well done and played out well on the screen. This film has a nice pace to it and is likely to keep most viewers entertained.Why You Might Not Like It: I think the biggest problem with the film is the fact that it doesn't seem to have a targeted audience. It seems a bit too serious/creepy for kids, but not serious/creepy enough for adults. There were also scenes toward the end that I thought were a bit too much, which made them seem more goofy than scary. The acting in spots is noticeable and bad, but it doesn't ruin the movie.Acting/Casting: 4.5* Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 6*Plot/Characters: 5.5* Entertainment Value: 6* Total - 4.5+6+5.5+6 = 22/4 = 5.5*

When I stumbled upon this movie at my local library, I was really surprised. A movie directed by cult director Joe Dante that I hadn't heard of? Usually there is a good reason a movie by a famed director goes direct to DVD, but I was intrigued enough to bring the movie home and watch it for myself.It didn't take long for the movie's main problem to come up. Have you ever seen the "Goosebumps" TV show? This is what this movie feels like for the most part. The lighting, photography, and general production values feel EXACTLY like those found in the TV show. Also, the script feels like one from the TV show, but stretched out to three or four times that length. This movie really takes its sweet time for the first sixty minutes or so.Still, as slow as the movie gets at times, I can't say I was bored at any moment (though it got close to being boring several times.) There are a couple of amusing cameos by some famous B movie stars. And the last half hour does have some impressive low budget special effects and sets. So there is some positive stuff in this movie, but I'm not sure if there are enough such things to warrant you going out of your way to tracking down a copy of this movie.