Hell Hole

This movie could have been cult status if it would have taken itself more seriously. It puts you In the vein of The Thing, Hidden, Alien,, and so many other Scifi cult classics. The special effects was excellent, everything we want and need in these Science fiction movies. The acting was somewhat ok, the storyline was cliche but the protagonist creature was original. A fracking crew working deep in the Serbian wilderness uncovers a parasitic creature. This movie is from the filmmaking family behind Hellbender. The creature needs a human/body to host. Toby Poser and her husband John Adams true to the horror genre.

The entire film takes place on Mount Rtanj, in an abandoned mine building with the same name. The history of this mine is very rich, and I suggest that viewers of the film explore it.

The story is thin. The acting is terrible. The dialogues are tragic. Literally, nothing in this film is good, but I still had a lot of fun. The plot is as transparent as gauze, and not only has it been seen a thousand times, but it's also been executed perfectly in at least a hundred other films. In this film, as a native Serb, I find a comedic aspect that someone who isn't from Serbia probably wouldn't notice.

The constant mixing of Serbian with English is very well thought out and adds an interesting element to the film.

The characters from Serbia are portrayed very accurately. Their knowledge of English is very poor, they are stupid and uneducated (and all of them are armed - which might be a bit exaggerated). In the film, the use of Slovenian and Macedonian languages can be noticed in fragments. The final scene is interesting and presents a view of Slovenian daily newspapers. By the way, I hope the sequel to this film is never made!

All in all, I think this film should be avoided entirely, and I only enjoyed it because my native language is used in a rather humorous way.

I am a fan of Adams family. I have watched both "The Deeper You Dig" and "Hellbender". Good movies, especially Hellbender, by those talented artists who obviously love a lot the horror genre, and they try to leave their mark on it. I respect their effort, with the means they have at their disposal. These are not groundbreaking movies though, neither great ones. Their movies are not scary neither much intense. For example, HELLBENDER is something like a "Coming of age/indie/art horror". It's easy to make a garbage movie like every other horror movie nowadays, with masked killers or demons killing everyone, but this is just a copy of a copy of a copy. Adams' movies have identity and their movies are kinda unique.

That doesn't mean they're very good. And "Hell hole" is my least favorite movie of them. Of course it's not scary as expected but at the same time, it's not much intense neither interesting. Keep in mind though, this is more comedy than horror. At least, i saw it that way. And when i understood what this is about, i had a lot of fun, there were even some hilarious scenes during the last 20 minutes.

So, it's important to lower your expectations and undestand what this is about. If you expect something as i described it, you will find this movie entertaining as well.

In any case, this is definitely not a MUST WATCH movie and i expect something better in the future. HELL HOLE is not a failure imo but neither a step forward by those film makers.

Hell Hole is one of those rare horror films that manages to feel both familiar and completely fresh at the same time. While the core story is nothing new Virus/Host, the execution is anything but ordinary. From the opening scene sequence set in Napoleonic times involving a horse.

One of the film's standout strengths is its cast of characters. I do't get the hate for their acting. They actually feel like real people, not the usual Hollywood stereotypes cutouts. They're flawed, likable, and grounded, which makes the tension hit harder I actually cared what happened to them. The father who ends up walking into the lake and Danko, in particular, gives a good performance, they brought quiet intensity and authenticity to his role.

The mix of Serbian and English in the dialogue added a unique cultural layer that gave the world more depth, and it never felt forced. It just fit. The creature design was also pretty good, creepy and unique without leaning too hard into cliché.

Visually, the cinematography had a distinct, almost beauty to it that set the tone perfectly for this bleak place, and the music deserves special mention. Many did not like it, I did, it was almost like a character of its own.

Overall, Hell Hole is a refreshingly original take on classic horror elements, I also welcomed the sense of humanity. And remember the budget was only one million dollars, not a lot today ! Definitely worth a watch, and decide on your own if you like it or not. I know I've seen hundreds of worse horror movies than Hell Hole.

Well . . . If you can sit through the clumsy writing, pregnant pauses and 90s-style soundtrack, this will do as a creature feature that you can watch while doing laundry, vacuuming, or making bird houses. The basic plot is familiar: a team of frackers, joined by scientists and eco-types, unearth a critter that time had forgotten, therein accidentally unleashing a monster on the land.

Nobody in HH can act, with the exception of director/actor Toby Posner, who does the best she can with the limited material. (Frankly, had the delivery of the lines by the other actors been tightened up a few notches, this movie would have been fairly decent.) What budget was on hand was spent on the creature, which is admittedly pretty decent for a low budget movie.

Can''t say I recommend it, but if it is the only thing on, you could do worse.