The Hole

Foolishly I thought this was a horror, and a few minutes in I realised my error, that it was a family film, worse still an attempt at a family horror, but I did preserve, and to some extent I found it rather satisfying.

It's almost like a modern day Goonies, with an adventure for a group of plucky kids. Definitely family entertainment, with no violence or scares, the best entertainment comes from the creepy clown, which is actually very well designed, and wouldn't look out of place in a real horror.

It's a bit cliche ridden, but it's watchable. 6/10

Susan (Teri Polo) and her sons Dane (Chris Massoglia) and Lucas Thompson (Nathan Gamble) move from Brooklyn to Bensonville, in the countryside. Dane is upset with the constant changes of address and the family has lived in many cities. Lucas and Dane befriend their next door neighbor, the gorgeous Julie (Haley Bennett) and the brothers find a bottomless hole in the basement of their house locked with several padlocks. They take the locks off and sooner they are haunted by their darkest fears. Further, they believe that the hole might be a gateway to hell.

"The Hole" is a fantasy film directed by Joe Dante, with a story that is a compilation of several horror movies. I immediately recall "The Gate", "House" (1996); "Child Play" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" as direct references. This forgettable movie is entertaining and Haley Bennett is very beautiful. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Buraco" ("The Hole")

"You've got a gateway to hell under your house and that's really cool." Susan (Polo) and her sons Dane (Massoglia) & Lucas (Gamble) have just moved into a new house. Dane is upset about having to move again and that isn't helping to make the move easy. When he meets the girl next door he finally has a friend and they start to explore the house. When the stumble upon a door in the floor of their basement then unknowingly open a gateway to hell and become haunted by their darkest fears. Going in I honestly expected this to be a cheesy teen-ager type horror. While it was geared toward teens this movie was actually not bad at all. This is a horror movie but it's done by the same director of the "Gremlins" movies so it's not scary scary but it is very entertaining and fast paced. There are quite a bit of disturbing scenes and images in this but nothing that will keep you up with nightmares so that is always good. The movie was made a few years ago and just now getting released but I would compare this to "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark" in terms of plot and idea. If you liked that movie you will like this one too. I enjoyed it. Overall, an entertaining and a little creepy movie that was much better then I expected. I give it a B+.

My first encounter with the world of Joe Dante was almost twenty years ago when i caught a glimpse of Gremlins at the tender age of four. At the time I was horrified, but as I grew up it soon became one of my favourite films, instantly capable of transporting me back to a time when horror films used to scare me. I was hoping that Dante would be able to recapture this magic, and The Hole left me wishing that I was a pre-teen with a wild imagination once again, heading into a horror film for the very first time. This made me very jealous of the younger crowd in the audience as they were clearly stuck fast in their seats, horrified by the visions that unfolded before them - their silence spoke louder than any screams - and desperate for the frightening film to end.

The nightmare begins when a single sprightly mother, her angst-ridden adolescent son Dane and nervous pre-teen Lucas move into a new house in a strange neighbourhood, only to discover a seemingly bottomless pit locked away under a trapdoor in the basement. Curiosity gets the better of the boys and it is not long before they lower a camera into the mysterious hole in an attempt to film the unknown, but, as video footage shows in one of the films eeriest moments, some things are better left undisturbed.

After exploring the darkness underneath the trapdoor, the boys begin to be haunted by strange events, with the hole seemingly preying on their individual fears. This provides the basis for a number of scary moments which are quite effective considering The hole is aimed at a younger audience, but it is unlikely to have any impact on those familiar with recent scary films such as REC and Paranormal Activity. The story still remains intriguing enough to keep older viewers entertained for the most part, and could well bring back long forgotten memories of their first encounters with the world of the supernatural films.

Horror fans hoping for a repeat of Gremlins will be disappointed, but that's not to say that The Hole should be dismissed; its constant references to classic horror films cannot replace the dark, warped humour that made Gremlins so watchable, but certainly adds to the experience for fans of the genre. Numerous scenes invoke connections to Poltergeist and The Gate, with the icing on the cake being a homage to the Hands of Orlac - a very under-rated thriller from 1935 - that I imagine will pass by unnoticed by the majority of viewers due to unfamiliarity with the source material, and they all serve to remind us that Dante is an ardent horror fan and is not afraid to wear his influences on his sleeve.

As a children's horror film The Hole is excellent but unfortunately it fails to surpass the genre classics such as A nightmare before Christmas and Gremlins due to the lack of appeal to an older audience. The story is fairly entertaining and the references to cult classics are a great addition to the film but they are simply not enough to keep older viewers fully engrossed for the ninety minutes running time. I would definitely recommend this film to families with young teenagers and children eager to be scared, as The Hole is a perfect introduction to horror films for those easily scared, and one of Joe Dante's more accomplished directorial efforts.

6/10

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There's a handful of directors who stand as tall as Joe Dante when it comes to movies a kid/teen growing in the 80s grew up with. Joe Dante is a legend, directing such classics as The Gremlins, Explorers, Innerspace, The 'burbs and co-directing Twilight Zone the Movie and Amazon Women on the Moon. Such nostalgia, but like many of his contemporaries, he didn't really make anything noteworthy after those.

Needless to say I was still looking forward to seeing The Hole, which in paper looked like he was kind of returning to his forte - sort of family horror comedy. And that's exactly what it was! I'm already out of the target group, but still I really enjoyed the movie. It's finally a Joe Dante movie that we've been waiting for a long time.

The story is great, a mystery Hole in the floor. Quite a few clichéd horror moments, but that's totally fine, clichés are OK when you do it tongue in cheek and not too seriously. Still I must say I was a bit surprised how tense it got here and there. Spooky stuff.

One of the only real gripes with this movie is the fact that it looks a bit low budget (I'm not sure if 10 mil qualifies as a low budget, it's an awful lot of money). It's got a bit of a TV movie feel. No big stars, good looking but rather small scale sets. Still old Dante fans will love a few cameos and familiar faces.

Other gripe with the movie is that I don't find Chris Massoglias characters very likable. I didn't like him in Cirque du Freak and neither in this movie. The kid brother was so much better actor creating a much more likable character.

Having also seen John Carpenters return movie "The Ward", I'd have to say Dante won this round. I hope these two 80s superstars will still return to form with a real big budget movie showing the younger directors what they're really made of.