Black Hollow Cage

I must warn you people... This one is VERY different. And, like many other reviewers state here, S----L----O-------------------------W...

At first I was kind of into it liking the David Lynch vibe. But, once again, although I do indeed give the director credit for trying, it just shows that there is truly only ONE David Lynch.

Like one of the first 'Helpful' reviews stated above, a really great idea, although fairly simple, but just not executed quite right (at least in my lowly and wretched opinion)

First and foremost... IF you do indeed want to see this film, please do yourself a favour and DO NOT READ OTHER REVIEWS HERE! It's just yet another case where clumsy people state WAY too much either in the title of their review or in the substance of it. I'm sure it's not deliberate, BUT... to me, incredibly stupid (sorry... just trying to save you from ruining whatever miniscule possibility of sparse enjoyment that you MIGHT stumble across in this story)

Yeah, really too bad... I can see that with a much more creative and atmospheric, moody touch, this movie really could have been a hell of a LOT better. Another reviewer here (I ONLY read these User reviews AFTER I see the movies, NEVER before!) was kind of funny in stating how drawn out and very SLOW everything was. And, sadly I must agree... long, lingering takes are one thing, but I'm sorry, but the director although, again, making an effort I'm sure, just didn't have the chops to incorporate what I feel was the right accompanying mood, atmosphere, soundtrack (although at times it was perfect, but only at times) and I cannot for the life of me understand why he felt the need to artificially REALLY drag out the 'dramatic' scenes, particularly. I think I could have gone along with most of the pacing overall, but those scenes where either someone was killed or someone they loved was killed, etc., he drug it out WAAAAAAAAAAY too long.

Also, about the mood... And again, this is only my impression. But, if you wanna go the Lynchian route, just long, slow, cryptic takes are NOT enough. It is the WAY that he does it with mood, style, lighting, and above all SOUND. This director in my opinion just missed all that and I guess figured that simply just slowing everything way, way, way the hell down in and of itself was 'Artistic' enough.

It wasn't... (sorry...)

Like I say, too bad too. If you simply trimmed off the overly extended 'Drama' scenes number 1, and 2nd, added some real mood or other touches that would have given all that slowness some Psychological or Emotional 'Grab' to it, then I think you would have really had something here. Yes, it would still have been super slow and ambiguous (I'm STILL not quite absolutely sure about the ending - I'm going to try to look it up somewhere) but, if done 'properly', at least to me, I think it really could've been pulled off a LOT better than it was. I think that I am being SUPER generous giving it a '6', mainly because the idea was intriguing.

So, my 'recommendation' would be, ONLY as an artistic curiosity, and only, ONLY if you are an EXTREMELY patient person, there is the remote possibility that you might find something here.

Otherwise to everyone else who isn't into VERY slow cinematic experimentation and just wants to see a good, well made Horror / Suspense / Sci Fi film, this will not be the movie for you...

By all means, this movie looks beautiful. Every shot is masterfully lit and composed, I just wish they put as much work into the screenwriting as they did the look of the film. Someone really wanted to stretch 30 minutes of film into an hour and a half feature film. I'm not sure who was responsible for the final product more; the director/writer, screenwriter, producers; but whoever it was should step away from film, it doesn't seem to be their calling.

I'm all for a slow burn, tense movie, but there are shots like a closeup of a characters face, just breathing, for a solid couple of minutes. Nothing tense or suspenseful happening, just a solid few minutes with absolutely nothing going on. No one in the film talks faster than a few words per minute, and that coupled with the fact that this movie doesn't have any kind of musical score makes it feel like a three hour movie. It was actually painful to watch and this is the first time in a long time that I regret watching a movie.

Overall cool idea, just wasted on a seemingly inexperienced director/writer/producers. Without all the still shots, slow shots of characters just walking around the house, closeups of characters just breathing; this movie would be about 30 minutes long.

If you have enough interesting ideas for a watchable seven minute short film but decide to stretch it out to feature length by simply directing your performers to "walk down the hallway slower...No, even slower than that." you would probably end up with this film. Other directorial notes must have included "Stare longer"; "Wait longer before you speak"; and "Cross the room as slowly as you can - don't worry we're not cutting away!" For the record I am a fan of the long lingering take; of strange original visions; of movies that want to play with complex themes and concepts. And here they might have been going for all of that, and just stumbling badly in the process. Watching patiently is one thing- suffering pointlessly is another. Full disclosure; I finally shut it off after an hour eighteen but unless there was an epic scene with flying penguins, exploding elephants, and a chorus of dancing robots after that I can think of no reason to have subjected myself to further boredom.

Was drawn into seeing 'Black Hollow Cage' with a cool poster/cover, a very intriguing and creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

'Black Hollow Cage' is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films have are present here, that to me was somewhat disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. As a film it is actually one of my better and more watchable recent low-budget film viewings though, it's not a great film at all but it is a long way from the mediocre at best and irredeemably awful at worst standard of most recent low-budget viewings, and it could have been so much worse.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky and 'Black Hollow Cage' is surprisingly well shot. The music is suitably moody and adds a good deal to the atmosphere.

Found too that the acting was not bad, doing their best with disappointingly nowhere near enough material to work with.

Also that there were a few nice twists that intrigued and weren't telegraphed too early.

Unfortunately, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. It didn't feel properly resolved or like everything tied up. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. The less said about that weird talking dog the better. The effects are ropy at best.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés and no depth whatsoever (definitely one of the worst assets), while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags with not enough going on worth caring about. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense.

There are a good deal of underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. It is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, with little sense of horror or urgency. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden, inexperience seems to be all over the film. There is little creativity or anything shocking, and it seems to try and incorporate more than one tone and it doesn't always feel very focused tonally.

Other than the script, the sound and editing are the worst assets. The sound is too echoey and often without warning or reason and makes some of the voices sound strange. The editing is haphazard and affects the coherence of some of the goings on and story structure.

In summary, far from great but surprisingly watchable. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Terrible slow-burner. Cringey and annoying acting, obvious twists and absolutely no pay off. You keep watching it in hopes it'll improve and surprise you but it doesn't. I still can't believe I made it to "mom, mom, mom... Ahh, ahh, ahh...". After that I had to fast forward. If you're an architect, the house will be the only take away. And that's what my 3 is for.