User reviews

A sort of a challenge for reviewers.

First time I watched The Hollow, I made the following notes:

* good attempt at film noir.

* overlong and quality fluctuates wildly from scene to scene. Sometimes you think you are watching an A-list production on the big screen and sometimes you think you are watching a stage play at the local dinner theatre.

* nice use of known "character actors" recycled into almost (but not quite) leading roles. Interesting.

* common problem with B-movies (B+ movies?) is that everything is much too clean. Supposedly we are in the deep south on one of the hottest days of the year and all the actors are wearing clothes that look like they are freshly dry-cleaned, no sweat or dirt anywhere, even the cars are shiny like they just left the car wash...?? (To see this done properly, get a copy of In the Heat of the Night!).

* actor playing Ray-Ray pulls ahead of the pack and steals every scene he is in. Real potential, real charisma, real talent.

And then I check out the credits and find the actor I noticed is also the writer, the director and the chief cook-and-bottle-washer.

Not too shabby.

Miles Doleac is more interesting than the movie. He's got mad skills.

I must complain about the polarization of these reviews. This movie is neither a 1 nor a 10. It's a solid somewhere right in the middle. Most of the actors have been around awhile and done interesting work. The hick town is believable and the characters are, too.

Best to me, though, is the script. I swear the dialogue is straight out of my youth.

So haters and trolls, begone. Stop messing with folks who really care.

I just watched this ... thing. Luckily I didn't pay for it. Had I had to have paid for it, I would be really upset. As it is, I was just baffled.

Clearly, anyone who as watched it knows how bad it is and that's the end of that.

For those that have not watched it and who maybe are looking for something to watch and are looking at movie ratings in order to decide, run. Run fast and furiously away from this movie.

Not only is it all levels of bad, but it is so obvious that the people involved in making it tried desperately to lie and manipulate people into watching it through a series of fake reviews.

To begin, as another rater said, in no universe or galaxy anywhere would anyone give this craptacular piece of time-stealing trash anything above a 4, much less a 9 or a 10. I would bet the farm on that and with that in mind, let me do the faker math for you.

Reviewer stevenafillingane IMDb member since January 2017 only one review ever, you guessed it, for this movie rates it a 10, and cannot stop talking about Miles Doleac. A fake review and reviewer if ever there was one. I'd bet 10-1, the director himself as he seems a little angry at the real reviewers.

Reviewers kennedya-73401 and mindibennett both reviewed this AND ONLY The Historian (a film ALSO by - SURPRISE!!! - Miles Doleac), a 10. Obvious fakes and 10-1 another Doleac fake account.

Reviwer michaelscasey-05453 IMDb member since December 2016, one review, for yes, this crapfest of a movie, rating it an 8 and doing a much better job at not appearing to be overly enthused about it, but using basically word-for-word the same verbiage and 'film noir' references as in their other fake reviews, AND Lol ... he just CANNOT help but mention Miles Doleac (again). Mr. Casey goes on to say that the way they speak in this movie is more or less verbatim what he grew up around and that the director Miles Doleac has just moved that on to the big screen. No, Mr. Doleac, it is what you inferred and then translated onto the screen with pretty terrible results.

In closing, I believe that there must be a level of integrity and ethics involved in everything. No, I am not perfect, but I don't THINK I would ever try and fool others into watching something I had filmed, with such an obvious and unabashed series of lies.

Awful film, awful attempt at ratings deception.

Even if it is ever streaming for FREE, skip this one like the plague.

I normally don't review films, but I felt that I just had to say something in the case of this movie because like one of the posters above, I too feel that that "good" reviews are from people associated with the film hoping to ensnare any other gullible soul into paying to watch it.

This movie is a complete waste of film and time, and I am saying that with the utmost sincerity. In my history of watching film (and no, I am not some pretentious film buff, I'm just a person that likes movies), I don't think I have seen another film that is so boring, monotonous, unimaginative and droll with boring, monotonous, unimaginative, droll characters who you really don't care about in any way. In fact, you kind of hope that a hurricane blows through or that an alien abduction happens and that in one fell swoop every character is erased or blown / flown away. Not because you care enough to hate them, but because they bring less than nothing to the screen and they are irritating and jaw- droppingly badly written and acted.

The first two minutes of the film seem okay and then you get the bad country cop, the poor hooker, the cop's idiot partner, the druggie black guy ... and it does not get any better, with the drawling rich bad guy and the faith-spouting Christian woman among others. It is SO bad you sit there and wonder how something this bad could have been green-lit for the big screen. Really, it is very difficult to watch a film where every scene just seems to be far worse than the one before, and yet you don't want to stop watching for the simple fact that you think a film cannot, just cannot, be this bad, and you continue to wait for any kind of moment or scene that will make it worthwhile. Trust me when I tell you however, it is this bad, and nowhere within the running time does it have even one redeemable moment.

It is a depressing film, not only in that it feels cheap and as if no one involved with it actually cared to make it, but in that you wonder what you have going in your life that you opted to watch it.

It is bad enough to where if it were to come on television, I'd advise you to do yourself a favor and skip it.

It was deleted.

Staff, please check before you delete, that it does not violate guidelines, and in fact, the reviews that should be deleted are all the fake ones which probably have the same originating address.

In any case, let me put this debate to rest right now. I'd never seen a film with such polarizing reviews, and neither side quite convinced me. After all, the positive reviews did in fact seem a little too similar in their wording and enthusiasm, and the negative reviews were somewhat harsh. No movie could be that bad, could it? As such, I decided to get to the bottom of this. I looked for clips of The Hollow on You know where and found them plus more.

Without further ado, the bad reviews are correct.

I clicked randomly at first, and every scene I stopped on, topped the last scene for laughably bad. I then went through it again (scanned it, as I couldn't bring myself to watch all of it), in an attempt to find one, just one scene that was good. No such scene exists.

Hopefully this puts the matter to rest, not in that you need to take my word for it, but that you can go catch it yourself.

Miles Doleac is not a good director, writer or actor. In fact, he's a quack and a hack who needs fake reviews to try and convince people his film are any good. The blatant attempts at rigging and manipulating ratings should be exposed. It is my sincere hope that if this director tries it again on anything else he is involved in, people will have a heads up and not fall for it as some did with this garbage.

That a movie doesnt have to have the best plot or even a good one, to be entertaining. What do I mean? It's convoluted, full of stereotypes and cliches, but the acting is fantastic, the dialogue sharp, moves quickly and looks great. Loved the cast with some faces you will know well playing their parts perfectly.

Great movie to turn off your brain, because it wont withstand much scrutiny. Just enjoy the interactions from the hard drinking FBI agent, to the corrupt town elder running the show, the damaged vets, genteel ladies, tough Northerner female FBI agent, the bad cop and his toady, all set against a backdrop of gospel spouting rednecks. Probably will never go back and watch it again, but it kept my attention and that's saying something.

Repulsive movie with slimy characters--even the "heroes"--and sickening plot line. Makes no sense in a world populated by evil, corrupted, or broken people entirely. . Feel like decontaminating from falling into sewer after trying to sit through it, did not make it past 20 min. Left with bad impressions of Mississippi, small towns, even Federal Bureau of Investigation. X-files this is NOT!

I really like how this turned out. A congressman's daughter dies in a triple homicide and a team of F. B. I. Agents starts to investigate as to what exactly happened. Plot really does thicken and the acting and editing helped with the thriller aspect that had me on edge. If your looking for a good weekend movie this is the one!

First of all, if people are going to write fake reviews, they need to be a little less 'enthusiastic' and more realistic when it comes to honestly terrible movies.

There is NO way in the WORLD anyone that is not shilling this movie could give it a 10. There is JUST NO WAY.

The plot is maybe the only thing that deserves 1-Star. The rest is a ZERO. The acting is horrendous. Seriously, you could find better acting on a soap opera. The southern accents are laughable and absurd.

The casting, was horrendous. Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR actresses that look almost exactly the same (I actually thought that would turn out to be a part of the plot, but it wasn't), NO chemistry between the leads, one of the main actors came across as a whiny, crying, sniveling loser instead of what his role placed him as, the others were complete caricatures of a bad parody wherein the butt of the supposed jokes are hillbillies and rednecks, the other main actor just seemed bored and stiff and like he REALLY didn't want to be there. I didn't want to be there either.

It is just utterly BAD. Awful. Horrendously terrible.

IF you actually opt to watch this, DON'T say you weren't warned. Oh, and come back, as penance, and leave a review in order to save another poor schmuck the pain.

This is a film worth watching. A well put together suspenseful thriller with an amazing cast! It's great to see Miles Doleac, William Forsythe and Battlestar Galactica's very own James Callis all in the same film - a total package! A must watch and 10 stars from me.

One of things I look for but rarely find in a B movie is characters and character depth. Well this movie does a tremendous job of not only establishing characters but digging deeper into them as the movie progressed.

The story itself is pretty straight forward but the director allows time for it to unfold. One of the other strengths of this movie is its running time, at a bit over 2 hours the film has room to breathe.

A well acted and enjoyable movie.

I really wanted to like this movie. As I began watching I couldn't understand the negative reviews. I quickly began to see the issues, but I kept watching. I never felt suspense over the murders, and even though that wasn't the intended focus, it was the reason for the entire movie. Most of the characters were expendable, I had little sympathy for the characters that were developed because they were not well developed, and there was no tension or build up to the very lackluster end.

Hollow is a perfect title for this empty story line that suspends disbelief beyond belief. Nothing in this has any real feel to it, and the depth of the characters are not built upon. Have you seen Ozark on Netflix now that's a story with quality A list writing not this sad pathetic attempt to try to thrill us. Boring acting at best with no thrills.

I still don't know who the killer was after watching this film two times. I played it back a few times near the end and still don't get who did the deed even though one scene said it was a guy with a Government issued 45 pistol. That truck driver? The small town lawyer? No one really knows for sure.

How does that work for you folks? No clarity about the final investigation findings. The FBI agent seemed to be much of a wimp stuck on his past and booze all while trying to make himself believe he was an FBI agent who was worth a darn. His partner FBI agent kept him going and out of trouble by a few degrees.

The Hollow is a southern-fried crime tale from writer/producer/director/star Miles Doleac. It's billed as a hybrid between the Coen brothers' "Blood Simple" and Lynch's "Twin Peaks", but I'd argue it more closely follows in the footsteps of "True Detective"'s first season-if it must be grouped with something of its ilk.

Set in Mississippi, the film opens with a triple homicide at a local teen hangout known as "The Hollow." One of the victims happens to be the daughter of a congressman, prompting the FBI to investigate. Agents Vaughn (James Callis-aka "that guy from Battlestar Galactica") and Sarah (Christiane Seidel) arrive on the scene and soon find themselves caught between Ray (Miles Doleac), a corrupt cop who deals drugs and frequents prostitutes in his spare time, and Big John Dawson (William Forsythe), a shadowy figure who seems to be pulling all the strings.

The investigation quickly takes a backseat, serving primarily as a framework for the film's true focus: the personal demons and psychological turmoil of its characters. The Hollow knows what kind of story it wants to be-it's a character drama that throws city slickers into conflict with country folk. It wants to play on those tensions, but it never quite takes off.

There's a sluggishness to many of the scenes, which drag on too long without much urgency. The tone remains consistently downbeat, with most characters never so much as cracking a smile. James Callis delivers an intense and emotional performance, but without anything to contrast it against, the film feels monotonous. He and Seidel lack chemistry, coming across as a joyless version of Mulder and Scully.

Miles Doleac gives a serviceable performance, but he's let down by a dry script. The supporting cast is filled with reliable B-listers (I can't tell you how happy I am whenever the supremely underrated Bill Sadler pops up), but they're never given much to work with. The screenplay feels like it could have been trimmed down and used as an episode of one of television's countless police procedurals.

With gritty southern crime films, I want to see the sweat dripping, hear the mosquitoes buzzing, and feel the heat radiating off the screen. While The Hollow is competently shot and edited, it lacks flair. The digital cinematography is smothered in an amber color grade-presumably meant to create a warm, sun-drenched atmosphere-but it just comes off as sickly.

The film needed more grime, more grit... more grue. I'm a horror fan, so my expectations may be skewed, but I genuinely think it would have benefited from more blood, more mayhem. Too much time passes without The Hollow making us feel repulsed by what's unfolding. It should drag us headfirst into the grim world its characters inhabit-but it never quite does.

With crime stories saturating television, The Hollow struggles to justify itself as a feature film. Despite its cast of likeable supporting actors, it doesn't do enough to warrant the jump to the big screen. Jeff Fahey makes a brief but pointless appearance, and even the Lawnmower Man himself can't save it. I'd only recommend it to the most hardcore crime fiction aficionados-or to people who really like the color orange.

Static, slightly unrealistic screen play from most except the two investigating, from FBI. Better than most movies all in all.

I'm not even sure what I just watched. It was terrible. I kept hoping it would get better but no...just an absolute waste of my time. I've seen a few of the actors in other movies and thought their talent was completely wasted in this convoluted mess. I am pretty sure the great reviews for this movie were written by the director himself and/or his friends and family. There's no way this deserves more than a 2/10. That's me being kind. Absolutely do not waste your time...and it's a long movie too. Seriously, what was the point of this movie?...no likeable characters whatsoever and the plot was ridiculous. Absolutely AWFUL.