The Hole (2001)

The first trailer for this film showed to be a gruelling film about humans trapped in a dark, confined space, slowly withering away. The second trailer pitched this movie as some sort of repellent formulaic teen horror film. It was the first trailer that had been touted since last autumn in the UK that intrigued me enough to see it.

Having watched the film I was disappointed as the film failed to deliver what had been promised in either trailer. What I saw was a bland movie that seemingly doesn't know what it's target demographic is. I am assuming that it wanted to be a psychological horror, but the film is so lightweight that it appears to have been written with twelve-year-olds in mind – which isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, the film is visually aimed at adults, with sex, full frontal nudity, nasty violence and drug use. Thus the film is torn between the two camps; the writing is too simple for adults but the adult material will stop kids seeing it.

Essentially the story is that these toffs at a private boarding school in England would rather spend three days in an old underground World War Two bunker (the titular ‘Hole') than go to Wales on a school trip. Everything is engineered so that the school assumes that they have gone home for the duration whilst their parents think that they have actually gone to Wales. In other words, nobody knows where they are there. Ultimately the events unfold and they end up stuck in the Hole and proceed to go stir crazy.

My biggest hang up is the presence of Thora Birch. Firstly her twee English accent is all over the place. They should have just let her speak with her natural accent, as it would have been less of a distraction. Maybe as an Englishman this is a stick that I can unfairly beat her with and perhaps overseas no one will notice, but for me it was an unwelcome distraction (especially when there are many young British actresses who would've done a better job).

Secondly she brings NOTHING to the movie. The other members of the young cast are relative unknowns and act her off the screen. They all give believable reputations of stuck up self-centred kids and the effects of human physical and mental degradation. I assume that Ms. Birch was brought in to add ‘international appeal' but she stifles and flounders around with her leading role, unable to rise to the challenge of her co-stars.

Before you all assume that I'm bashing her because she's American think again because young American actor Desmond Harrington who plays Mike Steel, is the best thing about this movie.

Fmovies: The Hole begins slowly and very standardly, but unlike most genre films, it picks up pace after 40 minutes then accelerates towards a smashing ending. Well okay, the ending itself wasn't a great surprise, but I found it satisfying in a B-grade kind of way.

The premise of Hole is pretty mundane. The idea of a group of teenagers going into an old abandoned building or structure for a lark is a stock standard story opener for hundreds of B-grade horror flicks. But then Hole becomes interesting by the re-telling of events from different characters' individual points of view in a manner reminiscent of the 1950 British gem ‘The Woman in Question'. Just who is telling the truth?

The final third of Hole rockets along and the film becomes genuinely frightening. I was especially impressed with the way repercussion of actions and in-actions are graphically shown and not glossed over as so many genre films have a habit of doing.

Hole is not a great film. The acting from the five teenagers is a cut above average, but the direction is pretty heavy handed and not very imaginative. Overall I found Hole a nicely satisfying and genuinely frightening B-grade experience which proves the old adage that says the worst monsters are human beings. It also shows that modern thriller/horror genre films doesn't always have to rely on lashings of special effects and supernaturalism to tell a story effectively.

6/10

This is no teen horror movie. Instead its a really good exploration into consequences of obsession. The direction was very good. I found it entertaining, frightening and most of all, thought provoking. Special mention to Thora Birch who adeptly highlights the subtle transformation of her character throughout the story.

The Hole fmovies. I've been anticipating this film for a while since it is Thora Birch's first role since American Beauty. So, The Hole. The Hole has been hyped up as a horror/psychological film in which 4 students are locked down an old wartime bunker (-the- Hole) to avoid a boring Geography field trip. How does it fare?

The casting is probably the jewel of this film. It's superb. The absolutely stunning Keira Knightley (Sabé from Star Wars Episode I) appears as Liz's (Birch) friend, Frankie. All the rest of the characters are complete unknowns, except the psychologist played by Embeth Davidtz (Matilda, Bridget Jones, Schindler's List), but they all act their parts excellently.

This film really has the British 'feel' mastered. The sets are excellent, the locations are splendid, and the whole 'feel' of the movie is very realistic. The school really does feel like a British public school (A British 'public school' is like a 'private school' in the US.. one where you need rich parents to flash $$$ to get you in). The unnamed pupils seem extremely realistic.

There are only three small flaws with this film. The first is that it doesn't exactly live up to the hype in the British press. I did not find this scary at all, but it was an extremely well done mystery/whodunnit. Horror? Nah, not unless you classify psychological thrillers as 'horror'.

The second flaw is that the transitions between different parts of the film can be rather confusing. Often, the film bounds around past and present shots and be extremely disorienting in places. Unlike Memento, this disorientation is not an advantage. However, at the end of the film, you'll be able to tie all of the parts together and leave feeling quite satisfied with the story (a bit like the film 'Wild Things').

Another minor let down is the music. Totally forgettable, has no place in the film, and it often appears at the most inappropriate times.

I really do hope this is released in the USA soon, as Thora Birch is definitely not to be missed here.. and I think the stunning Keira Knightley is going to be getting some bigger roles from now on, she's definitely earned her stripes here. So, my big question, why has this not been scheduled for US release!?

This is certainly not a Blair Witch Project clone, although this impression has been given by the press. Instead, this is a cleverly constructed and extremely well casted psychological thriller/mystery.

Truly, fresh and new ideas, rarely make it to film. The Hole, based on the novel (after the Hole) by Guy Burt is a good exception to this. It is seldom that we see a top quality thriller, but this movie is well cast, well directed, and works wonderfully. The story is quite simple really, it relies on strong characterisation and good dialogue. All the cast give good performances and Thora Birch is outstanding. This thriller really does keep you on the edge of your seat throughout; it is very dark, very creepy and has a terrifying atmosphere. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes a good thriller. It isn't in the same league as Se7en and Silence of the Lambs, but it is better than most thrillers that are released.

8/10 A great film.

Liz stumbles towards her boarding school, bloodied and shaken up after being missing for several days. She tells the police psychologist of a party in a hidden bunker planned for her and three friends by her friend Martin. However when Martin doesn't return things turn nasty in the bunker. However when Martin is found by the police he tells a very different story. Slowly the true events are retold in flashback.

I saw the trailers for this and assumed it was another teen slasher – I didn't even know it was set in Britain until someone told me. I think the trailer is an example of a studio unsure of how to sell a product and just plumping for the lowest common denominator. However this film rises above that. Instead of being a slasher or a horror it is a thriller with a horror twist. This makes it better – it may not be as scary as you expect but it is a better story and is creepy rather than schlocky!

The cast are good despite being young. The weaknesses come in with the adult cast – especially the cops who have clearly watched too much Sweeney! However the teens are good and are more than the sort of fodder that is put in teen movies.

Overall this is not what you expect. But it is better than you'd think. The thriller story is gripping because you're not sure what happened in the bunker until the end and I had questions answered as I went. Not great but certainly better than another teen slasher movie.