The Hole (2009)

The Hole is directed by Joe Dante and written by Mark L. Smith. It stars Haley Bennett, Chris Massoglia, Nathan Gamble, Teri Polo and Bruce Dern. Music is by Javier Navarrete and cinematography by Theo van de Sande.

When the Campbell family move from New York City to the quiet town of Bensonville, they find a strange trap door down in the basement. Once opened it unleashes much strangeness into the lives of brothers Dane (Massoglia) and Lucas (Gamble), as well as pretty girl next door, Julie (Bennett).

You have got a gateway to hell under your house and that's really cool!

Ah, the family frightener, where the hell have you been Joe Dante? Pitched firmly at the horror loving family from 12 years and upwards, The Hole blends Goonie like adventure with Spilebergian spookery, making this a nice accompaniment (apero) to J.J. Abrams' Super 8 that surfaced two years later. The violence isn't overt, but film has nifty passages of chills, especially if you have a fear of clown puppets and the like. The mystery element stays strong for a good portion of the piece, where viewers are made to wonder what is down in the hole because it's not instantly apparent, and there's subversive humour stitched into the narrative. Dante re-finds his set-piece mojo and once again proves to be adept at directing youngsters: The three principal young performers here turn in real effective performances, while Dern (wonderfully batty) and Polo put a professional cloak over proceedings.

It is invariably going to be too tame for the blood craving horror fanatic, and in truth the finale is just a touch too overblown. But that's just nit-picking, for this is a thoroughly enjoyable family friendly spooker. Made with care and attention to detail, and yes, with love. Cheers Joe. 7/10

Fmovies: The great thing about Dante's latest feature (his first in 7 years) is that it's so disarming. The look, feel and tone all tells you this a family-friendly kids flick, in the same vane as The Goonies and Explorers. In fact, I first heard this movie pitched as a gentle introduction to horror for tweens. This film, however, is definitely not suitable for a 12 year old.

Dante is renowned for having his tongue lodged firmly in his cheek, his movies very much anarchic in tone and content (Gremlins being a perfect example). The Hole is much more tempered than this, and the first two thirds are a genuine masterclass in ratcheting up fear and tension. Sure, there are plenty of jump shocks, but Dante cleverly places his camera close to the characters, leaving most of the background hidden so you never see what's coming.

The lead characters are all very good, and the initial scenes with Dane and the girl-next-door feel realistically stilted (as you would if you were a teenager and you just met the cute babe next door). Dante doesn't hang about, and quickly gets to the hole. This in turn immediately opens up all manner of scares, with some dark and genuinely frightening scenes, extremely well executed.

Dante borrows heavily from the likes of The Grudge, Poltergeist and The Sixth Sense, as well as affectionate nods to his own films (Gremlins, Small Soldiers and even It's A Good Life, a segment he directed for Twilight Zone The Movie). However, none of it feels ripped-off. It has its own inimitable style and is expertly put together, complementing the story.

For me, the final act was a little wacky but the overall movie is a satisfying experience. Considering its influences and the fact that Dante has been in the game for over 30 years, this is a surprisingly fresh addition to the genre.

This movie can easily be summarized: it is like a movie version of a Goosebumps children's "horror" story. Anyone familiar with the Goosebumps book series will know what I mean. This movie is a "horror" movie for young teens and families with children. I watched it without knowing this, and was in for a surprise.

Now, don't get me wrong, this is still a good movie. But if you are expecting to be scared, you are better off watching something more tailored for an adult audience. I am sure lots of the youngsters will find this movie freakishly scary though. There are scenes that might scare younger audiences out of their pants, but at the same time, the movie is still kept at a level where it can be considered suitable for family entertainment somehow. I know it sounds weird, but if you watch the movie, you will know what I mean.

There were some good parts in the movie, but nothing that made me spooked or disturbed. The clown here reminded me somewhat of a mix of the clown doll from "Poltergeist" mixed with Chucky, and it did work well enough.

The effects were good and believable, without being over the top. The movie is not running on special effects, but whatever effects there were being used were straight to the point.

And also the people in the movie put on good performances, and that helped the movie along a good long way. And I think the young actors and actress help appeal to the younger audience.

This movie is suitable for a good evening of slight scares for families and younger teens. Worth the time actually, if you have nothing better to do.

The Hole fmovies. Gremlins remains one of my favourite films from childhood, and it is thanks to Joe Dante who helmed the films with enough to keep it frightening, yet kid friendly and family oriented at the same time. It's been a long while since I've missed Small Soldiers on the big screen, that he now returns with The Hole, yet dabbling with a similar treatment of making it quite the entertaining romp for both young and old to sit through.

A pity about the 3D version though, as I opted to watch this in 2D, and clearly because of the 3D gimmick, there were a few needless scenes stuck in, like having a kid throw a baseball toward the screen while lying on his back on his bed. On the whole there weren't too many deliberate 3D shots designed for the film, though I thought that the special effects put into it were spiffy enough, especially since there was a good mix of traditional stop motion efforts deliberate done in a cheesy manner, and those of the modern money shots toward the end.

As it's family oriented, this film like the rest of what Dante did thus far, has family being in the centre of all things that trip up in the dark, and we get three stories put into one, by virtue of each character having to deal with their fears come alive. Written by Mark L. Smith (Vacancy), the narrative keeps you guessing exactly what the reason is behind the threats are as faced by each child/teenage lead in the Thompson brothers Dane (Chris Massoglia) and Lucas (Nathan Gamble), and their neighbour Julie (Haley Bennett) when they look down the cursed hole, found in the new home of the Thompsons.

The idea is pretty cool in itself, because what could spook you more than what's truly your greatest fear? However that itself served up a mixed bag of scares, because the scares here are customized to the character's. For instance, Lucas has to deal with something straight out of Child's Play, although this little thingamajig had a small scene as a stinger after the end credits (well, if you have to know, it's only a wink, so you didn't miss much if you failed to stay behind). For Julie, it has to deal with a guilt from the past that manifest itself as something spiritual, and to face one's guilt is something that takes up her story arc.

For Dane's however, it was kept under wraps until the last, which provided for a fitting finale with all the bells and whistles thrown in, dealing with how the magnitude of one's problems when young seem to shrink in size as we grow older, possibly because we may either have outgrown it, or that being older we have a lot more other concerns to deal, in his case, the growing into a surrogate paternal role over the care of his younger brother, in a single parent family.

Still, despite being a horror/thriller, this is still something that will find a broad appeal, being somewhat simple in its stories, but nothing less than effective and of course for those catching it in 3D, yet another film to provide you that fixation with putting on the glasses. I'm not quite sure if a sequel would be made given the way it ended with a plot thread so glaringly hanging out, but we know how Gremlins 2 went.

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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Fear and nostalgia don't often go hand in hand, but the two were riding high in my mind after the screening of The Hole. Coulrophobia, or a fear of clowns, seems to be quite a common phobia amongst my peers and for 99% of us it can be traced back to a certain television show. The Sky One adaptation of Stephen King's It, which aired in 1990. It's main antagonist, a clown named Pennywise, gave me my first real post-horror-film sleepless night. Up to that point the only fear-inducing villains I had been exposed to were Darth Vader and the Wicked Witch of the West. But a samurai robot and a middle-aged woman in green make-up didn't seem quite so scary after watching the terrifying killer clown. Echoes of Pennywise are evident in the ghoulish Jester doll of The Hole. The fact that Joe Dante brings us a family film that manages to instill some levels of discomfort and even fear in adults reminds us why he was such a big name in the 80's. With The Hole, the man behind Gremlins and The 'Burbs goe's back to what he does best; frightening yet family friendly. And he almost succeeds in giving us another great kids film. Almost.

Featuring the aforementioned Jester doll, the corpse of a young girl and some Beetlejuice like nightmare sequences, there are a lot of horror elements of the film to like. These elements are executed well and the use of some traditional stop-motion special effects gave the film an endearing charm. However all of this just served to highlight how awful the 3D was. The digital effect only served to ruin what would otherwise have been a great thowback-to-the-80's look. I ended up watching the second half of The Hole with my Roy Orbison style specs removed.

In my experience, and a lot of people I've discussed it with, the novelty of 3D lasts for roughly the first ten minutes of a film. Afterwards it simply distracts from whats going on and tends to blur any action above a certain speed. It adds nothing to the vast majority of the films released in the format and ultimately becomes headache inducing. Let's hope it's just a Smell-O-Vision style fad that fades away sooner rather than later.

The storyline of The Hole is in no way original and the dialogue is ridiculously bad at times, but on the whole it had a certain charisma about it. Had this been released when I was between eight and twelve years of age it may have been a favourite of mine, along with Ghostbusters and two of Dante's other works Innerspace and Gremlins. It pushes the boundaries of whats acceptable in a film rated 12A, is nicely stylised and has genuinely frightening moments. For a certain age group in years to come, The Hole will evoke great memories of how much fun the cinema can be. If they happen to see a 2D version, all the better.