The Hole (12A)

Film

Thrillers

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Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5
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Time Out says

Tue Sep 21 2010

For the first hour of this haphazard 3D adventure, it feels as if Joe ‘the subversive Spielberg’ Dante has never been away: here come the lovingly written kids from ‘Explorers’, moving into the white-picket American fairyland of ‘The 'burbs’ and promptly being terrorised by mystical, malevolent beings à la ‘Gremlins’. Said supernatural critters emanate from the mysterious, padlocked, seemingly bottomless pit beneath the boys’ new house, and Dante plays the early scenes perfectly, racking up the clammy dread without tipping over into outright nastiness.
But somewhere along the way, the tension dissipates: once the somewhat pedestrian truth about the hole is revealed, there’s nowhere for the film to go. Dante pulls off a visually bold, thematically bleak finale, inspired equally by Bernard Rose’s dreamy teen shocker ‘Paperhouse’ and his own berserk ‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’ segment, but never quite claws back the sustained suspense of those superb early sequences. Nevertheless, it’s good to welcome back one of the undisputed masters of modern genre cinema – and adventurous kids will love it.

Author: Tom Huddleston

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Release details

Rated:

12A

UK release:

Fri Sep 24, 2010

Duration:

91 mins

Cast and crew

Director:

Joe Dante

Screenwriter:

Mark L Smith

Cast:

Teri Polo, Haley Bennett, Chris Massoglia, Bruce Dern, Nathan Gamble

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 3/5 (6 ratings)

  • Ohh by the way my rating on The Hole, because i forgot to put it on my last comment is.........4 stars, only beacuse it kinda scared the crap out of me. Especially that little clown, i haeva big fear of clowms =(

    Nicole Joules Fri Oct 15 2010
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • This film was absolutley scary. Ok so there wasnt loads of people in there, but to be honest i went late on a school/work night, so what do you expect people are in bed. But anyway this was so scary and so jumpy, it was very good. The whole 3D thing is....well CRAP!! Cinema 3D has been and is always just foreground and background, And the point people are making about when you find out more about The Hole, the boring it gets... That is a whole load of Hooey!!!! The film didn't gett better, but it certainly didn't get worse, if anything it make more interesting and a 'what's gonna happen now?' type of way. So most, or nearly all of you people dont no Good films when you see them, so give up trying OK!!!

    Nicole Joules Fri Oct 15 2010
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  • Really good and really creepy... apart from the climactic conflict where the point of the hole is made clear, at which point the film comes over as utterly juvenile and childish. Still enjoyable up to that point, but after that it leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth at such a let-down. Is it harsh to give it two stars? Well, I dunno. I guess I think it matters how a film ends.

    _Matt_1977_ Sat Oct 9 2010
    Rated as: 2/5
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  • not as good as it sets out to be as it seems to lose credulity as you find out more about the hole, and we are no wiser as to why it is there at the end of the movie. Chris Massoglia is very good - a star in the making. Teri Polo as the mother seems to leave her kids alone a lot! Perhaps I am too old for this film.

    Dave Fri Oct 1 2010
    Rated as: 2/5
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  • Enjoyed this film, but I agree with sara1, the clown was very creepy, A coupkle of people left the movie, so dont know if it was too scary for the younger audience

    JayneM Sun Sep 26 2010
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • I took my 12-year old son to watch this and i found the first half very creepy! Im not a fan of 3D but have to admit it works here. My son also found some bits scary ( the clown!)

    sara1 Sun Sep 26 2010
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • If you detest the very thought of 3D, look away now! It transforms this from a 3* to a 4*....so there! 7+/10

    scrumpyjack Thu Sep 23 2010
    Rated as: 4/5
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