DVD Review: The Hole

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Joe Dante may not be one of the best known directors around, but with films like The Howling, Gremlins and The ‘burbs on his resume I’m willing to give anything he does a chance.

If there is one thing to be learned from The Hole it is this: If you find a creepy door in your basement with six locks on it and for some reason you open it to see what is inside and you find a creepy bottomless hole, when eventually leave said hole, make sure you lock it back up or horrible, horrible things will happen to you.

Brothers Dane (Chris Massoglia) and Lucas (Nathan Gamble) move with their mom, Susan (Teri Polo) from New York to small suburban town in Illinois. The boys meet the cute girl next door, Julie (Haley Bennett) and find the above mentioned creepy hole in their new basement. Pretty soon a creepy Japanese style ghost girl and an even more creepy demon clown doll thing are running around haunting them, more often than not to very skin crawling effect.

Bruce Dern also shows up as Creepy Carl to provide a little, all be it very vague, insight as to what the hole is and what is going to happen to them now that they’ve opened it. It’s a pretty cliché role for a film like this, but Dern is great in the role, however small, providing the best acting in the movie.

Other than Dern, acting across the board is pretty forgettable, but all the characters are pretty likable and their relationships very believable. Dane and Lucas are very believable brothers and how Julie gets brought into the group works well. All of this helps makes the horror of the film all the more effective. This isn’t a slasher film where you cheer when characters are killed, these are characters you want to see win.

There are plenty of plot holes (no pun intended) in the film mostly revolving around the characters inability to re-lock the door. When any amount of sense is applied to the film there are many times when they could have relocked it, but didn’t. And while this is kind of annoying, it doesn’t really take too much away from the overall enjoyment of the film.

Despite its plot holes, the story of the film is actually pretty good. It has some interesting twists and in some ways reminded me of ’80s horror films like The Gate or House. But what The Hole has going on is entirely its own, and that’s what makes it worth watching.

It’s easy to see how in the hands of a lesser director, The Hole could have easily been terrible. However, Joe Dante is by no means a lesser director and while this film may not be one of his best, the fact that this film is enjoyable speaks volumes for his talent.

The film is presented in a 1.85:1 widescreen format and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. This film was shot for 3-D and there are times when you can tell specific shots were done for that. All-in-all this is a pretty good looking film and the transfer here is fine.

You get a chunk of run of the mill special features that give some insight into the film. A Peek Inside The Hole: (4 min.) A look at the evil puppet and some other stuff. Making of The Hole: (11 min.) A typical making of. Relationships (Family Matters): (4 min.) A focus on the relationship between the different characters. The Keyholder (Keeper of The Hole): (3 min.) A focus on Bruce Dern. Movie Stills and Trailers

Joe Dante started out in horror and made a few really great films. Later in his career he got away from horror and more into kid-centric films like Small Soldiers and Looney Tunes: Back in Action. With The Hole Dante has blended these two aspects of his career into a solidly creepy horror film that is obviously geared more towards younger horror fans. This would even be a great gateway film to introduce a young generation of kids to horror.

Bigair Studios presents The Hole. Written by Mark L. Smith. Directed by: Joe Dante. Starring: Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett, Nathan Gamble, Teri Polo and Bruce Dern. Running time: 92 minutes. Rating: Rated PG-13. Released: October 2, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.

Mike Noyes received his Masters Degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. A few of his short films can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikebnoyes. He recently published his first novel which you can buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Years-Mike-Noyes-ebook/dp/B07D48NT6B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774538&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+days+seven+years