The Hole Reviews

6 long years after the dreadful ‘Looney Tunes: Back in Action’, Joe Dante was finally coming back with a follow-up and it was this time in his best genre, fantastic-horror, so I was really eager to check it out. The fact that it was barely noticed when it was released was not really a good omen but it wasn’t bad at all after all. Basically, it is a rather simple and harmless horror flick, no more and no less. The first issue is that the whole thing was just an endless build-up and there were only 3 characters who weren’t really that interesting. I have to admit, during the climax, it started to take off a little bit but there was a seriously lack of ambition and it never became really remarkable. Somehow, it is a throwback to those movies from the 80’s, like ‘Super 8’ which wasn’t great either, but at least, in ‘Super 8’, there were some massive set-pieces with impressive special effects and the teenage characters were quite compelling to watch. Not here, I’m afraid. Still, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was entertaining enough and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

The Hole 3D" is the criminal trial that Joe Dante is a fossil of the eighties. The story chronicles the adventures of three kids who are in the basement of his house a hole that will "all their fears." A script that gets pampered and grateful awe with ways but always with sincerity of a veteran. Joe Dante is with the use of "muppets" old-fashioned, the trauma of the dysfunctional families Spielberg, less bellows in his trademark humor black, but above all, it is entertaining.

The Hole is a “film” about a fatherless family facing their worst fears which come to them via a hole in their basement. A distant, over-worked mother wants nothing more than for her two sons, one a hormone raged teenager and the other a damaged adolescent, to get along and spend more time together. The teenager’s angst leads him to the company of a female companion, and together they fuck around and get got by the mysterious “darkness” of “The Hole.” There’s also a man named Creepy Carl. He steals the sketchpad of the teenager and tries to warn him with his artistic talent of the dangers that lurk below.

The responsibility of this film rests on the shoulders of Joe Dante, who is known for the original “Piranha” and “Gremlins” amongst others. This was not his best work. It was made for 3D, but paying twice as much as a normal ticket to see this movie in theaters would not have made me like it any more, but would have most certainly enraged me multiple times over.

I have a love for “bad” horror movies, but this one I just couldn’t get behind. Even the fears that came to get them weren’t that creative. The teenage girl let her childhood friend fall off a roller coaster and die. She was seriously like six when it happened and the brat who fell is still pissed? Come on. The little boy was afraid of clowns, and as he defeated his fear by throwing a doll through a fan blade, the camera pans to him sitting awkwardly in a box as he says, “I never did like clowns.” You can’t see me, but I’m rolling my eyes. The teenage boy was afraid of his “dad” beating him and his brother. Okay, hold the phones. We’re getting deep here, I know…but this is the most poorly executed play on heart strings ever. Nothing that happens in this movie makes you even kind of sympathetic to the notion of either of these children being beaten. The acting is terrible. Neither of them seem to care or show any legit fear of daddy dearest at all. Poorly done, good idea.

There were no artistic talents to be spoken well of as far as writing or any other cinematic creative licenses go, either.

This movie may be good to watch at a slumber party to scream at when you’re twelve, but it wouldn’t issue even the most fragile of them nightmares.

My official rating: **

could have been better kind of got the impression that it was aimed at the younger viewer as it goes a bit fantasy towards the end. Not quite what I expected. 5/10

I literally had only one bit of knowledge when I was about to watch it and it is bloody obvious: that it features a hole so I didn't really know what to expect. This surprisingly shook me when I watched it as it did a lot of critics. This just shows what thrillers are all about and how a film can truly succeed without that much violence. This film is very scary but because there was lots of suspense but hardly any violence at all, it was even scarier and it really does show that some films fail because of the lack of suspense and the overloaded amount of gore involved.


Set in modern day America of a single mum with her two sons who move away from their home due to a dark past and move into a new house. One day, the two boys discover a mysterious hole with no bottom but as they seem to find the hole quite interesting to begin with, the tables begin to turn and things start to get scary. Chris Massoglia delivers a performance that I think was actually quite good. I mean, most teenage actors aren't really that notable until a certain film comes out where they either deliver a great performance or the film becomes a success both box office takings and critically. Nathan Gamble's acting was very similar to Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense and Danny Lloyd in The Shining because he was another terrified young boy who was being tormented by things that only he can see. People would almost instantly recognize Teri Polo as Pam from Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers but she stars in something different this time and did a satisfying but not brilliant job. She should just stay with romantic comedies.


There are some awesome gory films but when a film is referred as a thriller, it is better having more suspense than gore because that just ruins it completely! As I said, this is exactly what thrillers are all about. It does have boundaries to scare its audiences but this needs to be a rated R (in US) and 15 (in UK) not PG-13/12! Think they chose it to be that rating instead of R/15 because there is no violence but they cannot say that it wasn't suspenseful and wouldn't scare many people especially when little kids could see this one.


Overall, The Hole 3D is a film that should not be seen by little kids like the certificate its been given suggests. I was in the cinema and saw kids crying because it was so scary so that is a crucial mistake! Well, back to what I think now. I just thought it was an intense, suspenseful, gripping thrill ride that I surprisingly really liked a lot. One of the biggest and best pieces of entertainment one will see all year!