The Hole in the Ground

Good movie, creepy and entertaining. Definitely recommend it.

Horror legend Stephen King has aptly described terror in its rawest forms, my favorite being: "Terror, when you come home and notice everything you own had been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute." However, what if the thing that was taken from your home was your own flesh and blood? The Hole in the Ground burrows this question into your psyche, and is born, grown, and flourished in this kind of visceral terror. This is a divisive movie, with critics and audiences at odds with their opinions on this UK film. I find myself siding with the critics with this one. More than its premise suggests, the internal pressure that grows within this movie is immense, tricking you before your very eyes from scene to scene. This deliberate confusion and trickery is weaponized to keep you guessing, hoping that your horror film detective skills are still sharp. Keeping the viewer in suspension is a mental and emotional threat. The acting is superb - particularly from Seana Kerslake, James Cosmo, and James Quinn Markey. The believable performances add a sense of realism and humanity where many movies like this fail - which can make or break a horror film in its first act. Along with this is the movie's brilliant set design, exemplifying the creeping isolation and helplessness apparent from its first act. Very limited on jumpscares, many of this movie's scares are cultivated through ambiguity and limited vision - always big points from me. The only thing that docks this film for me is its use of the "creepy old lady saying ominous things to kids" trope - a tired concept that did cause a brief eyeroll from me, even though Kati Outinen played slightly-cliched Noreen Brady with style and finesse. I am not grading this based on the original or groundbreaking qualities that some were hoping this would create. I don't believe that films in the horror genre need to be the next best thing since The Exorcist. A good horror movie needs to make you feel unsafe, alone, and wondering. Good work, The Hole in the Ground.

It's a week movie! Didn't explain anything! Suddenly it's all solved ! Terrible terrible

Not much that is reinvented but mysterious & creepy enough to hold attention. An unoriginal yet solid premise but it never reaches its potential. Strong moments with eye-catching imagery & cinematography.

This movie is like a cross between Babadook and Vivarium. But I must say that the boy in this movie is not as horrible as the boy in Vivarium ✌🏻. Actually the boy (the imposter) is actually good. He was an upgrade so I couldn't understand what her problem was. Later, when she starts acting crazy the boy exhibits superhuman strength and almost kills her, so i guess that wasn't good. But she started it! Anyways, the single mom with a son trope is copied very well from the Babadook and Sixth Sense. Good from beginning to end.

The Hole in the Ground ist ein Horror-Thriller von Lee Cronin… Sarah O'Neill versucht, ihrer kaputten Vergangenheit zu entkommen und baut sich mit ihrem kleinen Sohn Chris ein neues Leben am Rande einer ländlichen Stadt im Hinterland auf… The Hole in the Ground reiht sich in die gruselige Kinderfilme ein, und was tun, wenn Ihr Kind plötzlich nicht mehr Ihr Kind ist?... Die Geschichte setzt sich mit dem Aberglauben des europäischen Mittelalters auseinander. mit dem Mystery des Wechselbalgs… Kurz gesagt, ein interessanter Psycho-Horror mit einer düster-mysteriösen Stimmung.

The sense of something going horribly wrong for our lead is strong throughout. Suspense and scares with zero gore? I'm in every time!

This movie actually has decent lighting to it, at least compared to other newer movies which have decided to gove us 2 hours of black screens (looking at you Evil Dead Rise). I also appreciate the general lighting changes this has to establish different scenes. There is definitely a predilection toward desaturation, leading to a lack of pop in the scenes. Again, all around this is much better than comparable movies being produced recently, it helps that they also seem to not be trying to blow my eardrums out, although that could just be the speaker settings. If you're sick of the modern trash and all the egregious sins of modern films, this is actually quite good at not falling into those pitholes.

Not a home run, but The Hole in the Ground is effectively creepy and beautiful looking on what appears to be a pretty tiny budget. It relies heavily on its lighting and atmosphere but remains effective for its breezy run time that does well to not overstay its welcome. This is simply a better than average horror outing that's easy to enjoyable and looks good doing it. Not much to nitpick about here.

A little slow-moving, has some very creepy moments. Excellent actors.