The Hole (2009)

A pair of brothers stumble upon a mysterious hole in their basement that leads to the darkest corridors of their fears and nightmares.

Director:

Joe Dante

Writer:

Mark L. Smith

Stars:

Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett, Nathan Gamble

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Massoglia	...	Dane
Haley Bennett	...	Julie
Nathan Gamble	...	Lucas
Teri Polo	...	Susan
Bruce Dern	...	Creepy Carl
Quinn Lord	...	Annie Smith
John DeSantis	...	Monster Dad (as John Desantis)
Douglas Chapman	...	Normal Dad (as Doug Chapman)
Mark Pawson	...	Travis
Peter Shinkoda	...	Young Cop
Jonathan Bruce	...	Mover
Merritt Patterson	...	Jessica (as Merrit Patterson)
Ali Cobrin	...	Tiffany
Chelsea Ricketts	...	Whitney
Chord Overstreet	...	Adam

Storyline

Susan and her sons Dane and Lucas Thompson move from Brooklyn to Bensonville, in the countryside. Dane is upset with the constant changes of address and the family has lived in many cities. Lucas and Dane befriend their next door neighbor, the gorgeous Julie and the brothers find a bottomless hole in the basement of their house locked with several padlocks. They take the locks off and soon they are haunted by their darkest fears. Further, they believe that the hole might be a gateway to hell.

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Plot Keywords:

hole | basement | family relationships | no opening credits | slow motion scene | 

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Taglines:

What Are You So Afraid Of?

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for frightening images, violence and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Netherlands]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 June 2010 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Hole 3D

Filming Locations:

Kittanning, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bold Films,BenderSpink,The Hole

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Joe Dante expressly conceived the film to be shot in 3D.

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Goofs

When Dane and Julia get out of the pool to follow the footprints, they leave no footprints of their own, despite them having just gotten out of the water.

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Quotes

Dane: We just want to know if you built the hole, and what it's about.
Creepy Carl: Nobody built the hole! The hole has been there since the world's first scream.

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Crazy Credits

The clown's head re-appears at the end of the closing credits and winks.

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Connections

Referenced in Gateway to Hell: The Making of 'The Hole' (2010)

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Soundtracks

Shake 'N Shout
Written by Pete Surdoval
Performed by Pete Surdoval
Published by Red Engine Music (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Master Source Music Catalog

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: The Hole

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.