Almost the opposite of the previously reviewed film, The Hole starts out with a lot of promise and then sort of fades into a kids morality tale that isn't quite the payoff that the setup suggests is coming.
This is the story of a mother and her two young sons, a teenager and a little fella, who are always on the move to avoid being tracked down by an abusive father and ex husband.
The teenage son immediately develops a relationship with the hottie next door and along with the younger brother, the three kids discover something very odd in the basement of their new house.
For about an hour the movie walks a nice line between being scary enough for adults to enjoy, but still having a sort of carefree tweener vibe to it. But eventually that line dissipates and what's left is a weird sort of kids movie that would seem more at home in the late 80's, mixed with attempts at horror aimed at an older crowds. That is to say that the line that gets walked nicely throughout the first 45 minutes, separates badly.
The performances are strong. Teri Polo is the only known name, and playing the mom she does what she needs to do but is in no way the focal point of the film. The two boys are also solid, and convey a realness to their relationship as brothers. The teenage girl is pretty hot and probably helped earn the movie a few extra points from me. The swimming pool scene especially helped my fondness grow.
In the end I'm just not sure who the movie is aimed at. There are scares, but the best ones feel out of place. There are a lot things here kids would love, but then there are the scares, which I don't think they'd love.
When it comes right down to it, the premise in The Hole that just couldn't be dug out of, no matter how hard everyone involved tried.
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