Am I The Only One Let Down?

i felt the same way. but probably slightly different. i think in the beginning, the movie were actually thrilling like the first time they found the hole, the joker doll, the little girl.. but after that, its downhill. the plot very slow. and the overall story/idea are just not for me.

Yea, I was hoping for something more like Gremlins or The 'burbs (one of my favs. of all time)Instead what we got was closer to that 'Haunted Lighthouse in 4D' ride that he directed for Busch Gardens, Williamsburg.
Still, it is good to see he is directing features again. Hope he keeps at it.

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Hollywood is Dead!

I guess a lot of people agree. Started well, if a little too typical, but as it went on it quickly started to lose momentum rather than gain it. By the time the girl "faces her fear" (ugh, THIS plotline gain) on the old roller-coaster the movie is completely sussed by anyone who isn't a complete moron and the rest of the movie is just boring on account. There is no sense of peril, all they have to do is face their fears in increasingly cartoonish circumstances and insist they aren't afraid any more... cue credits. So disappointing. The general attitude of wow a bottomless pit from which dead people crawl in and out in our basement... that's vaguely strange, lets order pizza and then go swimming kind of killed any sense of interest too. If they don't care then whey should I? I guess younger kids may like this, but if you're over 12 you're probably over The Hole. Shame.

What if a squirrel wants a sausage?

I found Dante's direction to be very stellar. He deals with the creepy stuff admirably and makes great use of shadows and light. He kept me slightly on edge for majority of the film (although I knew none of the 3 main characters would bite it, I was still worried for them) and it didn't lapse into stupidity (which Insidious really suffered from). He did really well with the 'modest' budget and I think the art direction towards the end when Dane entered that skewed version of his home life was really twisted and well thought-out.

The acting was a little underwhelming.

I also think the action could have ramped up a bit more towards the end before Lucas is kidnapped but that's only a minor thing.

I was really pleased with Dante's movie.

My teenage angst has a body count

I agree to an extent. My problem was not with the acting (all three kids were fine) and I felt the story was quite good for what it is-- a horror flick for kids. The problem was the last twenty minutes or so were a big let down, as if they didn't know how to end the film. It's a shame because it could have been so much improved if they had executed the ending in a better manner.


"I always pretend to root for Gryffindors but, secretly, I love my Slytherin boys."~ Karen, W&G

I must say I'm a huge horror/thriller/mystery movie maniac, but I have one problem- I can't get a nice adrenalin rush from most movies in those genres lately. maybe this is why I think the whole movie was total crap- it didn't have any stress factor, the idea about what the kids feared was lame, the whole movie was totally predictable, the scenography inside the hole was a lousy Tim Burton copy, the clown had the "saw" puppet features, the "nightmare" characters crawled like Samara ("The Ring")/Sadako ("Ringu"), and come on! the little girl's ghost wore a wig! the acting was good, though I made a weird comment like "girl, it's your second day in town and you already got a date? and you changed like 5 cities- slutty much?" LOL IDK I was hoping to get my hair raised while covering my eyes for some freaky moment, considering the ratings here, but instead I felt sleepy...
this movie deserves a 3/10 at most:
1. for the idea of a hole that makes your fears come true;
2. for the moment when Lucas was standing at the edge of the whole (when they found it) and I feared he'll fall;
3. for Cartman's doll - that made me laugh!

Knowing that this was more of a horror movie for kids, I wasn't overly disappointed. I was hoping it would be a bit more scary, but for what it was worth, it was scary enough of younger kids.

The movie definitely takes something from these films.

Plenty of references here:
1. The Grudge/The Ring - little girl with jerky movements
2. Poltergeist - evil clown attacking small boy
3. Cat's Eye - Drew Barrymore sends an evil miniature troll flying into a fan to kill him.
4. Gremlins - Young kids try to stop a malevolent force. Also, where the clown throws glass jars and all sorts at the boy
5. The Sixth Sense - Cop with the back of his head missing. Lots of shots in the Sixth Sense of characters who turn and have horrible injuries.
6. It's A Good Life (which Dante directed for Twilight Zone The Movie). The entire set design down the hole - All wonky lines and distorted dimensions - is reminiscent of It's A Good Life.
7. Stephen King's "It" - Using your fears against you.
8. The Gate - Evil comes from a hole in the ground. Parents go away and the kids have to contend with what comes out of the hole.

If you are expecting serious scares and jumps, you won't find it here. My wife was cracking up laughing at the clown scene. The clown in Poltergeist was scarier. I didn't watch this in 3D even though I have 2 3D HDTV's. There wasn't a lot of 3D moments anyways. If you kids who are interested in watching some horror flick, this would be a good one to start with. Also have them check out The Gate, Gremlins, Cat's Eye and some of the R.L. Stein short stories.

I thought it was decent until the end, and then it just completely fell apart.