The Hole in 3D review

The eighties was not a vintage decade for cinema. Sure there were classics like Raging Bull, but for the most part the eighties came to stand for glossy mainstream hits such as Top Gun and Flashdance, high on style but lacking in substance. Where the eighties did reign supreme was in the family movie. E.T., The Goonies, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future: all benchmarks of their respective genres. Now, after a mini-renaissance with 2006‘s Monster House, eighties-style family horror is back courtesy of Gremlins-helmer Joe Dante, with a layer of 3D paint to keep the accountants happy.

The Hole (the in 3D part doesn’t appear in the titles, so let’s leave it out here) features a set-up that practically writes itself; three kids discover a bottomless hole in a basement that may be a gateway to hell. Or a wormhole to space. Or the headquarters of the Tea Party movement. Unspeakable evil, whatever it may be.

The eighties family-movie checklist gets filled pretty quickly. Middle-American suburban setting? Check. Broken family home? Present. Precocious but cute younger sibling? With bells on. Like The Expendables earlier this year it helps that a wave of nostalgia papers over the fact that you are watching a film you have probably seen a dozen times before. With such a low budget it also feels a little like an extended episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? (‘gather round for the tale... of the hole!’), but Dante has experience working on a shoe-string (he directed the original Piranha) and he wrings every bit of tension from the story.

The Hole is a scary film, refreshing to see from an industry that often shortchanges younger scare-fans. There are jump scares a plenty, and a scene in a girls toilet earns the film’s 12A certificate, but nothing exceeds a particularly hardcore episode of Doctor Who. 2010 has been a great year for sound design, and Chris M. Jacobson (who should have received an Oscar for his work on Drag Me To Hell) leaves no door un-creaked or tree un-rustled to create another superb horror soundtrack. There is comedy too, with a mischievous clown sure to stoke up questions for Joe Dante about the possibilities of another Gremlins movie.

The trio of kids played by Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett and Nathan Gamble are a likable group, and do a good job of looking appropriately scared when the need arises. Cameos from the likes of Bruce Dern and Dick Miller will put a smile on older horror fans’ faces, and Teri Polo does well with another one-dimensional ‘struggling mum’ role.

The 3D works perfectly fine, though older viewers may find the price paid for a ticket to be scarier than the movie itself. 3D seems to be a contentious issue currently, but within this context it works perfectly; with such a small amount of sets, and most of the action taking place in a basement, the 3D helps to expand what is a fairly small movie. Plus with horror there is always the temptation to try and move your head to see what is lurking just inside the shadows...

The Hole is a great throwback to the kind of film that used to be put out under Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, and is sure to have many a child (and adult) sleeping with the lights on.