The Hole in the Ground (2019) [Horror/Irish Made Film]

corkie

[IMDb] The Hole in the Ground (2019)

Currently watching, not usually a fan of Horror fillm's which place Kids as the center piece (a.k.a Stephen King), exceptions been Exorcist/Stranger Things.

Can see some clickbait sites labeling this like "Best Horror of 2019, so far"?

James Cosmo (a.k.a Jeor Mormont ~ GOT) plays a part!




Edit: - Airing Dates: -
USA 25 January 2019 (Sundance Film Festival)
Ireland 1 March 2019

Slydice

When I heard the Irish Accent, I had to google then I was like.. Hey, that's Mary from A Date for Mad Mary!

corkie

Slydice wrote: »

When I heard the Irish Accent, I had to google then I was like.. Hey, that's Mary from A Date for Mad Mary!

You googled?

When I provided imdb links?

Seána Kerslake

Seána Kerslake is an actress, known for Can't Cope, Won't Cope (2016), A Date for Mad Mary (2016) and Dollhouse (2012).

pixelburp

What is it about the "creepy child" trope that Horror films return to it time and again? I guess it's probably wrapped up into some psychological neurosis over parenthood or whatnot, it's certainly a well worn cliché in cinema narratives at this stage.

It looks interesting, though the trailer felt like it was trying to bump up the 'jump scare' quotient; whether or not that reflects the final feature we'll see.

corkie

[Variety] Sundance Film Review: ‘The Hole in the Ground’

“The Hole in the Ground” is less subversive than we’ve come to expect from the indie distributor’s genre fare. Compared to Ari Aster’s penetrating family nightmare “Hereditary,” which likewise debuted in a buzzy Midnight slot at Sundance last year, Cronin’s film is more of a straight-up spookhouse ride: jolting in the moment, but less likely to linger in the bones long after viewing.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hole_in_the_ground

85%
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 13
Fresh: 11
Rotten: 2

But despite the befuddling denouement, The Hole in the Ground is, for the most part, too conventional to live up to the hype.

The Hole in the Ground takes a more head-down, meat-and-potatoes approach to the genre. It might not linger in the imagination as long, but it delivers effective scares throughout and -- most importantly -- never lets up.

I found it okay, watched it last night while multitasking, probably have re-watch this afternoon.

cgcsb

Looks good. Will go see it.

corkie

Slydice wrote: »

When I heard the Irish Accent, I had to google then I was like.. Hey, that's Mary from A Date for Mad Mary!

That film showing on Virgin Media Three Saturday 23rd @ 21:00

CatFromHue

Mark Kermode's review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0A9AZjmlFk

He's positive about it anyway

branie2

I saw it this evening, and I really enjoyed it.

correction

Saw it last night and enjoyed it. Felt it could have maybe done with being 20 mins longer as a few things don't really go anywhere where you thought they might.

restive

The twilight zone! Worth seeing, a good film. What was the song over the end credits? I remember hearing it in national school back in the eighties.

corkie

restive wrote: »

The twilight zone! Worth seeing, a good film. What was the song over the end credits? I remember hearing it in national school back in the eighties.

gmisk

correction wrote: »

Saw it last night and enjoyed it. Felt it could have maybe done with being 20 mins longer as a few things don't really go anywhere where you thought they might.

It's not too bad at all, definitely babadook vibe off it I thought, lots of shots like other films e.g. the shining, another 10 minutes would have been good it was only 90 minutes so ending felt a bit rushed. Kerslake is fantastic.
7/10

branie2

Opening credits very similar to The Shining

Banjaxed82

branie2 wrote: »

Opening credits very similar to The Shining

Was the wallpaper she put up in the house a similar design to the carpet in The Shining?

Padraig Mor

Saw this last night and really enjoyed it. Review:

The Hole in the Ground - new Irish horror getting decent plaudits (and not even with a 'for an Irish movie' disclaimer). Young mom moves to the country with her young son and quickly finds that the old lady down the road is a bit mad and seems to have serious issues with the kid. Spookiness ensues and Mom starts to wonder if there's something up with her son.......or whether she's just losing the plot herself. And what's with the giant fecking hole in the ground in the nearby forest? Riffs on The Shining, The Bababook, The Witch and The Descent.....which is pretty much my list of favourite horror movies. It's not as good as any of these, but this isn't harsh criticism as their collective standard is very high. It's genuinely unnerving and spooky. Betrays some evidence of heavy handed editing and could have done with being a little longer (a rare wish from me) to flesh some threads out a bit more. Nevertheless, a very good effort and a solid 7.5/10.

NB the trailer for this is VERY spoiler-ific - avoid if intending to watch the film.

Sad Professor

It's good, especially the last act. It wears its influences on its sleeve, but unlike something like Hereditary it feels derivative rather than inspired. I disagree that it should have been longer, though maybe it should have focused more on other things within the 90 minute running time.

John DoeReMi

Went to see this at the weekend and was very disappointed. Tedious, derivative, not at all scary, utterly unoriginal. Can't understand why it's getting such good reviews. It has nothing going for it IMHO other than the novelty factor of being an Irish horror film. Which wore off pretty quickly for me.

s8n

John DoeReMi wrote: »

Went to see this at the weekend and was very disappointed. Tedious, derivative, not at all scary, utterly unoriginal. Can't understand why it's getting such good reviews. It has nothing going for it IMHO other than the novelty factor of being an Irish horror film. Which wore off pretty quickly for me.

couldnt agree more. Last third in particular was terrible

Autecher

I'm just back from seeing this and really I just found it funny for the most part. I couldn't take it seriously at all.

Aisling(",)

I quite enjoyed this.

I felt the

underground stuff with the fairies/spirits wasn't best done. How on earth did she manage to get out sure.

My favourite line was how do you know its a female spider

8 legs no willy:P

I don't feel that it was great but I liked it being set in Ireland, the creepy kid trope worked well and Kerslake was fantastic.

JP Liz V1

Is or was this showing in many cinemas around Cork?

Padraig Mor

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Is or was this showing in many cinemas around Cork?

It's in Mahon Point anyway.

wezzopalooza

John DoeReMi wrote: »

Went to see this at the weekend and was very disappointed. Tedious, derivative, not at all scary, utterly unoriginal. Can't understand why it's getting such good reviews. It has nothing going for it IMHO other than the novelty factor of being an Irish horror film. Which wore off pretty quickly for me.

Couldn't agree more, a horror film can be many things but being boring is unforgiveable, this one really sagged then just petered out. Definitely another case of an overhyped Irish movie, which seem to get an extra star or 2 in reviews here just for being Irish.

I know Hereditary divided people, but it did have memorable and disturbing imagery and was unnerving in parts.

Homelander

I thought this was more like an episode of a horror anthology TV series than a proper movie - good overall but too formulaic and predictable, and despite the 90m runtime it really just didn't feel like an effective narrative/use of time. Like a lot of films it feels like there's a major lack of substance in the middle and third act. Some good imagery in it though, generally it looks great and the main actress is very good. Negative stars for the guy who played the doctor....sounded like an extra reading off a page in every scene.

I think The Hallow is another Irish film with a fairly similar premise done slightly better?

CatFromHue

Mike from Red Letter Media mentioned this in their round up the year, he was a fan anyway!

Ready4Boarding

Just got around to watching it.

Something I've noticed frequently about criticism of RTE productions is unrealistic expectations. And if your standard for comparison is Netflix, you will inevitably be disappointed. But if you temper expectations, there can be much to enjoy. I sometimes watch Inspector Morse. The show isn't without criticism - hammy acting, a lead character that doesn't develop... - yet I get great enjoyment from it provided my expectations are appropriate. If you were expecting a horror film to rival notable recent releases like Get Out, Us and Hereditary, Hole in the Ground would likely have disappointed. But if you saw it for what it is - a low-budget Irish horror - I think you'd find much to commend it.

With lots of scary films, the problem would dissolve if they would just leave the house! What I loved about Hole in the Ground was that that was not an option for the mother: she can't leave her child.

And the two competing alternatives - one that her son's a demon and the other that she's going insane and unable to love her child - are equally terrifying.