- Actors: Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington, Daniel Brocklebank, Laurence Fox, Keira Knightley
- Directors: Nick Hamm
- Writers: Ben Court, Caroline Ip, Guy Burt
- Producers: Andrea Calderwood, Bill Shephard, François Ivernel, Jeremy Bolt
- Language English
- Classification: 18
- Studio: Fox
- VHS Release Date: 25 Mar 2002
- Run Time: 102 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00005UWPA
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 22,465 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Despite copious swearing and a corporate rock soundtrack, The Hole might, more appropriately, have begun with a title sequence of silhouettes cavorting in front of a fiery backdrop; it owes far more to Tales of the Unexpected than the slick US teen movies (I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty) it tries so hard to imitate. This British horror flick displays the same cheap production values as the 1970's series, but rather than staying within the confines of a half-hour TV slot, The Hole stretches its thin, but promising, premise over 90 minutes.
Based on Guy Burt’s novel, the story follows three rich kids from an exclusive English boarding school who avoid their school field trip by hiding out in an underground bunker. Liz (a suitably embarrassed Thora Birch) tags along for the ride in the hope that she may consummate her crush on Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington), the school's resident American hipster. They are then left imprisoned, which should be the cue for The Breakfast Club Goes Insane but isn’t, as director Nick Hamm eschews the straightforward in favour of clumsy flashbacks and contrived plot twists, robbing the film of any tension or shock and turning it into a tiresome stretch in the company of four very disagreeable stereotypes.
The Hole is a witless movie, entirely lacking the self-referential humour and technical skill of its better American counterparts. If you want classic British horror, try Peeping Tom or The Wicker Man instead. The Hole is a movie that may be set deep underground, but ultimately it’s a very shallow experience.
On the DVD: the extras add nothing to this movie. The theatrical trailer and widescreen 2.35:1 ratio come as standard. Of the nine deleted scenes the original coda for the end of the movie is the only one worth seeing purely because it is so ludicrous. Director Hamm's po-faced commentary sheds little illumination into this deep, dark hole. --Tom Nash
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
The plot of the movie is relatively straight-forward. Four teenagers hide away in an old war bunker, and get trapped inside. They have limited food, hardly any water, no working toilet facilities, and no known way of getting out. To make matters worse, the only person who knows that they're there (Martin- played superbly by Daniel Brocklebank), hasn't come back for them, and they have no way of finding out why.
The days go by, and the tension begins to mount. And the paranoia begins to set in.
Sadly, to say any more would be spoiling the twists and turns of this great film. Suffice to say that it does indeed twist superbly, and is more of a chiller than a slash'n'gore style killer-on-the-rampage thriller.
The casting is superb. Every actor/actress suits his/her part exactly. The suspense is also particularly good at many points.
On the whole, if you're looking for a chilling look into the human psyche, this is a great film. If you're more into masked-killer-goes-out-and-kills-fifteen-American-teenagers movies, then this probably won't be much to your liking.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
People only seem to read reviews with a few lines, so I'll keep it short. "The Hole" starts in a rather mediocre fashion, though with plenty of intrigue; not all the acting is superb, despite a reasonably well-written script, but the leading lady manages to hold it together almost perfectly. It gets better as it goes on. There are two key things in this film in my opinion, perhaps three if you include the fact that it's an English film and good; 1) the disturbing, edgy atmosphere which pervades it (on occasion, this is done incredibly well) and 2) the ending - if you're into your Usual Suspects, you'll know what kind of gut-wrenching feeling of bewilderment and shock I'm chattin' about. Doesn't quite deserve 5 stars, but then the four awarded are coming from someone who wasn't that impressed by the Blair Witch and the like. Basically, it's quality.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
First off, I'm a film student, so I could talk about this forever. For your sanity howwever, I'll keep it relatively short.
My experience of this film is that you either think it's the greatest thing ever made or conversly, why was it ever made. As you may guess I sit firmly on the side of the former statement.
I had gone along expecting some Blair Witch rip-off... The Hole is not another teen slasher, it has far much more intelligence, to call it one would do the director, cast and crew a dis-service.
Performances on the whole are top notch. irch resists the temptation to go off the deep end, it is this that makes her portrayal all the more dark.
Also one to note is the perforamnce of relative newcomer Keira Knightley. Air-headed socialite, easy to play right? Wrong. For all of Frankie's designer girl bravado, there is in equal measure a sense of vulnerability to her, which Knightley pulls off excellently.
Now for the boys. Laurence Fox (Geoff) has the greatest obsticle to over come. On paper, his character is intensly dislikable, yet on screen, Fox is somehow able to make you like him. Particularly in the latter scenes with Knightley.
Desmond Harrington plays the iconic all americian boy to perfection. The most wonderful thing to see is how much he is affected by evens inside The Hole.
This film could be called anything, 'The Cupboard' whatever, place doesn't matter, its what happens inside that counts.
OK, so there are place with cluky bits of dialogue where inexperience shows a little, but the greatest thing about thids film is a great ense of rawness, an 'underground quality'(no pun intended!) making a refreshing change from the run-of-the-mill hollywood teen horror movies.
To sum up then. This film is a neatly observed look at the horror of people, yes people not a big scary monster. This makes it all the more haunting. If you want to see something very special indeed, buy this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I'm really worried about her. She needs a doctor; yeah a script...
The Hole is directed by Nick Hamm and adapted by BenCcourt & Caroline Ip from the novel After The Hole written by Guy Burt. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Spike Owen
One of my favourite films.
I really love this film. If you like your films a little bit sinister you will really enjoy this film. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mo
The Hole
This is far from the teen horror status it owns. It is a psychological thriller whose themes involve claustrophobia and sociopathy. Read more
Published on 16 May 2010 by William Galliers-Bradshaw
Stop Digging
I bought this mainly because I went to the school where it was partly filmed (Reading Blue Coat), though in fact only bits and pieces (the panelled bits and some outside shots)... Read more
Published on 12 April 2010 by Ian Millard
Really scary film!
I had no much idea what's this film about . I bought it because of Laurence Fox and hoped it will be worth of watching. Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2009 by Swedbank
Disturbing...
`The Hole` is a teen horror,at leat that is what it says on paper,that's its disguise,really it's a psychological horror that if watched at night will chill most people to the very... Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2009 by Mr. A. J. Ralph
Lust and love in average "horror"
Liz Dunn (Birch) tells the story of events that unfolded when she and her friends spent the weekend in an old war bunker. Read more
Published on 22 April 2009 by Stampy
Great Film. Great music theme
This film has you hooked in straight away and wanting to know what. The soundtrack is good especially the signature tune.
Published on 4 Feb 2009 by Penny Bollockia
A "Hole" lot of trouble
As a Thora Birch fan I was keen to add this to my DVD collection and as I was considering the idea it was shown on TV. Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2009 by P. Smith
What happens in the bunker stays in the bunker
Before she was engaging in who-can-wear-more-mascara contests with Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley was trapped in a bunker with Thora Birch and two guys for 18 days. Read more
Published on 4 May 2008 by Daniel Jolley
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