By Anna Husted EBS FILM CRITIC
“The Hole in the
Ground” is “The Babadook” meets “The Descent.” It doesn’t bring very much new
to the horror genre, but like most horror films it is a treatise on current
times—specifically tackling issues centered on feminism and isolationism.
Up-and-coming actor
Seana Kerslake plays Sarah, mother of Chris, who is left to raise her son alone
for an undisclosed reason. The father figure either died or mysteriously
disappeared from their lives, but whatever happened to him makes Sarah sad, so
she and her son move to a new town. Within the first 10 minutes of the film
Sarah notices slight changes in Chris’ demeanor upon their arrival in the new
house; she ignores this until the old woman down the road from them stops them
in the middle of the highway to tell her that Chris “is not your son.”
After the old
woman’s death, from suffocation, the horror ramps up. I will not say whether
Chris or Sarah, or both, are possessed because it’s not obvious until the end
and guessing is half the fun.
One of my favorite
things about “The Hole in the Ground” is its runtime. At 1 hour, 30 minutes,
it’s a tightly edited and entertaining horror movie. In the digital age the art
of editing is losing ground, so I loved that director Lee Cronin jumped right
into the action and suspense with upside down, twisting shots of the highway
and the caves that run underneath it.
“The Hole in the
Ground” is Cronin’s debut feature film, and he plays on our previous horror
film tropes by directing Kerslake as an overprotective,
am-I-going-crazy-or-is-this-real mother. The film’s climax gives the power back
to the mother, which historically horror films do not do. Cronin does not
belittle Sarah’s situation, but presents it as something only she can
understand and get through.
Post-viewing “The
Hole in the Ground” my burning question is: Why do people always buy a house in
the woods away from society and think nothing will go wrong? Horror film error No.
1. This sentiment speaks volumes to us in Montana because we cannot help but be
isolated due to the vastness of our state. Isolation goes against human nature
and horror films show us this again and again.
Do not let your kids
bury their pets in the cemetery on the back 40 and don’t spend a winter alone
in a hotel in the Colorado Rockies–something bad will happen. Horror films are
the best at calling out our need to be a part of society. Social interaction is
as important as dieting or exercise: Without it we are lost.
“The Hole in the
Ground” is worth watching if you enjoy horror films, but it’s no “Us” or “Get Out”
so there’s no rush to see it. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
earlier this year and is now available to rent on iTunes or Google Play.
Anna Husted has a master’s
in film studies from New York University. In Big Sky she can be found hiking a
mountain or at the movies at Lone Peak Cinema. When not gazing at the silver
screen or watching her new favorite TV show, she’s reading, fishing or
roughhousing with her cat, Indiana Jones.
