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The Hole [2001]
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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
RRP: £12.99
Our Price: £3.20 (subject to change)
Editorial
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.
What happens in the bunker stays in the bunker
Review date: 2008-05-04 Rating: 8 out of 10
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. I expected this to be a film about four teens trapped in an underground bunker trying to survive as days turn into weeks (two and a half to be exact), but that really isn't what The Hole is all about. That fact becomes obvious in the opening scene, as we watch a haggard survivor emerge and shuffle her way back to safety. Once she begins telling her story, I thought the rest of the movie would just be one big flashback leading us back to the present - wrong again. The plot to this film is much more dark and insidious as all that - and, while it's not problem-free, I think the film is all the better for it. This is very much a psychological thriller which almost succeeds magnificently - almost. And, as unlikely as it may sound, the story plays off the kinds of emotions all of us have experienced - to some degree - at some point in our lives. Stripped down to the very bone, what you have here is a love story.
So here are your choices: go along on a boring school field trip, spend a tedious weekend at home, or sneak away to an underground bunker to party with Keira Knightley and Thora Birch for three days. I'm a claustrophobic non-rebel, but I would be totally down (pun intended) with hunkering in the bunker. It certainly seemed like a good idea to Liz Dunn (Birch) because it would give her a chance to spend some quality time with the suddenly available apple of her eye, Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington). As she eventually tells the psychologist assigned to her (Embeth Davitz), her friend Martyn (Daniel Brocklebank) - one of those unethical brainiacs who can make anything happen - arranged the whole thing, after Mike, Frankie (Knightley), and Geoff (Laurence Fox) solicited his help in getting away for the weekend without either the school or their parents knowing about it. The plan was a smashing success - except for the fact that Martyn never showed up to unlock the door and let them out. Clearly, Martyn is the guilty party.
But wait a minute - it's not as simple as all that. Martyn insists that he had nothing to do with any of it, and through him a much different version of events emerges, one that significantly redefines the characters of Liz and Frankie. Whatever your suspicions, you as the viewer don't really know who or what to believe, especially since you have yet to be told exactly what happened to Mike, Frankie, and Geoff (in fact, I have a little problem with the fact that some of the initial implications are misleading and leave you asking obvious questions you later find out you needn't have asked). Even after it becomes obvious that one character in particular is not telling the whole story, the sense of mystery remains until the end, when the fates of all are finally revealed. There's just something about the ending that left me unsatisfied, though - not in terms of everything that took place in the bunker (although one key event was rather obviously foreshadowed early on), but definitely in the way things play out above ground. That is why, as much as I want to give The Hole five stars in recognition of its creative storytelling prowess and bevy of strong performances, I just can't do it. It's most unfortunate because I really do love this movie.
I do not like the American DVD cover featuring the close-up of Keira Knightley, though. For one thing, she doesn't look anything like this in the movie, but more importantly, this movie is really all about Thora Birch. Knightley's good, but it is the commanding presence of Birch that largely defines the film as a whole. With a less capable actress in the lead role, The Hole could have come off as laughably bad. A subtle facial expression can oftentimes say more than a drawn-out soliloquy, and Birch is unarguably a complete actress. She can be the girl next door and, at the same time, reveal traces of a hidden dark side - and that makes her not only mysteriously seductive but sexy as hell to those of us who like a little bit of evil in our girls.
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Reviews
Very Effective
Review date: 2008-05-02 Rating: 8 out of 10
An extemely effective little British chiller set around a posh boarding school - Thora Birch plays Liz who is madly in love with American hunky student Mike(Desmond Harrington) and with her geeky mate Martin(Daniel Brocklebank) conrtives to get out of a geography field trip by setting up a private party in an underground WWII bunker in a nearby wood - to make it less obvious she invites bitchy Frankie(Kiera Knightly) and Martin best friend Geoff(Lawrnece Fox) and off they set. The plan is for them to spend the weekend together allowing Mike to fall in love with Liz and then Martin will let them out....exept this isn't quite how things work out....a fun weekend is had but Martin fails to turn up.....worry turns to panic which turns to paranoid accusations - a couple of days pass and then suddenly the hatch is open - Liz staggers back to the school and help is called. She is interviewed by a psychiatrist and we soon discover that her account doesn't quite hold up - Martin is arrested but pleads his innocence and it becomes apparant that Liz is hiding something. What this is and what it reveals is very well done - Birch is exellent in the role - at first portraying herself as drab outsider amongst the bitchy clique but is slowly revealed to be far more manipulative - the scenes in the shelter rachet up the claustrophic tension and the way the relationships fragment under pressure is well handled - Nick Hamm directs with a tautness that fits the material very well and a menacing,throbbing soundtrack from Clint Mansell adds to the sense of unease - I was expecting another of those endless teen horror movies but this is far more accomplished. 4 Stars
Great fun - if a little predictable
Review date: 2008-03-29 Rating: 8 out of 10
However much the film's ending is transparently obvious from the earliest scenes, I find it hard not to like The Hole. I love the contrast between the twee world of Liz's narrative and sex- and drug-hungry hedonism that's revealed when 'reality' hits in the film's second half. Thora Birch gives a flawless performance - but she's been usurped on the US campaign by the now more famous Keira Knightley, who plays a supporting role.
Tiresome teens hide out
Review date: 2008-01-16 Rating: 4 out of 10
in an underground bunker. Three of them die, a fourth survives, but she turns out to be the architect of their fate. Clumsy, by turns improbable and irritating, it delivers only on a very basic level. If you like Brit teen movies you might like this, I might be being overly critical, but I actually didn't care about the fate of the characters.
Not bad at all, although the ending is not really believable
Review date: 2007-10-22 Rating: 8 out of 10
I rather liked this movie, although it is definitely NOT a masterpiece. This is the story of four teenagers (two boys and two girls) who decided to cut school (or rather a school trip) and stay for the weekend hidden in an old bomb shelter ("The hole"), drinking, partying and... well, partying. Just one problem at the end - monday morning, they can not open the doors anymore... and nobody knows where they are (the school was told they are going home, at home they said they are going to the school trip), the only other guy being in the secret having just left for a two weeks trip with his parents. We learn at the very beginning all of this and the total duration of their stay in "the hole" - 18 days. And we clearly know that something really, really horrible happened during this time...
The interest of this movie is mainly in the performance of two main female characters, Liz (Thora Birch) and Frankie (Keira Knightley). Thora Birch gives a great show - she is the shy, the mousy one, at least on the surface, but in the end her character (Liz) emerges as the main player in the whole story. Keira Knigtley is incredibly cute in this movie and she play the more exuberant Frankie, the shameless one, who doesn't mind wandering to the boy's showers and tease her boyfriend in the middle of a half dozen naked guys.... She shows a lot of her very generously in this movie and this in itself is a good reason to see it, if you are a guy.
The boys are finally less important for the movie, but they play well too. The scenery of "the hole" is well done, it is quite spooky and claustrophobic, especially once most of the lights run out...
All in all it was going very well towards a really classic thriller, but towards the very end the director lost somehow control - so prepare for an unsatisfying ending, which I believe spoiled the taste a lot. As in many movies, they wanted to do too much and they overdid. However, at the exception of five last minutes, this is a quite good movie, which I do not regret having watched. Have fun!
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Desmond Harrington
Laurence Fox
Thora Birch
Daniel Brocklebank
Keira Knightley
Creators:
Thora Birch (Primary Contributor)
Desmond Harrington (Primary Contributor)
Andrea Calderwood (Producer)
Bill Shephard (Producer)
François Ivernel (Producer)
Jeremy Bolt (Producer)
Ben Court (Writer)
Caroline Ip (Writer)
Guy Burt (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: Pathe Distribution
Manufacturer: Pathe Distribution
EAN: 5060002830840
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2004-07-19
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 98 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2001-06-20
Language: English (Original Language)