The Prodigy Disappoints in Spite of a Promising Premise [Review]

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Wicked Horror is the author of The Prodigy Disappoints in Spite of a Promising Premise [Review]. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

Horror creators have a challenge balancing realism and respecting their audience. A vampire could come out of the closet behind me and sink its fangs into my neck now. As a skeptic, I would be hard-pressed to believe that I was actually being bitten by a vampire, because vampires aren’t real even as one sucked my blood. So to write a character like me, assuming that my skepticism is close to that of the average American, writer of The Prodigy Jeff Buhler needs to capture that skepticism. The other side of the coin, where Buhler and The Prodigy slip, is that watching a skeptic come to the realization that they’re truly dealing with the paranormal gets boring after the first fifteen minutes or so, because the audience knows what’s happening in the film. Adrean Messmer lays out why nicely in Beyond the Cabin in the Woods episode on Ginger Snaps. The Prodigy opens with Margaret St. James (Brittany Allen, star of the excellent What Keeps You Alive) punching through a wooden door to freedom. Her scenes are contrasted with Sarah Blume (Taylor Schilling) going into labor with her first child. St. James finds her way to the highway, where she flags down a passing motorist. Blume arrives in the hospital. St. James leads the police to where she was being held. Blume is given a bed. The man who was torturing St. James comes out naked to confront the police. He pulls St. James’s dismembered hand from behind his back. The police open fire. He fills the frame, riddled with bullets, naked and director Nicholas McCarthy graphic matches it with an infant Miles, screaming. RELATED: What Keeps You Alive Is Among the Best Horror Films of the Year The film takes place ten years later, with Miles (Jackson Robert Scott, Georgie from the new IT) struggling with violent impulses he can’t remember. This is where it gets frustrating: the movie gives the viewer no reason to doubt what’s happening, the killer (Paul Fauteux) is taking over Miles’s body. But Sarah, a rational agent, can’t bring herself to believe what’s happening in front of her. The film spends what feels like an hour with Sarah figuring out and coming to terms with what’s happening. Miles speaks “a rare dialect of Hungarian only spoken near the Romanian border,” the killer’s family’s language. His psychiatrist brings in an expert who tells Sarah what’s happening. Miles Home Alones the babysitter. He hits a classmate with a monkey wrench. He does something truly awful to Tallulah, the family dog. Sarah sees the evidence, which the film makes abundantly clear, but refusing to believe what’s happening in front of her. It’s realistic, but boring. Dramatic irony, letting the audience know things the characters don’t, can be effective. The Prodigy does it very well with the babysitter walking barefoot down a staircase with glass on the lower steps. But it fails with the bigger story arc, because Miles isn’t a threat to his parents until the third act. Because he’s not a threat to them, them not realizing he’s being possessed by the ghost of a serial killer is the only conflict punctuated by Miles’ violent outbursts. Sarah and her husband John (Peter Mooney) refuse to see what’s in front of them. An expert friend of the psychiatrist tells them “Two entities can’t exist in the same body forever. One will become dominant and the other will be absorbed,” but they’re incapable of doing anything to solve the problem, which takes all the momentum out of the film. They can’t attempt to solve a problem they won’t admit. So instead of them struggling to save their son on screen, they take him to a therapist and talk about how there’s nothing else they can do. Therapy is great, and every adult I know could use some more of it, but watching a child go to appointments doesn’t make for a compelling horror film. There are competent moments in The Prodigy. In addition to the foot-glass scare, there’s an excellent moment where Sarah is trying to pry a piece of wood off the bottom of a workbench. The camera is following Miles behind her, stalking her, with a hammer. McCarthy draws the moment out. When viewers think Miles is going to swing the hammer, he hands it to her instead. It’s a terrifying moment, one that shows great promise. The premise, a new take on possession (another human invading instead of a demon), is great as well. Jackson Robert Scott acts well, playing two characters in one body. All of it goes to make The Prodigy more disappointing. It’s almost there, and those are the most frustrating movies to watch. Four or five changes, and this could be a classic. The Prodigy Blu-Ray includes Commentary by Director Nicholas McCarthy; promotional featurettes on “Story,” “Genre,” and “Miles”; an image gallery; Theatrical Trailer; and A Sneak Peek of Child’s Play (2019), The Belko Experiment, and Death Wish (2018). Wicked Rating – 5/10 Director: Nicholas McCarthy Writer: Jeff Buhler Stars: Jackson Robert Scott, Taylor Schilling, Peter Mooney, Paul Fateux, Brittany Allen Release: May 7, 2019 Studio/Production Company: Orion Pictures, Vinson Films, XYZ Films, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Language: English, Hungarian Length: 92 minutes Sub-Genre: Possession

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The Convent is a Terrifying Tale of Accidental Satanism [Review]

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Wicked Horror is the author of The Convent is a Terrifying Tale of Accidental Satanism [Review]. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

The Convent takes us back to the early 17th century, where simple things like wealth, having more than one female friend and having vivid, spooky dreams can get you accused of being a witch. And in the case of our main character Persephone, who probably isn’t a witch, a false accusation lands her a sentence of death. It seems that her fate is sealed until the intervention of a mysterious Reverend Mother, who is the leader of a small religious retreat and willing to take the girl in to redeem herself. Right away it’s very clear that nothing is as it seems in this apparent safe haven. Upon arrival, Persephone is plagued with terrifying visions and soon realizes that it’s not salvation that awaits her but a battle for her very soul itself. Also See: Sorry Haters, the New Hellboy Rocks [Review] Thanks to movies such as The Exorcist and Alucarda, religious horror has earned a special place in my heart. And in the case of Paul Hyett’s The Convent? It’s a glorious gore fest. This flick checks off everything on my list: accidental satanism, mysterious night noises, and the undead, oh my! Just when you think it can’t get any worse, you’re proven wrong again and again. And, oddly enough, you’re into it. The Convent is a must see that expertly winds up the ongoing paranoia with eerie atmosphere and morbid prayers that would make the likes of Roman Polanski proud. Especially with it’s use of special effects. Now normally I’m not a huge fan of movies jam-packed with carnage (especially stuff with eyeballs because…ew) but I couldn’t help making an exception for The Convent. Even though I felt a little skeeved out, director Paul Hyett spaces out and plays off these slightly amateur effects in a way that gives viewers the vibe that he’s not invested in the shock value of making a horror movie. He’s more so interested in creating a mood of pure instability; the kind of mood that really puts people on the edge of their seats. This results in a horrific cautionary tale that is held up by it’s incredible cast. Also See: The Hole in the Ground isn’t the Only Hole in this Dull, Lackluster Irish Horror Movie [DVD Review] Hyett teases you deeper and deeper into this story with addictive prose and lovable characters. While I enjoyed all the performances in this movie, I especially liked Hannah Arterton who plays the mysterious Persephone with a grace that will leave you pleasantly surprised when she goes into ass kicking mode later on in the film. If I needed to be fussy about anything it would be the previously mentioned, lackluster special effects. The blood and guts are fine, no complaints there. However in the case of some fire or a certain decapitation scene, it came off a bit silly. But don’t let this scare you away because The Convent is well-constructed and almost flawlessly executed through most of the story. While the movie is not perfect, the talented cast and crew combine to craft a completely enjoyable horror film. The perfect movie to throw on during a dark and stormy night. Also See: Writer-director Josh Lobo Talks I Trapped The Devil [Interview] The Convent opens in select theaters and On Demand starting May 3rd via Vertical Entertainment! Check it out! Wicked Rating: 8/10 Director(s): Paul Hyett Writer(s): Paul Hyett, Conal Palmer, Gregory Blair Stars: Hannah Arterton, Clare Higgins, Rosie Day Studio/Production Company: Vertical Entertainment Language: English Run Time: 80 minutes

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Blood on my Sofa: Animal World Rocks My World!

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Wicked Horror is the author of Blood on my Sofa: Animal World Rocks My World!. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

Welcome to Blood on my Sofa! Each month I will be providing you with a movie recommendation. It won’t be just any movie, but a movie I watched during the previous month that really rocked my world. In this installment, we will be taking a look at Animal World.  Wondering what Netflix Original film to watch next? How about an action drama with splashes of horror? And how about a film that turns the exciting rock-paper-scissors game into a one that is deadly?  Also See: Blood on My Sofa: Down for The Demented Directed by Han Yan, Animal World reigns as an immersive and unique experience, based on Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s anime/manga series Ultimate Survivor Kaiji. This tale of parallel worlds, both real and dream-like, unites the trippy-ness of Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch, together with the traces of Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy, and the ingenuity of Christopher Nolan’s Inception.  The film follows a young man named Zheng Kaisi (Li Yifeng). With his father deceased, his mother a coma patient at the local hospital, and his love interest (Zhou Dongyu) being courted by a much wealthier prospect, Zheng finds little solace in the real world. As a child, he mentally escaped his trepidations by watching a cartoon that featured a cunning clown. As an adult, he works as a clown, attempting to make his dreamworld a reality but coming up considerably short. Funds soon run low, and Zheng finds himself faced with the opportunity to win big money on a gambling ship operated by an ominous impresario (Michael Douglas). The game is rock-paper-scissors. The stakes are life or death. And the solution—is Zeng’s peculiar math abilities. Apart from the smart storyline, this movie features the most intense game of rock-paper-scissors you will ever see. The concept is based on Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji (Ultimate Survivor Kaiji) by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. The manga and anime versions feature the game Mahjong. But the tension remains just as high in the feature film version. I was impressed with the way writer/director Han Yan was able to craft a screenplay that could encompass the complexity of Fukumoto’s work. Han Yan is the talented director of the incredibly profitable and highly imaginative dramedy Go Away Mr. Tumor, starring Bai Baihe and Daniel Wu. In this film and his directorial debut First Time, Yan not only excels in plot development, but also in story development, which relies on smartly chosen performers with broad range.  Starring as Zheng, Li Yifeng began his career as a singer in the early 2000s before focusing on acting. The role I first observed his talent in was Zhang Xiaofan in the television series Noble Aspirations, which became one of the most watched Chinese dramas at over 20 billion views. He also starred in Sparrow, an espionage series set in the 1940s that received critical acclaim. This series also featured his love interest in Animal World, the beautiful Zhou Dongyu.  Alongside the first-rate acting were ground-breaking visual effects. This was an international effort. With a peek into the ending credits, viewers can witness talented studios around the world coming together. The production VFX supervisor for the film is John Dietz, who has overseen movies like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, 28 Weeks Later, and Hunger Games. The VFX studios involved included Dietz’s company BangBang Pictures in Beijing, Weta Digital in New Zealand, Rising Sun Pictures in Australia, Fin Design + Effects in Sydney and Shanghai, and The Monk Studios in Bangkok.  Obviously, a project of this caliber needs an experienced concept designer. Feng Zhu took on the challenge of the different designs of Animal World. He has collaborated on movies such as Alita: Battle Angel, Transformers, TMNT, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, as well as designed for video games like Dark Sector, Gears of War, Dead Space, and Wolfenstein.   Animal World is considered an action drama, but it has elements that horror fans will appreciate. This horror is told through some of the most talented artists in entertainment. For this reason, I am thirsting for part two. And from the feedback I’ve read online, I see that I am not alone. Watch Animal World soon, so you can join the rest of us checking Netflix every hour for news of a sequel.                  

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Eight More Direct to Video Sequels That Are Better Than Expected

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Wicked Horror is the author of Eight More Direct to Video Sequels That Are Better Than Expected. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

Sequels in the horror genre get a bad rap, by and large. Among them, direct-to-video sequels are generally considered to be the worst of the bunch. They’re the bottom of the barrel. More often than not, they’re last ditch cash grabs on the part of the studio to turn a small profit on a brand that isn’t large enough to sustain another theatrical release. They often take pre-existing original scripts and alter them to fit whatever film they’re trying to follow up. And it’s not like there aren’t plenty of them that do exactly that. But there are often those movies that surprise you, that even if they don’t have as many resources or as much money as the original, they still wind up taking an impressive creative direction or—more often than not—simply being fun. Those are the kinds of sequels we’re looking at on this list. Ones that did an impressive thing by truly making the most of what they had to work with, sometimes even outdoing the original film itself. For this list, we’re not counting any sequels to movies that were originally direct-to-video, so as much as I love Puppet Master III, you won’t find it here. Same for another favorite, Return of the Living Dead 3, which is often thought of as DTV, but did in fact have a theatrical release. For part one of this list (courtesy of Wicked Horror’s Justin Steel) click here. Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings The first Pumpkinhead is one of my favorite horror movies of all time, and I’ll be the first to admit that the sequel does not approach its level of quality. Having said that, it’s still a very fun ‘90s monster movie with some terrific FX work from KNB—especially considering they barely had any time to put it all together. There’s what I still consider to be one of the most disgusting decapitations ever put to film, plus a double impalement that still sticks out as one of the most sadistic Pumpkinhead moments ever. Jeff Burr has such an efficient style that the sequel is slick and polished when it easily could not have been. Wrong Turn 2: Dead End Joe Lynch’s directorial debut is easily one of the best direct-to-video sequels of all time. In fact, for my tastes at least, it’s better than the original. Wrong Turn is very much a throwback that’s hindered by the fact that while the story feels like a nod to the days of Hills Have Eyes, the direction and overall style are as early 2000s as you could possibly get. Wrong Turn 2 not only has the feel of those grindhouse backwoods horrors that Lynch has always clearly had an appreciation for, but it also does something new and interesting with the concept, depicting a reality TV program in which contestants are being picked off by the franchise’s family of inbred cannibals. Leprechaun 3 Leprechaun 2 might actually be the slickest and most well made of the Leprechaun movies, thanks to Idle Hands director Rodman Flender, but a lot of people forget that the first two movies in this franchise did in fact go to theaters. Leprechaun 3 was the first direct-to-video entry and it remains probably the number one fan favorite. For good reason, too. This is the distilled essence of a Leprechaun movie. Stupid rhymes, obsession with gold, unbelievably absurd death scenes; if you had to show one movie to explain to people what the Leprechaun series is all about, this would have to be it. The whole cast is clearly having fun. Caroline Williams manages to occasionally steal the show from Warwick Davis, an almost impossible feat. John Gatins, the star of this sequel, also went on to write movies like Hardball, Flight and Kong: Skull Island. Hellraiser: Deader Other than Revelations, Deader tends to be the Hellraiser sequel that even the die-hard franchise fans hate with a burning passion. Like many of the sequels, it was not originally written as a Hellraiser movie. But it really works as one and gives the series a flawed, layered and compelling heroine for the first time since Hellraiser III. The plot revolves around a journalist sent to investigate a cult that appears to have cracked the key to defeating death. They kill themselves and, moments later, they come back. This has caught Pinhead’s eye as those souls belong to him, and that’s what forms the backbone of the movie. Like Inferno and Hellseeker, it’s a very Jacob’s Ladder-esque psychological horror where it’s hard to tell what’s real from one moment to the next, but it infuses that with the Hellraiser mythology in some neat ways. One of the biggest, of course, is that the cult leader is part of the cursed bloodline that formed the basis of Hellraiser: Bloodline and is likely the young boy from that feature all grown up. The Crow: Salvation This one doesn’t seem to have many, if any, fans. But—not that this is saying much—I think it’s easily the best of the Crow sequels. Everything that City of Angels did wrong by virtually being a rehash of the original movie, Salvation completely side steps. This is a new story. The theme of lost love is still completely intact, but there’s a new angle to it as well, as our hero didn’t just lose the love of his life, he was convicted and executed for her murder. He’s out to not only avenge her, but to clear his own name from beyond the grave. It’s a much smaller movie than the first two, obviously, but it’s also a surprisingly relevant take on police corruption and the lengths the boys on the force will go to in order to protect their own. Howling VI: The Freaks Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf and Howling III: The Marsupials are known for being two of the most batshit sequels ever made, because they really are. They’re insane and ridiculous and never seem to be intended in being anything other than insane and ridiculous. But there’s a very big tonal shift once we get to later era of the franchise with two legitimately good, compelling sequels, Howling V: The Rebirth and Howling VI: The Freaks.   Between the two, I have to go with The Freaks, which has been an admitted favorite of mine since childhood. Ironically, it has the franchise’s worst-looking werewolf, but the story is surprisingly strong. This is a movie about small towns and the small-mindedness that often accompanies them, about people not only being feared and misunderstood, but objectified for it. We’ve got people being exploited and going along with it because they think it’s the only way they’ll ever be accepted. And then of course we’ve got a knock down, drag out fight between a crappy looking werewolf and an amazing looking vampire. Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest The first direct-to-video entry in the Children of the Corn series is also maybe the best of the bunch, if only for how utterly insane it is. This takes the action away from Gatlin, Nebraska, out of the corn fields and into the Chicago ghetto. If you think that doesn’t make any sense considering that there’s no corn in inner-city Chicago, you’re right. But the plot revolves around a creep boy preacher—as is required by the franchise—who’s also the kid from Demonic Toys growing corn in the basement to start a new flock of blossoming young murderers. If you thought the first movie was ridiculous for actually attempting to sort of show He Who Walks Behind the Rows in the form of a cloud, Urban Harvest goes for broke by turning that vague and sinister entity into an actual giant corn monster. Curse & Cult of Chucky These two are tied because, for one thing, they’re both great. But they also do exactly what a sequel should do, by both taking the series in bold new directions without contradicting anything that came before. The Child’s Play franchise has always been exceptional at this. Each movie is different, as the series goes on it even tackles many different genres and styles, but Chucky is always Chucky. Don Mancini is always intent on making sure that things feel fresh. Curse almost feels like a reboot, it’s very much a back to basics approach in terms of recapturing the tone of the original. But as that film progresses, it’s actually deeply tied to the continuity of the series as a whole. Cult compliments that by carrying on from where Curse ends, but bursting the mythology wide open so that it feels like anything is possible moving forward.

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Trailer for Alexandre Aja and Sam Raimi’s Crawl is Everything

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Wicked Horror is the author of Trailer for Alexandre Aja and Sam Raimi’s Crawl is Everything. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

There are few things in life I enjoy more than a good creature feature. From Jaws to Deep Blue Sea, The Shallows, and The Reef, sharks have dominated our waters for many years now (though I also have a soft spot for the ludicrous Anaconda). Alligators haven’t really had a look in since the brilliant Lake Placid and its many sequels of vastly diminishing returns, but they’re truly terrifying creatures in their own right and should occupy a bigger space in the horror pantheon. Happily, the scaly beauts are set to make a comeback in Crawl, the skin-crawling trailer for which you can watch below.  From horror maestro Alexandre Aja, who’s already tackled underwater beasties with Piranha 3D, but is perhaps more well known for High Tension, Horns, and the fan favorite Hills Have Eyes remake, and producer Sam Raimi (annoyingly referred to in the trailer as “the producer of Evil Dead” — as in, the remake instead of his own bloody movie on which it’s based — rather than, eh, MFing SAM RAIMI, as he should be known), the flick stars Kaya Scodelario, of iconic Brit teen show Skins and character actor Barry Pepper, as two souls trapped in a flooded house swarming with hungry gators.  The action is set, naturally, in Florida, home of the gators, where a hurricane has hit leaving Scodelario’s no-nonsense heroine to fight against the elements in her water-logged home while also trying to save her injured father, who’s hiding in their crawlspace. As the water levels rise, the duo realizes they’re basically sitting ducks for a load of hungry predators. In their own home. Aja killed it with Piranha 3D, but Crawl is clearly a more serious affair and the trailer is loaded with suspense and well-timed frights. It looks like it gets proper gory, too, which is always nice to see in a creature feature. Raimi’s influence will be keenly felt too and, judging by the initial footage, the gators themselves look pretty spiffy so the most important bases are (hopefully) covered. Still, regardless, this just jumped to the top of my must watch list. Alligators? Effy from Skins? Alexandre Aja and Sam Raimi? Pfft. Sign me right up. Crawl, er, crawls into U.S. theaters July 12, 2019. U.K. audiences have to wait until August 9. Boo.      

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The Rabid Dog’s House: Hell Night

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Wicked Horror is the author of The Rabid Dog’s House: Hell Night. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

The Rabid Dog’s House is a recurring feature at Wicked Horror where contributor Justin Steele uncovers hidden gems, lost classics, and overlooked indie offerings. He will discuss an array of topics covering film, literature, and television. Check out the latest installment below. In this episode we’re looking back at the underrated Gothic slasher, Hell Night! Also See: The Rabid Dog’s House: Wait Until Dark Hell Night is a 1981 horror flick directed by Tom DeSimone and stars Linda Blair and Peter Barton. This feature follows a group of pledges as they spend the night in the local haunted house. Typically, in fraternity terms, Hell Night is a term used to describe the harmless pranks pledges must endure to gain acceptance. For this group, the pranks turn into a horrific reality.

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The Hole in the Ground isn’t the Only Hole in this Dull, Lackluster Irish Horror Movie [DVD Review]

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Wicked Horror is the author of The Hole in the Ground isn’t the Only Hole in this Dull, Lackluster Irish Horror Movie [DVD Review]. Wicked Horror is the internet's only horror fan site for free original horror movies, news, review & more.

Irish horror has a reputation for being kind of…rubbish, in spite of its insane popularity stateside, which continues to confound those of us on this side of the pond. From Shrooms to An Irish Exorcism, Grabbers to The Lodgers, and even the ghastly A Dark Song (“I’m only a man!”), actually British movie shot predominantly in Ireland, we just can’t seem to get it right. Extra annoying is the fact our history is loaded with all kinds of spooky stuff prime for exploitation. Last year’s clever little zombie movie The Cured tilted the scales ever so slightly, but it’s the very notable exception to a list that also includes The Canal and Wake Wood. To my mind, the only other decent Irish horror offering is, like A Dark Song, not technically an Irish movie. Corin Hardy’s rather brilliant The Hallow, a British-Irish co-production shot in the wilds of County Galway, utilizes some of that aforementioned creepy history to tell a creepy, Evil Dead-esque tale of fairies, stolen babies, changelings, and family strife. Also, the legendary Michael Smiley is in it, so you know it’s good. Unfortunately, for newcomer Lee Cronin, The Hole in the Ground has both too little and too much in common with Hardy’s barnstorming debut to really compete with it. A Date For Mad Mary‘s Seána Kerslake (it’s pronounced like Shauna, FYI) is struggling single mother Sarah who, with young son Chris (James Quinn Markey, Vikings) moves into a spacious, yet strangely dilapidated, country pile somewhere in County Wicklow to start afresh. She’s suffered some kind of abuse in her recent past, as evidenced by the bruise Sarah hides beneath her fringe. Chris, although a well-behaved and quiet child, has trouble fitting in at school and even wanders out into the forest against his mother’s wishes. After one of these ill-fated trips, Sarah discovers a massive sinkhole in the middle of the trees and warns Chris against going anywhere near it. Being the curious child that he is, Chris ignores his mother and ventures out anyway. When he returns, Chris isn’t the same child. He’s more social, he can’t remember the weird game they used to play together and, most concerning of all, Chris suddenly wants lashings of Parmesan cheese on his spaghetti bolognese(!) Sarah tries to warn everybody that her son has changed but, naturally, they all think she’s lost it. Also See: Aamis is Still a Better Love Story than Twilight [Tribeca Review] The Hole in the Ground, Cronin’s debut feature as writer-director following his well-received short Ghost Train, is a funny little film. The cinematography is bathed in earthy browns and greens, so you feel muddy watching it, almost like the action is taking place in the sinkhole itself. The atmosphere starts off relatively eerie as Sarah’s previously suffered abuse is slowly revealed, along with Chris’s ongoing social issues. But once the movie mutates from kitchen sink drama into fully-fledged horror, Cronin loses his grasp of the material. Part of the issue is with Markey’s Chris, who goes for Pet Sematary-style evil kid tones but settles somewhere around grumpy, or even bratty at times. The revelation that he can’t remember his mother’s bizarre, hide and seek game (something that should’ve been refined in the script, since it makes little sense as an actual game in the first place) should pack a real punch but instead it’s left to the reliably brilliant Kerslake to quiver her lip while the camera zooms in on her. Markey looks on, bored, almost as though he’s waiting for his cue. The kid can’t be criticized too harshly, of course, since he’s only working with what he’s given. But where Kerslake adds wrinkles to her desperate single mom, suggesting an inner life that absolutely did not exist on the page, Markey is left stranded without a life jacket. The moments when he acts properly weird, such as when Chris is caught eating bugs, are fleeting and glimpsed through peepholes or on shaky-cam footage. We know he’s an imposter, but only because his mother keeps reiterating that point and also because, well, there’s no story otherwise. The Hole in the Ground bears such a striking resemblance to The Hallow it’s borderline depressing. Where Hardy’s film trafficked in suspense, shocks, and well-built tension surrounding characters in whom we were heavily invested (as well as a super-cute, near constantly gurgling baby), Cronin’s lumbers Kerslake and her young charge with an old, crumbling house so creepy you wouldn’t be paid to live in it, the clichéd local crazy woman who rants and raves about who Chris “really” is even before he’s been taken(!?) — she’s also responsible for the only good scare in the movie — and a forest barely visited. The Hallow ventured into the trees often, the camera winding around to give us an idea of how isolated or lost the characters were. Its property sat right on the edge of the forest, so it seemed like trees were encroaching on it. Here, although the expansive woodlands are clearly visible, there’s no sense of where the house is located in relation to them. The sinkhole, meanwhile, is only visited a couple of times before Kerslake, naturally, finds herself venturing down it. The result of said trip isn’t as claustrophobic as it was in Hallow or even Blair Witch. There should be some sense of impending doom, but even a creepy kids’ chorus can’t make the threat seem real. Cronin’s pacing is way off, too, causing The Hole in the Ground to feel much longer than it actually is. Scenes stretch on interminably, characters appear and disappear for no discernible reason (a dinner party scene is excruciating, and adds absolutely nothing of value), Sarah has a job and then just…doesn’t. The focus should have been narrowed to take in just Sarah and Chris, even if it meant limiting their plight to the confines of the house, but the writer-director is intent on establishing the area itself as odd (it isn’t) rather than the situation. Annoyingly, aside from relying on the usual overdone horror tropes and dull exposition (one character quite literally tells Sarah exactly what’s going on, based on his wife’s experience), the thing never manages to be scary and wraps itself up so neatly it feels like a false ending at first, a nasty rug-pull about to be revealed. But sadly not. The Hole in the Ground is here and then it’s gone. The overwhelming feeling is of shrugged shoulders. What was the point of any of it? And why the obsession with Parmesan cheese? Steer clear and watch The Hallow instead. It may not be 100 per cent Irish, but it’s close enough. Wicked Rating: 2/10 Director(s): Lee Cronin Writer(s): Lee Cronin Stars: Seána Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, Simone Kirby, James Cosmo Release date: April 30, 2019 (DVD) Studio/Production Company: Savage Productions Language: English Run Time: 90 minutes

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