91. The Hole In The Ground; movie review

THE HOLE IN THE GROUND
Cert 15
90 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong threat, horror

A young boy, a creepy old house in the middle of nowhere and a mum who appears to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
Oh, and I forgot the perpetually dark forest which stands menacingly a few hundred yards away.
I feared a bagful of movie cliches but, despite a well-trodden backdrop, The Hole In The Ground is a surprisingly superior supernatural thriller.
Lee Cronin's film stars Seána Kerslake as the aforementioned mother who is starting out again with her son (James Quinn Markey) after being subject to domestic violence.
However, their newly found peace is shattered immediately when a mysterious old woman (Kati Outinen) in a cloak appears in the middle of the road, nearly causing her to crash.
Thereafter, as mum and son struggle to adapt to their new surroundings, creepiness abounds (why is there never a light switch in houses of horror).

The tensions ratchet up with the audience torn between believing she is losing her mind and fearing her son is possessed.
Kerslake makes a fine lead and conveys deftly a mother who goes from being sweet and shy to desperate to the point of crazed.
Markey plays her son with echoes of Haley Joel Osment in Sixth Sense and added layers of malevolence.
But the real star is Cronin. His film could have been filed under 'forgettable horror' because of its premise but it engendered a genuine sense of foreboding, which was heightened by a giant sinkhole near its protagonists' home.
And I have to say its ending was surprising, scary and, ultimately, satisfying.
It prompts me to want to see more of Cronin's work.

Reasons to watch: Genuinely creepy
Reasons to avoid: If you don't enjoy the build-up of tension

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? The vast Qattara, west of Cairo, is the largest natural sinkhole in the world, measuring 80km long by 120km wide.

The final word. Lee Cronin: "The key thing was this relationship between the mother and son and that sense of overprotectiveness but also the darkness of the future that exists if you come from a troubled past. It all came together and revealed itself as I wanted to make my debut feature film."

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