Starring: Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington, Daniel Brocklebank, Laurence Fox, Keira Knightley Directed By: Nick Hamm Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Buena Vista Home Video Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 19, 2004 Running Time: 102 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 2001
Description: This suspenseful psychological thriller features hot young stars Thora Birch (GHOST WORLD, AMERICAN BEAUTY), Desmond Harrington (GHOST SHIP), and a hip, edgy cast! When Liz Dunn (Birch) and three of her prep school friends decide to bail on their scheduled weekend field trip and hide in a long-abandoned bomb shelter, they expect to party and hang out. They don't expect someone to lock them in! As anxious hours turn into desperate days, fear and insecurity erupt uncontrollably as their spontaneous adventure turns into a bloody fight for survival! Also starring Keira Knightley (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM) and Embeth Davidtz (THE EMPEROR'S CLUB, BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY) -- you'll find yourself bolted to your seat as the electrifying tale unfolds through Liz's tormented eyes!
I am not the only one this was terrible I watched this movie with my wife, I expected a really great horror movie...my error. The first mistake, It wasn't a horror despite Amazon's grouping. The next was thinking it could be great.
It's terrible, it's awful, and it's just a bore. The best part was it ending. I'm adding this review as so many people like to give a 'big word' review, and try and analyze this for a master piece of movie making.
Gag! I just wasted 120 mins of my life!
interesting interesting this movie is. you'll find yourself CONSTANTLY saying "why did she do that?!" or "why did he do that?!"...i said it to myself so many times in the movie that i almost couldn't concentrate. but it's a great movie anyways. just don't think about why he/she did what they did and just focus on the main part of the movie and i think you may enjoy it. i loved it.
Well-directed psychological thriller "The Hole" is an interesting psychological thriller that revolves around a teen from a British prep school, Liz Dunn [Thora Birch] who is the sole survivor of a horrible tragedy where her three friends, Desmond Harrington[Mike], Keira Knightley[ Frankie], and Laurence Fox[Geoff] died. The four of them had skipped a geography field trip in favor of a private party in an old underground bunker. 18 days later, only Liz is left alive to tell the story of what truly happened.
To unravel the truth of what happened, psychologist Dr Horwood [Embeth Davidtz] tries to get Liz to tell her story.Liz pins the blame on Martin [Daniel Brocklebanc], a computer geek and fellow student whom she says locked them in the hole. The police arrest him, but Liz's POV is later questioned by Dr Horwood when her initial story has all four of the teens coming out of 'the hole' after four days, alive and well.
When Martin is questioned by the police, he gives a totally different version of the events, and it is interesting to see how Liz's and Martin's POV's differ, leaving the viewer to piece the real story of what happened.
This is a credible psychological thriller that takes us into the deep recesses of one troubled teen's mind and the lengths to which a person will go to satisfy an obsession. The lead actor, Thora Birch plays her character very well, and though her British accent is less than authentic, she credibly portrays a disturbed teen. So does Daniel Brocklebanc as Martin, the supposed pyschopath. I felt Keira Knightley did an ok job as the lusted after Frankie, and this was definitely one of her lesser roles, before the fame that came with movies like "Bent It Like Beckham", "Pride and Prejudice" and "Atonement". The other two actors who played the character of Mike and Geoff were average and their roles were forgettable.
There is some nudity in this movie,though not quite one would expect. As another reviewer has mentioned, having Keira Knightley on the cover of the DVD was misleading as her role isn't as big as Thora Birch's. There really isn't any gore in this, just some bloody scenes. The menace in this movie is in the atmosphere- the creepiness of the underground bunker, the psychological torment experienced by the characters trapped in the hole, and of course, the menace radiated by the perpetrator. Final verdict: a highly watchable and engrossing thriller that probes the dark recesses of a troubled mind.
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. 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 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.
Thriller fans need to take this dark ride This was one cool flick. Pri - tee darn horrifying what takes place down in that hole, especially as the truth unfolds. There's something extra poignant watching the priviledged lose control of their magic kingdom and suffer the worst by way of some malfunctioning mind's doings. The plot builds as the clock ticks and you become aware you're not really sure of just what happened down there. As you figure it out, you are introduced to one warped a** psyche. If you're a fan of disturbing fare, dig in.
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