Hollow
Hollow
| 31 July 2011 (USA)
Hollow Trailers

An old monastery in a small, remote village in Suffolk, England has been haunted by a local legend for centuries. Left in ruin and shrouded by the mystery of a dark spirit that wills young couples to suicide, the place has been avoided for years, marked only by a twisted, ancient tree with an ominous hollow said to be the home of great evil. When four friends on holiday explore the local folklore, they realize that belief in a myth can quickly materialize into reality, bringing horror to life for the town.

Reviews
Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
mockeldritch I won't pretend this film doesn't have its problems. The acting isn't amazing and I really didn't think it was paced very well. But it really did scare me, which is essentially what I wanted from it. I can see how the focus on the relationships which occupies most of the film might detract from this for some, but it has its moments even early on. I am a big FF horror fan, gradually watching my way through all I can find. This one is in the upper third of the list for me so far. Fellow fans of the genre, I would definitely recommend giving it a chance.Oh and by the way I'm writing this mostly because of the huge swathe of terrible reviews of the film I've just seen, which claim the only reason it's rated as it is (6.5 currently) is owing to fake reviews. I disagree, I actually think 6.5 is pretty accurate based on other movies I've seen. You may apply the "how many other films has this person reviewed" test if you wish, you'll find I haven't reviewed any others (I think. Maybe one). And yet here we are.
the_silver_angel_13 I have watched numerous amounts of "handy-cam" and "found footage" movies, and more keep returning to the big screen- ever since The Blair Witch Project became a big hit. Before watching I try to start with a fresh mind, hoping to find that diamond in the rough. Sadly- this movie did not make the cut. Per usual to this genre, you get a small background to both events and characters in blips of "film footage". The day filming is more coherent however, than the night filming- where you will only find ambiance in the camera light. The movie rarely picks up pace; and it seems only to do so when people are screaming and running away for no apparent reason- other than seeing mangled animal remains, complete darkness, or a man's jacket. (I also didn't appreciate how the last 25 minutes of the movie was filmed in a car... Main shots were knees in that great ambiance I spoke of.) There is also brief nudity (cute blonde takes her top off)- which seems to be found in most B-Horror these days. In conclusion, if you enjoy people yelling for missing company, noises you would never really hear in the dark, and a lot of shots of tree branches, then I would suggest this movie to you! However, I would use considerable hesitation in doing so.
manateegrey hollow is good entertainment and what I expected. I understand the choice to do found footage since it's a low budget indy, but I would've loved to see what the director could do w a big budget. It had a great story and interesting characters, and I would've LOVED to see it as a 3rd person narrative.Aside from that personal pref, I enjoyed the movie and am happy w my purchase. It's an entertaining movie with some unique religious overtones and is well done. Would watch againPS - if you startle easy, be prepared for some scene changes that have really loud noises to scare you. It kind of lulled me into a false sense of security w the character development in the beginning and then scared me badly
suite92 Four friends travel to Suffolk, England to see the house that Emma's grandfather lived in. At the center of this is a large, old tree that has a large hollow section, where evil supposedly resides; this tree scared Emma when she was a girl.End summary.At 1:55 into the film, we learn that all the protagonists die, and that we are going to have to suffer through footage from the hand-held camera found at the scene. At this point, I only watch this picture so as to complete this review. As a consumer, I would reject the movie and move on to another, better one.The policeman from East Anglia does some of his own camera work in describing the tableau after all the principals have been hung by the neck until dead. He shows a lot of this huge old tree, including the opening of a huge hollow (film title). The tree is devoid of foliage at this point.We skip back in time, and start at the beginning of the found footage.Emma, James, and Scott travel by car to a train station, where they pickup Lynn.While continuing to their destination, they kill a fox. They stop, and Emma sees the massive old tree and remembers her fear. Her mother had a particularly creepy story about it, which is told later. The tree is in leaf, and looks rather vigorous.The cottage had been in Emma's family for generations. While going through papers they find news clippings in her grandfather's belongings dating from 1650 to three days before he died. The common thread is suicide of couples by hanging from the tree.They talk to a local clergyman, who will not tell them anything. A local fisherman recounts two versions of the first suicide. Scott finds a book where an entire chapter is devoted to the tree and the suicides, notably 9 in a period of 18 months around 1983.The four have other issues. James and Emma have known each other the longest, but were not right for each other. James cannot quite accept that. Lynn definitely draws Scott's attention. Lynn has a child, Kyle, by James, but James and Lynn are not married. What could go wrong there?Doing recreational drugs seems like a mistake, in any case, but given all the suicide build up, this is a perfectly stupid move. After they work themselves up, they go out in public yelling and screaming. Brilliant. Then they go driving while under the influence. Doubly brilliant.Emma decides to go back to the cottage herself after Scott gets the car stuck off road. She needs her inhaler, but probably cannot get to it. She heads to the tree for some reason. James catches up with her inhaler, and gets her pointed back to the others.Scott challenges the tree in the dark. How dramatic. Scott and Lynn start making out in the blackness; James catches this. Emma defuses it, somewhat.The next day was to be the last day in the area: turn in the keys and leave. Things are broken here among the couples. The local clergy insists that avoiding the tree is the right thing to do, so the history of hangings won't be resolved. Going home, forgetting this place, seems like the clear decision.They don't do that. The last 20 minutes felt like 200; heavy breathing and screaming in blackness.-----Scores------Cinematography: 0/10 Found footage. This is better than most; fairly long segments of the first half of the film are in color. The second half is a different story.Sound: 4/10 As with many dreadful 'found film' projects, sound was recorded. The repetitive sound of the wind screen wipers, for instance, is of exactly zero interest to most viewers especially with the camera focused on uninteresting objects during travel in a car. Listening to James breathing as he walks around confused or scared did not heighten tension. Video footage of a fly on the inside of the car's wind screen was the topper: James' finger impacting the screen and the fly moving about in agitation. Wonderful use of the viewer's time. Some of the yelling overloaded the video camera's ability to record. The breathing in near darkness gets really annoying after a while.Acting: 2/10 Get a bigger budget and hire better actors next time.Screenplay: 0/10 At least 50 percent of the film is spent on couples fighting verbally. Perhaps 15 percent is recorded in blackness with barely useful sound. Another 10 percent is focused on auto ceilings, fidgety knees, or the ground. Who cares about any of these three categories? What does this have to do with horror? with thrillers? with mystery?
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