The Big Picture

Hell Hole
is a scrappy horror film that embraces its silliness, with dark absurdity and gory fun.
The film provides a charming riff on classic monster movie elements even if it never reinvents them.
Despite some moments that drag,
Hell Hole
always picks up the pace by uncovering new life and death.

In a year that has already seen some pretty good horror movies that do everything from take classic slasher elements and then cut them into pieces to serve up a new spin on our enduring fear of vampires, there is also plenty of room for the more outright silly. Initially playing like John Carpenter’s classic The Thing and Tremors had a baby before it begins to consume itself, Shudder’s scrappy horror movie Hell Hole is here to fill the void. Even though it’s a little rough around the edges, it owns it and is all the more fun because of it. Directed by the duo of Toby Poser and John Adams (who also co-star) in a script they co-wrote with Lulu Adams, it’s a film that finds plenty of payoff from a confined premise while working with a low budget. While not quite on the level of something like their prior film, the much more haunting Hellbender, which they directed with the great Zelda Adams, Hell Hole is a solidly gory, goofy little ride that cuts through any hiccups to get to the meat of a madcap indie monster movie.

Hell Hole (2024) Hell Hole follows an American crew drilling deep in the Serbian wilderness. They uncover a French soldier preserved in the rock, only to release a parasitic monster. The crew must survive as the creature searches for a new host. Release Date July 28, 2024 Director John Adams , Toby Poser Cast Toby Poser , John Adams , Max Portman , Anders Hove , Olivera Peruničić , Aleksandar Trmcic , Petar Arsić , Bruno Veljanovski Runtime 115 Minutes Writers John Adams , Toby Poser , Lulu Adams Expand

What Is ‘Hell Hole’ About?

We begin much as Hellbender did, via flashback, to hundreds of years ago in 1814, where a group of starving soldiers fighting for Napoleon are looking desperately for food in Serbia. Their fates seem to change when they stumble upon a horse offered to them by a woman in the woods who smiles the most delightfully menacing smile as they walk away. Without tipping off the bloody fun of what happens next, if you thought the Trojan Horse was a gruesome story, this introduction gives that a run for its money. Not even five minutes have passed before all hell breaks loose and something begins going after all the soldiers.

After briefly chasing them through the woods with camera moves reminiscent of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead, it ends on a rather mean-spirited and more provocative closing note (a tone that rears its ugly head throughout the film) before we cut to the present day. It’s there we meet John (Adams), Emily (Poser), Teddy (Max Portman), Nikola (Aleksandar Trmčić), and Sofija (Olivera Peruničić), who are all working on an American-led fracking operation. The latter two are actual local environmental advisors there to prioritize conservation, resulting in some scattered conflict throughout, as well as some almost cartoonishly inane dialogue. However, all that matters is what happens when they uncover something at the remote dig site where they find themselves stranded by flooding on the road out. Left with no options, and danger looming around every corner, they’ll have to figure out what is happening and how to stop it.

From there, the film is not particularly interested in reinventing the classic beats of the monster movie and doesn’t really contain much in the way of surprises. Instead, it’s more of a charming riff on the familiar elements of the enduring subgenre. It would be overstating things to say the film is some sort of pastiche, but there are plenty of more tongue-in-cheek moments where it seems self-aware enough to get away with what it’s going for. It ensures that, just as there are plenty of scenes where you may groan at some of the jokey banter between the characters, you’re just as likely to crack a smile at the way it presents itself.

‘Hell Hole’ Is a Playful Horror Romp Unafraid to Embrace Its Own Silliness

When a discovery is made during a dig away from the main site, we then cut to the first example of drone footage that jumps in and out in sync with a guitar riff that sets the scene. While not the first time that the filmmakers have used a drone, with Hellbender again being a more graceful use of it, this time it represents something new, as they will often cut away to these shots and the same musical vein just to keep things moving. It’s more than a little ridiculous, but you can’t help getting won over the more the film keeps falling back on it. As the baffled group beholds a body they have dug up, we then get the first glimpse of some pretty good practical effects, as the even more confused man is trapped in some sort of sack that he must burst out of. The story then gets a little tangled up in itself here and there as they contemplate what to do about the situation, with us cycling through the same couple of settings that feel oddly disconnected from each other, though the film ultimately finds its payoff when this being begins itself jumping around. That’s where the real fun begins.

The film has plenty of more ridiculous visual effects that are not built to be convincing or grounded in the slightest, but the bits that really work start coming more consistently following a darkly comedic conversation between two people removed from the rest of the group. Namely, the cutting back and forth between more banal exposition ensures each is oddly entertaining when smashed together (plus, one character keeps nodding and smiling in such a strange way that you can’t help laughing). Does this start to drag on for a bit too long? Yes. Is it still just cheeky enough to work? Absolutely. After the isolated conversation descends into a bizarre brawl, the being is jumping around from person to person quicker than anyone can fully keep track of it. Even when they get it pinned down and realize what’s going on, a plan on how to take it down is so patently absurd you can’t help going along with it.

Each time something gets set up, it isn’t exactly subtle. However, that’s a feature rather than a bug. Bodies explode into complete mush until, of course, a big piece is needed for tests to be done to give characters something to do. While this can get a bit tiresome, you’re willing to overlook the moments it drags, as there are also just enough moments where it picks up the pace. Every time you think it may have dug itself into a hole and is out of ideas, it’ll uncover new life to keep things moving. Even as these new directions may spell doom for the characters and tear all of them to pieces, you can’t help chuckling along at the chaos unfolding before you. Like the metaphor that gets thrown out by a character in a key moment about an octopus fitting into a hole, it shouldn’t work, but it still does in delightful fashion.

REVIEW Hell Hole (2024) Hell Hole is more than a little rough around the edges, but it’s still a solid indie horror movie.ProsIt’s a scrappy horror film that embraces its silliness while still having strong practical effects.The experience cuts through any hiccups to get to the meat of a madcap indie monster movie.It’s presented in a way that is just cheeky enough to dig its away out of any holes it falls into. ConsThe film can drag in parts and some scenes carry on for a bit too long.

Hell Hole had its World Premiere at the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival. It will be available to stream on Shudder in the U.S. starting August 23.

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