Reviews: The Hollow (2015) Movie Review
Genres: Horror
Subgenres: Supernatural, Survival, Cursed, Halloween, Halloween - Supernatural, Religion, Urban Legend, Wilderness
Horror fans searching for a breakdown of The Hollow (2015) will find our review covers the plot, themes, and the shocking ending everyone talks about.
Director and co-writer Sheldon Wilson (Shallow Ground (2004), Scarecrow (2013), Screamers: The Hunting (2009)) failed to make this film an enjoyable watch. The Hollow revolves around Aunt Cora (Deborah Kara Unger - The Game (1997), Silent Hill (2006), The Hurricane (1999), and Payback (1999)) and her nieces on Shelter Island, located in the Pacific Northwest. Shelter Island is only reachable by ferry or any water transportation, and well, you know, the movie takes place on Halloween during an enormous storm - we all know what that means.
Aunt Cora is anticipating the arrival of her three nieces, who have no choice but to be with their aunt. Cora decides to stock up on groceries for the girls, and as she is doing so, the store owner warns her that it is not the right time for her nieces to visit since a storm is coming and it is also Halloween. Cora was appalled by what the store owner said and said her nieces do not have a choice, and she is not superstitious as he is. The movie gets creepy as Cora drives off from the store with her humongous black dog in the back seat, growling/barking as they approach the forest. Cora suddenly stops her vehicle while the dog breaks through the window and runs toward/in the woods. Cora did not hesitate to enter the forest, searching for her dog, and you can guess what happened.
Cora’s three nieces Sarah (Stephanie Hunt - Somebody Up There Likes Me (2012), April Apocalypse (2013), Time Travel Lover (2014)), Marley, and Emma, are seen driving towards Shelter Island. Marley (Sarah Dugdale - Sugarbabies (2015), Sorority Murder (2015), Glory River (2015)), Sarah and Emma’s parents died in a car crash where Emma was the only sister in the car and was the sole survivor. Emma (Alisha Newton - Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013), Heartland (2007), No Place Like Home (2012), Shadowplay (2012)) is not doing so well and is very emotionally disturbed from seeing her parents burned alive. Sarah took on the responsibilities of her parents and tried to take care of her sisters as best as possible. Marley is the middle sister who is rebellious and does not want to move in with Cora, so she, in turn, argues with Sarah every chance she gets and thinks that they can live by themselves in their home.
The girls were warned as they tried to board the ferry to the island that it was Halloween and the storm was approaching, so it might not be a good idea to go to the island, and it would be best for them to wait. The girls could care less about the warning, although it was mentioned everyone on the island died the last time there was a storm on Halloween on the island. Seth (Richard Harmon - The Age of Adaline, (2015), The 100 (2014), If I Had Wings (2013), Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)) was the only other customer on the ferry and was the one who warned them. The girls made it to the island and witnessed that there was no one on the streets and soon wished they had listened to the warnings as they met the thing that killed people. There were so many cliches from this point on in the movie that it quickly became a terrible film.
Jump scares were predictable as they occurred every few minutes, not even five minutes apart. Not much tension, thrills, and horror in the movie will make you want to pay attention to the film; I was trying very hard not to fall asleep. There is not much to say about this film when it comes to critiquing except that it is a movie you should stay away from unless you want something to put you to sleep. Why in the world did the sisters not listen to the constant advice to keep quiet, or the killer thing would hear them, and it will be the end or close to the end? The girls did not care that everyone around them was dying, and it was all because they could not stay quiet. I was angry at them and was hoping for them to be axed off soon. The CGI creature was not scary, although detailed. With all said, the sets were beautiful and are one of the reasons why this movie received a three from me—Yay for great locations.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- The Hollow Rating Scores
- Our Score: 3/10
- Overall Score: 3.39/10
- IMDB: 3.6/10
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