What could be more creepy than a, well, creepy child? Try adding a dark forest and a giant hole that resembles the sarlacc pit in Return of the Jedi, conveniently located in the middle of said dark forest. Now throw in a creepier than creepy old lady neighbour, locally infamous for having murdered her own child years before.
In Lee Cronin’s The Hole in the Ground, single mother Sarah and her young son Chris have moved into an old house in the Irish countryside to start their new life. Chris, like a typical child, is unhappy about the move. After throwing a tantrum the boy runs into the woods and is quickly followed by Sarah. But instead of finding her son Sarah stumbles upon (and nearly into) a giant sink hole in the middle of the woods. After reuniting with Chris, who is unharmed, Sarah tries to settle back into life. It is then that she begins to notice that her son is … different.
Suddenly happy to live in the new house, Chris seems to be a normal, well adjusted little boy. But something isn’t quiet right with her son and Sarah struggles to decide if she’s going mad or if the boy that looks like Chris really is her son. A series of terrible events pushes Sarah to think that whatever the child down the hall is, it is not her sweet little boy. Personally I thought there was something really wrong when she caught her son combing his hair and making sure that the part was perfectly straight. What seven-year-old boy does that??
After finding the above mentioned crazy neighbour dead under mysterious circumstances, Sarah sets out to get to the bottom of this hole of a mystery, all the while trying to keep the curious townsfolk from thinking that she’s lost her marbles. Seeing the footage from the hidden cameras Sarah has set up leads her confront “Chris” and draw out the truth. Will Sarah and Chris survive the horror that dwells in the hole in the ground?
Director Lee Cronin is best known for the award winning 2014 short film Ghost Train. His new film The Hole in the Ground stars Seana Kerslake and James Quinn. The film is atmospherically shot, making wonderful use of the moody Irish countryside. The scenery is both beautiful and haunting, with the woods casting a dark shadow on Sarah’s new home. This film harkens back to ancient Celtic legends while serving up plenty of modern scares.
Viewers will find themselves avoiding dark forests as well as giant, unexplained holes. You may even find yourself looking at your own children and wondering …
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