The Hole in the Ground, 2019

Another strong horror release from Ireland, Lee Cronin’s The Hole in the Ground is a mash up of many things horror lovers enjoy. There is a creepy kid, a body snatcher premise, someone crawling through a tight, dark hole underground, and even some spooky creatures. It seems that Cronin’s film has it all, but with a title like The Hole in the Ground, one would also expect there to be more going on thematically under the surface. I felt truly entertained by this film, and there is a really nice balance of practical and CGI effects here, some really good-looking moments. However, Cronin is revisiting familiar genre territory without adding anything new, and even worse, trying to pull off a body-snatcher story without really exploring the most fascinating corresponding themes (what makes someone who they are or what makes us human, for example). To me, that makes The Hole in the Ground fun but ultimately forgettable.