‘The Hole in the Ground’ is the feature film debut from Irish writer/director Lee Cronin about single mother Sarah (Seána Kerslake), who is trying to build a new life with her son Chris (James Quinn Markey) in a fixer-upper house near a forest with a big sinkhole that for some reason, no one seems to be at all concerned about despite the health and safety risk it poses. Although the marketing of the film pushes it as the next ‘Hereditary’ (2018), it seems to have more in common with ‘The Babadook’ (2014).

It does tick a lot of the horror film clichés with the blaring ominous string music, slamming doors and creaky floorboards, but gradually becomes eerier because of the paranoia Sarah is feeling as she comes to believe that her son has been body-snatched when she notices subtle changes in his behaviour. There is a lingering uncertainty throughout that she could be mentally ill, except I couldn’t help but trust her instinct anyway which made it all the more unsettling as she’s unable to get anyone on her side. Kerslake is a likeable protagonist and manages to balance a playfulness with sincerity and her growing fears. Markey also gives a good performance and doesn’t overstate the changes in his character.

However, the film sometimes feels slow paced and I was hoping another element was going to come into play in the narrative; it’s heavily implied that Sarah has comes out of an abusive relationship with Chris’s father and that she’s moved to get away from him. It seemed like this could have been a bigger part of the story that was never fulfilled, although it could be argued that Chris’s behaviour – acting like an angel before turning aggressive – mirrors that of abusive relationships, thereby making history repeat itself for Sarah.

Overall, although it’s sometimes slow paced, I would recommend ‘The Hole in the Ground’ as I feel that the third act makes it worth the patience. Despite subscribing to a lot of horror movie gimmicks, there’s a lot to like in it from the actors to the earthy colour palette. There was a scene near the end involving claustrophobic tunnels that has got to be enough to put anyone over the edge and genuinely made me feel panicked. The film also gets extra points for not going for an obvious “plot twist” that would have been incredibly tempting and cheap, but instead opting to show the aftermath of Sarah’s traumatic experience. 

If you are a fan of Frightfest then you will definitely know the Hatchet franchise very well. I remember seeing 2 and 3 at the event loving the mega of the top gore and happy to see a fresh new horror monster enter the same realm as Myers, Jason and Chucky. This is one of the reasons why I was so excited to finally get the chance to see the fourth edition of the series Victor Crowley.....wow what a let down.

Set mostly on a crashed plane, Victor Crowley sees Andrew return to the swamp home of our titular villain after he is offered a huge payout to do an interview on the site of the previous murders to help promote his tell all book. Joined by an....interesting selection of characters, all as pointless to the story as the last, Andrews plane crashes deep in the swamp where Victor Crowley is yet again stalking prey due to a second group of characters, A small group of young horror fans looking to film a mock trailer to help get the funding for a Victor Crowley film, resurrecting the monster man by playing a series of You Tube videos of people reading the voodoo curse which brings Crowley to life.

These events lead to an underwhelming series of cheap kills and thrills which is more of a mockery of the previous films. From the opening moments this film felt more like a Scary Movie style parody of the series. Personally I hated the opening scene which sees a couple on a boat in the swamp involved in a snot gag and murder, both more childish comedy than the series deserved, which is doubled up with the agonizingly dull attempt at being funny scene on the plane with the tannoy announcement....errr....being like.....errrr.....this....errrr, it was cringe worthy and shocking that Adam Green and his partner in crime Joe Lynch, both very funny guys, would stoop to using this kind of cheap laugh. The lower budget feel makes this feel even more cheap as well, Crowley looks awful in this film, the makeup and prosthetics looked like a student film monster, no where near to the level of the first three films. 

The film wasn't all terrible. The last 32 minutes of the film had some decent deaths and the story picked up a better pace, killing off the more annoying characters, but this is the only reason this review got an extra half star.

Overall if you enjoyed the Hatchet films previous to Victor Crowley then you may watch this film so you are up to date with the series but honestly don't expect much going in and you will be fine for the run time. New to the series? don't bother, go and buy the first three films and leave it as that. Littered with hateable characters and vain attempts at slapstick and childish humour the films gore couldn't even save the film this time.

​ ‘The 6th Friend’ is a slasher horror about six women who gather for a weekend together in a secluded house, five years after a traumatic, violent experience they shared at their college graduation party. While they’re all still trying to deal with their trauma, the past comes back to haunt them and what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend away ends up being a fight for survival.

In terms of practical effects, editing and the overall style, the film succeeds – I particularly enjoyed the drug scenes at the beginning which used good effects without over-doing it. However, the problem is the pacing which feels very slow, the plot twist is predictable, and although there is obviously meant to be a feminist message that director Letia Clouston and co-writer/star Jamie Bernadette wanted to get through (sometimes a bit on-the-nose with a speech about how women need to support each other), it feels overshadowed by the fact that most of the women get murdered and their journey to empowerment is ended.

Despite the actresses being talented, none of the characters really stand out – although I liked Monique Rosario as Becca the most and couldn’t help but wish she could be the main protagonist, she didn’t get given much to do. Bernadette’s character, Joey, in particular was very bland. Furthermore, it feels like the film wastes too much time with trying to make the group bond by having scenes of dialogue that are way longer than they need to be, and it just ends up being frustrating. The writing is the element that could have done with the most improvement; it fails to create any suspense as any possibility of the stalker being some sort of supernatural entity is ruled out, and as I said before, the reveal becomes very obvious and therefore doesn’t have the effect it seems to be going for.

Overall, the beginning of ‘The 6th Friend’ showed some promise but it lacks suspense, and the writing is its biggest problem. Despite having a talented cast, the dialogue just falls flat, and it spends too much time trying to prove to you that this group of women are friends rather than getting to the point.