Generally speaking, the things that scare me most are unexpectedly high utility bills and Janet Street-Porter, but I do have a weakness for psychological horror films. Not the in-your-face horrors of films like Saw, but the kind of fear that lurks at the back of your mind, nudging and prodding your unconscious, much like walking home alone late at night down a hauntingly empty alleyway. This is the kind of horror that Hollow achieves.
The first thing that strikes you about the piece is that it’s filmed entirely from the perspective of a video camera. It’s a bold move, one which has worked well for the likes of Cloverfield, and certainly feels like the perfect way to convey Hollow's narrative. Depicting two couples embarking on a weekend trip to the countryside, the story takes a sinister turn, embellished with ominous folklore and the complex character dynamics of the foursome. Scripted and produced by Matthew Holt, Hollow is an incredibly atmospheric film that draws you in from the outset.
As both a psychological horror and a character drama, the piece hinges strongly on the believability of the cast. With the combination of superb acting and sublime dialogue, along with the video camera perspective too, Hollow absolutely excels in portraying this group of friends in a chilling and engrossing narrative that's guaranteed to unnerve you. It takes a fair amount for something to scare me (I blame this relative immunity on my father for introducing me to the Alien films when I was eight! Having said that, though, I was terrified of the goblins in Noddy when I was four...), and although I can't profess to being truly terrified, I was definitely aware of a lurking sense of uneasiness throughout, a sense that grew more and more prominent towards the end!
It's exactly that kind of tantalising horror that I enjoy – the fear of knowing that something's going to happen any minute now, but it just keeps maliciously not happening. There's no release from that impending fear, and the tension continues to mount...
It's no mystery, then, as to why Hollow is nominated for Best Feature Film at Raindance Film Festival - an accolade it's more than deserving of. As I remarked immediately on exiting the auditorium, grinning moronically at Michael Axelgaard, director of Hollow, “thank f**k it's still light outside!”
If you're attending Raindance this year, this is one film you absolutely must not miss! For more information of Hollow, please click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment