Hollows Grove – Movie Review

by | Mar 16, 2016 | Movie Reviews, Reviews | 0 comments

1413877487603Hollows Grove
Starring: Matt Doherty, Bresha Webb, and Lance Henriksen (for maybe 5 minutes)
Written and directed by Craig Efros
2014
Reviewed by Jess Landry

A young filmmaker documents his ghost-hunting, reality show friends as their routine investigation of an abandoned orphanage turns into a nightmare from which they can’t escape.

Synopsis’ like the one above are as bland and run-of-the-mill as they get, so when starting Hollows Grove, I expected the film to be the cinematic equivalent of plain, white toast.

But y’know what? Compared to some of the other found footage-style stinkers that have floated their way onto DVD and digital download, Hollows Grove (for the most part) isn’t half bad.

It’s not without its faults o’course – the third act of the film is seriously flawed and rushes through the inevitable demises of our main characters like a bat out of hell, but the second act kind of redeems the whole movie. There are plenty of disembodied voices and laughter, and doors that open and close off screen, but Hollows Grove does something that I love in horror flicks – it allows spooky behaviour to play out in the background without drawing attention to it. That subtle background action, mixed with the build in tension as each scene progresses, makes this flick a little more polished than the other turds in the toilet.

The most awkward thing about it, however, is the really out of place FBI segments that open and close the film. Before the footage starts, viewers are warned about the events by an FBI agent, and are asked to call if they have any information regarding said events. After the film ends, the FBI agent closes up with a brief and cringe-inducing segment that would’ve been best left on the cutting room floor.

It’s also worth noting that if you’re a child of the early 90s and spent a fair amount of time rooting for Team USA in The Mighty Ducks movies (remember: Greenland is full of ice and Iceland is all green), you may recognize the face of Matt Doherty. He plays Tim in this movie (one of the stars of the ghost-hunting reality show, S.P.I.T. – Spirit Paranormal Investigation Team), but you may remember him in his green jersey as Averman. The only other recognizable face in this flick is genre icon Lance Henriksen who shows up for a solid five minutes, collects his cheque, then heads home (but when you’re Lance Henriksen, you get a pass for that sort of thing).

Hollows Grove is hit-and-miss. On one hand, you’ve got a movie that plays out pretty much exactly as expected, but the little things it does along the way makes it an enjoyable way to spend an hour and twenty minutes.

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