The Hollow (2004)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Boring

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

You can't watch this movie with any seriousness because it's not supposed to be. It's really bad but that's what makes it so good, and if you're looking for a good drinking movie this is a great choice. The acting is over the top but again, you can't take this movie seriously. It's the kind of movie you can talk though and have fun with friends because it doesn't require any real need to pay close attention so it's great for parties.

Teenager Ian Cranston (a solid and likable performance by Kevin Zegers), who's the last blood relative of Ichabod Crane, returns to the small town of Sleepy Hollow to defeat the legendary Headless Horseman (Ben Scott in a gnarly pumpkin-faced outfit) once and for all. Ian's perky girlfriend Karen (a sweet and appealing portrayal by the fetching Kaley Cuoco) helps him out. Director Kyle Newman, working from a fun and compact script by Hans Rodionoff, relates the entertaining story at a steady pace, creates and sustains a winningly spooky ooga-booga Halloweenish atmosphere, generates a good amount of tension for the thrilling climax, maintains an engagingly good-natured and innocuous tone throughout, and tosses in a few decent moments of mild gore for good measure. The sound acting from the capable cast gives the picture an extra lift: Stacy Keach has a delightfully hammy field day as grizzled eccentric cemetery caretaker Claus Van Ripper, Nick Carter makes for a suitably hateful jerk as mean jock bully Scott, Judge Reinhold has a nifty change-of-pace bad guy role as Ian's overbearing macho gym coach dad Carl, Nicholas Turturro does well as the skeptical Sheriff Duncan, and Eileen Brennan pops up in a juicy small part as cranky old bat Joan Van Etten. Scott Kevan's shadowy cinematography provides a cool autumnal look. Todd Haberman's spirited shuddery score hits the stirring spine-chilling spot. A neat little flick.

Ian, the last known relative of Ichabod Crane is terrorized by the seemingly mystical Headless Hourseman. He, along with the slightly slutty Karen (Kaley Cuoco of ' Big Bang Theory' fame) must save the town from whomever or whatever the Horseman is while dealing with Karen's jealous boyfriend, jock Brodie.As far as films in the 'teen scream' genre go, this one isn't too blatantly awful, however it's so utterly forgettable that it slipped my mind that I had already seen it two years before I saw it this time. Pretty bad acting by Kaley, the others are not master thespians either, but she stands out the most. In fact the only conceivable reason to catch this one is the always watchable Stacey Keach in the thankless role of Ian's father.My Grade: D+

Although not as hideously bad as I had expected, 'The Hollow' is a very paint-by-numbers film. I give it points for a)having some kind of budget, b)the acting generally wasn't awful and c)it had Judge Reinhold in it but other than that, it was your average disappointing 'horror', and I use the term 'horror' loosely. The film is very obviously riding on the success of Tim Burton's 'Sleepy Hollow'. Those of you who have actually read Washington Irving's short story will know that most of the characters that Tim Burton put into 'Sleepy Hollow' were not in the original story, it is very heavily embellished. 'The Hollow' tried to make out that the residents of the town were all descendants of the added in characters from Burton's film, the most obvious being Van Ripper, the grubby lunatic who tends the graveyard. (Van Ripper was the coachman in Sleepy Hollow)In the first few scenes of the film, we come to realise that this film is just another Scream/I Know What you did Last Summer/The Faculty clone. Sexy teens Nick Carter the football jock and Kaley Cuoco the cheerleader are mucking about in Sleepy Hollow's graveyard when their friend gets his head cut off by an unseen murderer. Cue Tom Welling lookalike 'Ian Cranston', who we find out is a direct descendant of Ichabod Crane and is the only person who can stop the Horseman chopping heads at random on Halloween.Most of the dialogue is pointless and badly written, as are many of the scenes (Nick Carter's Legend-obsessed character repeately dressing up as the Horseman attempting to scare people gets old very quickly). The action and horror are boring anmd unbelievable, and correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the Headless Horseman was supposed to be without a head. This Horseman has a deformed pumpkin with glowing eyes for a head. It looks more like an onion. The pathetic action comes to an abrupt end in one of the most rubbish finales I've ever seen. If you want a more thrilling story, go and read the book.