Director:
Joe Dante
Produced: 2009
Writer:
Mark L. Smith
Plot: A pair of brothers stumble upon a mysterious hole in their basement that
leads to the darkest corridors of their fears and nightmares.
Stars:
Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett and Nathan Gamble
Info courtesy of
IMDB
I was both sorely disappointed and pleasantly surprised that the movie did not live up to the schlock horror inherent in the tagline above proclaimed on Netflix. It was actually so much better than what it would have been in the hands of someone with a lesser vision, determined to just cash in and make just another blood and gorefest, rather than a rare (and getting rarer all the time) "family horror movie".
That's right, this is a movie that, while it has a few dark tones involving a physically abusive jailed father, manages to be creepy and suspenseful, with escaped evil clown puppets, without being offensive or unsuitable for most any but very young children, but still entertaining to adults - a very difficult and laudable achievement.
Although the chemistry with the kids isn't necessarily fluid, they're kids, and they all do pretty good, and the movie itself is done well enough, and the story is solid. I definitely would recommend this as a traditional family Halloween spooky movie.
