This departure from the basic Columbo script works out well, for once. For reasons not revealed here, Columbo's singular murder suspect has to be dropped from consideration. From then on, the show becomes more like a classical whodunit. After some twists and turns, the conclusion has Columbo in a room full of potential culprits, smoking out the guilty one. Columbo is as clever, adept, and at home with this tactic as in his usual one-on-one battles. And there's no skimping on the touches that make "Columbo" a unique and special detective show.


About thirty minutes into the film, I thought this was one of the weakest "Columbo"s ever because it had the usual beginning (a murder happening, then Columbo coming, inspecting everything and interrogating the main suspect) squared! It was boring because I thought I knew everything already.

But then there was a surprising twist that turned this episode into a most exciting one. Suddenly, many characters were involved, I started to guess with Columbo and the ending was just like Agatha Christie's Poirot endings are.

The film is full of irony, and looking back, I must admit that the whole episode is great work of the writers because the ordinary first part is a mere tool for creating this irony, creating a huge fool-the-audience-scenario. Don't turn your television off before the end!


"Last Salute" is an episode directed by Falk's friend McGoohan and from start to finish the viewer can enjoy what is almost a pastiche of a crime mystery. Columbo lingers in the harbor, in no hurry at all, works together with Mac (because his boss insists), makes him drive his car, gets entangled with Robert Vaughn in the car, with the telephone, tries TM on the deck of the boat. He seems in a jolly mood all the time. Note how he touches and lays his arms around everyone in this episode. It is an episode as calming as the waterfront itself. And it probably isn't up to what most viewers expect. But that always is a problem. We need to accept it as a creative thing too. And Columbo always had it's own patterns and in-jokes, but because of many different directors as well as guest stars and considering the fact that the show ran for 35 years, there is no such thing as the one formula it sticks to. So it is really quite sad that there are always these remarks 'the last of the real Columbo's', 'the final good episode', 'here's where episodes became to long', 'here's where Falk was too old', etc, etc. Enjoy every episode for its own merits. "Last Salute" is in no way possible to be compared with outings like "Double Exposure" of "A Stitch in Crime". So don't. Just sit, relax and watch this episode. And there is no episode like it, it is beyond comparison.


This is one of my favorite episodes. I love watching Diane Baker and Robert Vaughn. Wilfrid Hyde-White is also in it. Both Vaughn and Hyde-White are Columbo veterans by now, I love the unusual love story in this film an I won't spoil it for the viewers. I love Columbo and have seen almost all of them about a hundred times. The Commodore is murdered. While he was a proud businessman, he is disgusted by the greedy vultures that seem more interested in money than sailing. He had created an empire from building boats, yachts, and ships. Diane Baker plays his alcoholic daughter and I believe she is one of the best actresses around who doesn't get enough credit or work in my opinion. Robert Vaughn plays her husband. There are a lot more twist and turns in this episode than the usual Columbo episode but it's always entertaining and worth watching with great actors.


While the camera shots in this movie are often not clearly focused and the editing is poor with harsh cuts that should have been faded to black or into the next scene, this movie isn't half bad. The soundtracks not bad either, but perhaps with better editing, the featured songs would have fit in a lot better.

I have ulterior motives as to why I purchased this movie (it's all Amy's fault) and have been pleasantly surprised recently at how well Scott Baio can pull off the leading man in movies which revolve around the romance genre - he can really make you feel for the characters he portrays, making you cross all your fingers, toes, legs etc, hoping that things will work out for the best.

The storyline revolves around Mario, a cocky young up-and-coming photographer from Little Italy who literally falls in love at first sight with with Nicole Yeats (hence the title - I <3 N.Y.), the daughter of John Robertson Yeats(Plummer), a prestigious actor starring on Broadway. After a little persuasion, Nicole agrees to go on a date with Mario and together they start a relationship which ruffles the feathers of her father, his mother and his boss (Orbach).

It's pretty much an 80's Romeo and Juliet tale - without the tragic end. He's from a low class background trying to make it big and she's from a high class background where she could have anything she wants.

The chemistry between Baio and Kelly Van Der Velden is fantastic. It's this that makes this movie worthwhile, although there are fantastic performances from Plummer as Nicole's tyrannical father and Orbach as Mario's frustrated boss.

I pretty much have to say that, even though these type of movies are so clichéd, I was rooting for the young couple and half expected them to elope together to annoy her their respective parents. There's some great dialogue between characters, particularly Mario and Nicole when they first meet and there's a few funny moments too.

If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it as it's a great chick flick, perfect for a Saturday night in with that bottle of red and the girls.


This is my first review on IMDb, okay here goes: So this movie is about a seemingly supernatural killer clown, the mascot of the extremely popular local burger joint (Hella Burger) he murders teenagers all of whom have some sort of connection with the main character Mackenzie. He gives her clues as to who will die next. She starts to piece together the puzzle and must stop him before he claims her life next.

Basically it's a comedy/horror, the film doesn't take itself very seriously and is full of random humour. You'll laugh out loud at most of the scenes. It's still a horror movie and contains plenty of innovative and gory kills. Overall, I recommend it to horror fans or anyone who has 1 hour 23 min's to spare for a few laughs, it's the kind of film you simply switch your brain off and enjoy :)


This was about to be one of the most awesomely sh1tty movies ever made. Your generic, run of the mill, horror movie plot - dumb partying teens, the evil clown, and that one dude from Heroes that I hate. But the acting was really pretty acceptable and the script wasn't nearly as bad as you'd think. There was some sort of weird, political subtext that was a bit obnoxious, but it didn't seem to hurt things too badly. The beginning was a bit "Malibu's Most Wanted" for my taste, (ie really dumb wigger jokes) but that passed. All in all, it has some awesomely cheesy moments, and I'd say this is a must see for all fans of really bad horror movies.


Considering some of the reviews here and elsewhere and the lack of any big names, I was more than a little skeptical going into this film. My suspicions turned out to be unfounded, though, as the film was actually surprisingly good.

It's been a long time since I've heard a movie soundtrack where the bulk of the songs were not only performed by people born in the last 20 years, but they were performed well. A good soundtrack is hard to find and adds SO much to a movie. You can have a pretty mediocre film and add a great soundtrack and it ends up being quite watchable.

Some of the acting is a little wooden and the plot is almost laughably cliché. One could argue, though, that a laughably cliché plot was their goal, that they were somehow trying to recreate the far-fetched plot horror flicks of years past. If so, they did it masterfully.

I was expecting a very low budget, but it really didn't look that way. I'm always impressed when low budget movies don't look low budget. The editing was creative, especially the ramping of the kill scenes/killer's movements for increased dramatic effect.

Overall, this movie portrayed something that seems to be in short supply on celluloid these days- youthful exuberance. If you are a teenager, or, if, for 83 minutes you can channel the spirit of a teenager, you're in for a fun ride.

With a little more money and some better writing, I think these directors will be able to do really great things. I'm looking forward to their next project.


'Drive Thru' is a very deranged comedy that seems like it was directed by some pothead like Danny Leiner.Surprisingly, it's not a bad movie.It has it's share of blood, gore, violence, and what horror movie like this one wouldn't have any humor?It's like 'Eight Legged Frieks' and 'Tremors', except the killer is not a giant spider or an underground worm.I watched this movie for free on Fearnet On Demand a year ago just to see if it was any good.For 83 minutes, I sat through which appeared to be a dumb horror movie, yet a somewhat smart comedy.If you enjoy movies about killer clowns who butcher people, then 'Drive Thru' is on the menu.Would you like some blood with your order?


As a fan of slasher movies, I have to say that the direction in Drive Thru isn't too impressive, often being of the 'point and shoot' variety. In addition, most of the kills take place off-screen, and at first glance the story is also highly unimaginative - a teenage girl called Mackenzie Carpenter ('Mac' to her friends) discovers that pupils at her high school are being killed by a maniac who's dressed as Horny the Clown, the mascot of the Hellaburger fast-food restaurant chain (he looks like the secret love child of Ronald McDonald and Satan).

So far, so clichéd. But Drive-Thru's script then proceeds to overturn most of the conventional rules of the slasher movie genre.

For example, traditionally the heroine in these films is always a quiet, likable, well behaved and respectable young girl who is often bullied or victimised by the popular in-crowd. Not so in Drive-Thru. Here, the Final Girl is a foul mouthed, drug-taking teen who thinks her parents are morons, and - together with her emo friends - behaves appallingly to anyone she doesn't like. There's even a clever subplot in which we learn that she's decided not to sleep with her older boyfriend until she reaches the age of consent - but just as it seems that the movie is finally reverting to convention, she changes her mind and has underage sex with him anyway (!).

Another slasher cliché is the creepy janitor, who often acts as either a prime suspect or red herring, but again Drive-Thru acts as though it's playing the game, only to suddenly perform a bodyswerve and wrong-foot us. So yes, the creepy janitor is dutifully introduced, but he promptly gets killed in the very next scene.

The movie also skilfully satirizes current American youth culture: in addition to Mac's emo friends, Horny also takes his machete to handgun-flaunting wiggas, right-wing WASP preppies, goth wiccans, and stoner drop-outs. There's also a surprisingly political edge that's rare in the genre: Mac is described as a vegetarian left-wing liberal, and the dialogue contains quite a few barbs aimed at the Bush administration and Republicans in general. Mac also regards the police as incompetent fascists, and doesn't tell them anything she's discovered about the murders because she believes she's got a better chance of uncovering who the killer is. In fact, the female detective in charge of the case is actually highly efficient, but her investigation is being hampered by Mac's refusal to share information.

The cast all deliver solid performances, with Leighton Meester (who plays Mac) being a particular find. There's also a funny cameo from Supersize Me writer/director Morgan Spurlock as a Hellaburger manager.

But despite being a highly entertaining movie, Drive-Thru isn't particularly scary. Horny is a colourful and visually striking psycho-villain, but the climax of the movie is quite weak, and the only scene that delivers a genuine frisson is when the killer clown empties a gasoline can over Mac as she's tied to a chair (as a prelude to immolating her), and she starts screaming in complete, helpless terror.


OK i love horror movies every one of them make me laugh even when they are not under comedy. But this movie is freaking amazing. it has guts gore and LAUGHS. the reason why i laugh during any horror movie is because how creative horror movies are with killings. this one was like super creative and awesome i love this movie every one who likes comedy needs to see this movie its awesome. Also all the actors are freaking cool and nice job pick hot chicks I'm just saying. One last thing "Horny the Clown" awesome name by the way. There is one more quote thats not listed thats pretty cool Horny the Clown: "Your my girl now, and I'm HORNY!!!!!!" Awesome line.


Drive Thru is one of the top 5 horror movies of all time in my book. Everything comes together so well - the fast paced action, the subtle political innuendos, and the suspenseful plot twists are all perfectly balanced to create the ideal horror movie experience.

The actors all play their roles to perfection - Jan and Hunter from the office!!! - and the soundtrack is nothing short of spectacular. The character meet their deaths in a widely entertaining variety of ways (mostly involving a clown with an axe).

The guy from Supersize Me makes a highly ironic cameo as a fast food cashier, which was a great creative casting twist.

SPOILER ALERT!! Snape kills Dumbledore!

You will be left speechless at the end of the movie, which has a twist of a magnitude unheard of since the Sixth Sense. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel, Drive Thru 2 starring Keanu Reeves.


I don't always like comedy and horror mixed but this one did make me laugh hard and I liked the story.It had some really good kills and some hysterical original humour.The whole revenge storyline is old but a good and effective one.It reminded me a lot of Nightmare on Elm street how a bunch of parents killed a guy and he comes back from the dead to exact revenge on the kids of the parents.Of course Nightmare on Elm street was more of a horror.I hated the first scene of drive-thru.I cannot stand it when white kids act and talk like they're black,especially the well educated ones.Watching the way they were acting and talking made me cringe. I anticipated all those whiggers dying brutally, and they did! It's sad how brainwashed a lot of youth are these days.It's time for a rock revival and to say goodbye to rap! I liked the soundtrack for this movie.The theme song sung by Leighton Meester was cool and I liked the other version playing during the end credits.If there was a soundtrack sold in stores I would buy it. This movie would have made a good theatrical summer movie. We need a new demonic serial killer to hit the big screen. Jason,Freddy,and the others have all been over used. Not that I want their evil legacy's to end(especially Chucky my favorite),but it's time for a new one and Archie had potential.With a bigger budget and more advertising it could have easily made it's theatrical debut.A bigger budget sequel would be nice.If there is plans to do one I would like to see the survivors all brought back to face the demonic horny clown again!


From start to finish, this is utterly irritating and infantile slasher-fodder of the type that makes you want to poke out your own eyeballs with a rusty spoon. This is the type of junk you've seen six dozen of times before already, and every single one of them was better and less insulting to your intellect. The plot is derivative of approximately fifteen other early 80's slasher films, the soundtrack is nefarious (for the last time: heavy-metal and suspense rarely mix!), the characters are insupportable stereotypes and the maniacal killer (yet another evil clown) is the complete opposite of menacing, with his lame one-liners and overly flamboyant outfit. The film opens with a couple of white trash guys who desperately wish to be black thugs and their arrogant behavior and incomprehensible slang pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the film. Seriously, are American teenagers really this stupid nowadays? Luckily they quickly get massacred by Horny the Clown, the Ronald McDonald of fast food restaurant "Hella Burger" located in Orange County. The serial killer-clown continues his murder spree in the local high school, but his teenage victims  and particularly their parents  appear to have something in common, namely a dark secret about a prank that horribly ran out of control and killed a nerdy kid on his 18th birthday party. The concept is as old as the slasher-film itself, yet the writers pretentiously act as if they re-invent the genre and particularly the comical aspects miserably fail their effect. There's zero suspense, or what else did you expect, and the screenplay stupidly enough often hints at supernatural powers even though there's no logical explanation for this. The film tries to be intelligent, and distract you from all the plot-holes and improbabilities, through its main character Mackenzie Carpenter. She's a rebellious, opinionated and politically engaged teenager and, granted, Leighton Meester's presence and cute on screen charisma is unquestionably the movie's main strongpoint. Yet, she also still makes a couple of stupid decisions and all of her friends, including her horny boyfriend, are more than dim-witted enough to compensate for her cleverness. The gore is pretty decent, I have to admit, but overall "Drive Thru" is a totally insignificant movie.


I saw this film yesterday, and was not impressed. The acting was pretty bad, the gore effects were not great, the story was lacking and the music was terrible, especially during the action sequences.

But, I kinda enjoyed myself watching it. There were a few jokes, and most of them were not funny. Most of the fun was because of the lacking script. At some points it was just so stupid, it was funny. I also found the killer clown's remarks entertaining, even though none of them really had much to do with the story. And the concept of a killer clown, though a bit cliché, is still pretty funny.

This film is pretty bad, but it's entertaining if you can ignore the flaws, just sit back and laugh at the unfortunate teens.


You know one of those slashers that you shouldn't take seriously at all? This is one such film. I have never laughed with a horror film for a long time. Usually, I watch horror/slashers to be scared but sometimes, very rarely, I watch them for the laughs. I guess I got tired of all the big hit horror movies and decided to go back to B movies.

The movie starts out with a group of white kids trying to act gangster. They are calling each other the n word and stuff. They stop at Hellaburger to get something to eat but get more than they bargained for. Right when they pull up, they talk into the speaker and the person on the other end says a bunch of extremely vulgar and sexual remarks about the people in the car. As one of them orders their food, the other attempts to break in to steal the cash. They meet Horny The Clown. A man dressed up in a freaky clown suit, a voice changer attached to the mask, and uses a machete for a weapon. He says a lot of cheesy lines and one of them was stolen from The Shining. It was the line when Jack tells Wendy that, "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just going to bash your brains in, right the *bleep* in". He says it exactly like Jack. Why should I care? I'm having too much fun.

Then, you meet Mackenzie Carpenter(Leighton Meester) and her group of friends and they all have one connection and don't even know it. They are all killed one by one and they have no idea why. That is until toward the end of the film, the mother of Mackenzie reveals that the man in the clown suit doing all the killing was bullied by them when they were all in high school. He was accidentally knocked out and the restaurant burned down all around him, killing him. They thought he was dead but apparently not. He is back from the dead to get revenge on the kids. This was stolen from Nightmare on Elm Street. Once again, why should I care? I'm having too much fun watching this flick.

I didn't see the ending because I was cut off for some reason. It was a good slasher and I would recommend it to those who want a laugh.

10 stars out of 10. If You Don't Die From Fast Food, Horny Will Get Ya!


yeah, well we begin. I will start with the introduction for asking if any of you ever watched a b horror movie from the eighties, yes you will adore this one because the movie gives all the clichés and serious acting applies for another star for the movie, except "Larry Joe Campbell" from "According to Jim". He is really enjoying for filming a b type thriller movie(I love him). Our another star is for "Lola Glaudini" from "Groove". I am so glad to see her again. She is so into the movie.(I know they are having so much fun) Gossip Girl star, Leighton Meester, she is really shocking for me such as being in this kind of a movie and I think she is a secret gem like Ed Westwick(it was an compliment). I am a fan of the b movies, especially 80s. I say if you know the bad movie history of eighties and if you have a couple of friends in same taste, you can have so much fun. this is one of the good ones in its following the 'let's appreciate and respect the genre of thrillers in 80s. My top is, yeah, comedy and horror, I say Evil Dead, which is more fun and Braindead which is more drama. I'm giving you ten because I'll be watching you. Warning! Not Stable.


I love bad horror movies the crappier the better so that is why i love this movie. It's right up there with Bloodsucking Babes from Burbank, or Jackhammer Massacre or Killer Klowns from Outer Space or even Prehistoric Bimbos in Armageddon City. You cant sit down to this movie and think its gonna be Scarface or something you gotta sit down and think it's as bad as Citizen Kane. But all in all it is a good movie with mindless killing and a killer Clown. The story is awesome it's like Prom Night or Terror Train or Dead Above Ground its a revenge type movie were somebody dies and comes back to kill the kids of the people that killed him. I quite enjoyed it and i cant wait for the squeal.


I rented this one based on largely marginally positive reviews i've read, expecting a fun little gory horror flick, what I got however was a pretty uninspired "Nightmare on Elm Street" retread, but with a clown fast food mascot. The jokes fall extremely flat and the horror just isn't there. Plus it has a non-ending ending of the kind that I've really grown to detest throughout the years, leaving it open for a sequel which i'm not hoping for in the least bit. Perhaps it would have helped the film if any of the characters were fleshed out in the least bit, but the way it is now the movie had me thinking about how much creepier it might have been if it was about a deranged Burger King mascot (YOU watch those commercials and play Sneak King and NOT be terrified). Oh yeah before I forget the film also can 'boast' (and I use the term loosely) a forgettable cameo by Mr. Super-Size Me Morgan Spurlock, in a role so atrociously acted that one of the people from the group of individuals that he made fun of during a college lecture can act circles act circles around (no I'm not going to use the term he did, you have the internet, look it up)

My Grade: D


This movie really tries to rip off "Nightmare on Elm Street" but it does the worst job possible. Instead of Freddy Kruger, there is some stupid clown who just isn't funny with his stupid jokes. Then the police officer tries to be funny and he's not funny at all. The mom acts like she doesn't care at all about being in the movie and I've seen girls in rock bands who act tough. It isn't anything new at all. This movie is suppose to be about fast food but they only show the fast food restaurant about two times. Most of the time there is a carnival or time in the bedroom. It is lame as can be and the best part was the fact that it ended. I really loved "Nightmare on Elm Street" and it's a shame that they tried to rip off such a great horror movie. Nothing can top "Nightmare on Elm Street" so don't even try. Never ever ever ever ever ever watch this movie.


WOW, it's interesting to see the variety of reviews of this film. The ones who liked it must have been drugged or related to the filmmakers! This movie had good actors and apparently a large budget, but the script sucked! Nothing about the story made any sense...absolute garbage. The only redeeming thing about this movie besides the fact that I watched it for free is the "wigger wannabes" get killed immediately in the beginning. The "kills" were very imaginative and could have worked well had the script made sense. My advice to the directors would be "hone your directing skills and leave the writing to the professionals"! Don't waste your time on this one.


I've seen this movie! And it's not just ' SOME OTHER MOVIE '!Mackenzie had a good life until 'HORNY THE CLOWN' interrupted it all! Because when her mother was younger ... The guy that runs Hellaburger! His son liked Mac's mother. he invited her to his birthday party! Her friends were going to play a practical joke on him. So she showed up, and when he went to the door one of her friends went and put on a mask and he had a knife, and when he turned around and he saw him and passed out. The building burned down and everyone thought he was dead!Yeah right!!!!!!!you'll have to see the rest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOL!! IDK what to write, so here is the top ten .... 10. Rosemary's Baby 9. The Shining 8. Seven 7. Psycho 6. Jaws 5. Halloween 4. The Silence Of The Lambs 3. Alien 2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1. THE Exorcist


I really did enjoy this movie. I still do the costume of horny the clown is the best iv seen in a while the music was great. I don't care what others mite say but I hope a 2nd one does come out to entertain my friends and I again. It mite not be the best ever but it is a great film to watch with your buddies. From the comments on the movie that I have seen is just awful how they say thats the movie has so much thats wrong with it but to me I think this movie is attracted by the younger community rather the older. Iv had a few of my friends to watch the movie and they feel the same as I do and we are excited of the thought of a drive thru 2.


i cant get enough of this movie! i have watched it countless times and it just keeps getting better and better. i guess if you're an older person, then you wont like it as much. but its great for teenagers and young adults.

the cast is hot and two of them are from gossip girl! (mackenzie and van) and one is from heroes (fischer_ so whoever says they cant act has some problems. well, okay, some of the cast cant act. like the mom when she tries to cry. hah thats pretty funny

oh and the music is fantastic. its not music that is "in". rather, its music that is really hardcore and i just love it. it really sets the mood for those high-energy scenes. :)

i definitely recommend that you watch this movie!


What a ridiculous film! This movie is so bad I can't believe I was daring enough to see it until the end! But it was hard! Do you know when you start watching a movie and in the first 4/5 minutes you start asking yourself: "why doesn't it end right now?" Yes that's right, this film "stunk" from the very first minute

The psycho character is ridiculous! I mean, what stupid clown suit is that?

The plot is pathetic! One of the silliest I've seen the last times!

The acting is bad! I know it's a B-series movie (or is it a Z-series one instead?) but the acting could be much better.

The "special effects" are lame. I know it was a low cost production, but even so!

The all main idea of using a clown and the "fast-food setting" is absurd, ridiculousIf it's supposed to be funny or spoofing it just spoofs itself!

Fast food doesn't kill but this film does.of boredom!


When I saw that this was going being TV, I thought cool. I know it was going to bad, from hiring about off some b-movie site. But this was really bad, not as bad as Epic Movie ( How CENSORED like that got made is beyond me), but still pretty bad.

Our story beings with two really bad rapper wanna-bes and there brain dead girl friends, after getting stoned, got get from a Drive-thru restaurant at 2 AM! After getting mouth offed at by the guy at the voice box thing the two guys sneak in to beat the voice box guy, This when things start getting dumb. The morons don't reallies the place is closed, I don't know if was drugs they took or what but you have to blind not to see the place is closed, then there killed by a heavy metal reject from Killer Klowns From Outer Space!

Won after the movie becomes this miss-mess of ideas, from other, better, movies. Here's a list of them:

An Nightmare on elm street Happy Brithbay to me Gappa

Well just those three I came name right now. heres a list of things about this movie that make it so dumb:

1. The killer is a ghost, but they still killed him. 2. There is No Way On God's green earth, that a character called Hory the clown would be aloud to saw to children. 3. No way in hell a TV ad, with behaver like that would shown on TV burring the day! 4. Whean two losers are being killed in plane site, someone would have came to their aid! 5. horribly lame jokes, about AC/DC, Elvira and other stuff. 6. Microwave..... more like cardboard box! 7. Very bad effects. 8. Very,Very, Very bad acting 9. So her boyfriend is the killer now? 10. Careters pop in and out of nowhere all the time 11. How the hell the mom known where her kid was 12. So way was the ghost/killer whoring her about him? 13. Horrordla Havey Matel rap sound track.

So in short this is movie is like fast Food, BAD FOR YOU!

Rating: 2/10


I can't even imagine what must have been running through the directors head when he did this movie... without any doubt, this is the worst horror movie I have ever seen in my life! The story is plain: a mad clown from hell (OMG, that's very original!), seeks to kill as many teens as possible in the most brutal and horrific way. I'm sure ur very impressed and extremely anxious to see this great film but hold ur horses :) Drive-Thru is a real test of character because it takes a real man/woman to see this movie till the end, where, like all great movies, it leaves room for a sequel. The action is weak, the acting is weak, the screenplay is even weaker... the story is really overused and beside the cool clown costume, it doesn't have anything worth watching. All the lines are unnatural and the young actors take it even more below the average.

In conclusion, do urselves a huge favor and don't waste precious time on Drive-Thru...


YES!! Finally, Funny and Scary in the same movie...OLD SKOOL. OK boyz and girlz, here's the deal: If you don't like this movie you are not core. Yes, you see it all coming and it's familiar territory, but THAT IS THE POINT. They obviously went out to make an 80's slasher, but it's how they do it that makes this thing rock. See 4 yourself and tell me Horny isn't the coolest killer to hack up some teens in years! Unreal costume, hilarious, total bad ass. THE MUSIC ROCKS!!! You will laugh your ass off. The gore is solid and the kills are fresh. Am I missing something here? The chicks are hot, but AMAZINGLY we see almost no skin (which is why I didn't give it a 10) Watching it again right now...


Contains some plot spoilers.

I desperately tried to like this having first seen it aged eight, but what seemed exciting / scary back then, I find pretty lame now. It's in the style of Raiders of the Lost Ark or Romancing the Stone, but not half as good. Set in Central America (not in South America, where it claims Belize is ) the story follows the US Army setting up a low-frequency transmitter as a navigational aid to subs. As a precaution this 'beacon' is to be hidden deep underground and to help locate a suitable place is elite mercenary and caveman Rupert Wolfson. When men operating the transmitter mysteriously disappear, `Wolf' and some anthropologists help in the search which takes them deep into the mountain. Here they encounter unforeseen perils, including a race of temperamental albinos. Actually filmed in Alabama and Tennessee (Cathedral & Cumberland Caverns respectively) this suffers from dreadful acting and screenplay, plus lack of imagination as the 'mystery' unfolds (not to mention numerous continuity & editing errors) An atmosphere of intrigue and ambiguous wonder is created to (almost) good effect at the beginning, with the opening monologue discussing unexplored wonders of the Earth accompanied by eerie music. This ambience is lost after some badly directed action and almost ruins the following helicopter distorted lens sequence, meandering us through the unwelcoming landscape like a drunkard. `2001'-style wonder is paired with suspense as we enter the caverns, combining some good cave locations with matte artwork and photography. But the camera seems more interested in what our characters are doing. Before long the low budget is apparent and aside from some interesting monsters, we're treated to silly sets and costumes. Characterisation is based on racial stereotypes and the general level of stupidity of that person. Take our main character: he is suave Englishman Wolfson, acting as a consultant for the army; an expert

fighter and all around good-guy. No personality flaws, only bad dress

sense. Two ugly English (natch) play scientists who are specifically there to die. The female lead (obligatory love interest) is talkie (but not outspoken) Leslie. Working with the Anthropologists she helps extract long-dead remains but will scream when faced with a fresh one. Not too bright. The main American contingent play embarrassingly inept and unprofessional soldiers obsessed with working the transmitter as if their lives depended on it. Wolf's friend George's only importance to the plot is to tell Wolf about the mission. He is a lieutenant and an idiot. There are also several local Latin-Americans assisting the US, one is accident-prone Santos who acts as a plot device to attract the monsters. Acting is at best poor and veteran Robert Powell doesn't even try to get to grips with his (admittedly awful) script. Apparently the main script was being rewritten every day during the shoot and it shows! There are some good `Predator'-style effects as the humans are viewed as a pink glow through the Lemurians' eyes, but their rock-shattering scream was unconvincing. I did like the idea that the Lemurians are sensitive to ultra-sonic waves though. The plot badly loses its way. The buildup is painfully slow and when the 'mystery' is finally resolved, it's a real anti-climax (not giving anything away, let's say not exactly a Close Encounters moment) The idea of discovering creatures deep inside a tropical mountain landscape appealed to me, but `Secrets of the Phantom Caverns' is a letdown. Underground albinos!


OK. First things first. When I watch a film I haven't seen before, I try to keep an open mind. Sometimes this doesn't work, but this time, against all odds, it did.

I first saw the film on UK TV as a child under its alias, 'Secrets Of The Phantom Caverns', and it really stuck with me. A few years later I found it on video and still really enjoyed it, especially the lurid vid cover. Now I've managed to find it on DVD, titled 'What Waits Below' (its US title). I'm a very happy man. Its a cheapie, but it's great fun.

To be honest it has one winning factor to start with; it stars Robert Powell, an excellent British actor who is great in anything he does. This lifts the film out of the bin already. His recognisable voice is put to good use from the start with an eerie, atmospheric monologue, teamed with a picture that is gradually revealed to be a gigantic stalagmite, Goliath. From this point I was sucked in.

As the film continues we meet a few more recognisable faces from the horror genre such as Richard Johnson (The Haunting, Zombie Flesh Eaters) and Lisa Blount (Dead and Buried, John Carpenter's Prince Of Darkness), who, along with other established actors such as Timothy Bottoms, all try and do their very best with the material they have.

This is the general motto with the film. Remember, it was done on the cheap, but I think that what's been done, has been done well. You could see it as a well-made, feature film version of Doctor Who, only without the Doctor if that makes any sense! I find the film very atmospheric and quite creepy. The only real mishap may be that when the things that 'wait below' are revealed, they are quite disappointing, but in context this doesn't matter for long.

OK, I've done my bit for the film and I hope that this may inspire other people out there to hunt it down and give it a go. Suck in the pride and remember to have a very big pinch of salt at the ready. Enjoy!


I buy a lot of cheap movies, none of them are usually any good but this one surprised me.

It is obvious that it had a low budget and the overall film making isn't very good but the ideas behind the story captured my interest. The thoughts of undiscovered caves deep within the earth containing life really excites me. If only this movie could be remade and altered a little on a much larger scale, it could be one of my favourites.

This film was let down however by a low budget. The set wasn't bad but the costumes were terrible. The designs of the cavemen looked quite good, the dark eyes, pale skin and increased hearing are what you might imagine from a species who have evolved in a dark cave but I did not like those hairstyles (that's the 80s for you). The acting was poor and some of the characters were pointless. The opening scenes introduced two of the main characters well but other then that it should have been explained what had been going on exactly.

Every now and then I'm inspired by a story and want to write something myself along the same lines, this had one of those inspiring stories. I highly recommend watching this if you don't mind B movies.


Sure, this is a B Movie but it is moody and creepy and worth a look. Haunting. I haven't seen it since it was on TV nearly 20 years ago and I can't forget it. The Lemurians are really unsettling weirdos. Sure, Timothy Bottoms is always a little suspicious but pretend he's a young George W. Bush and your path to movie fun is free and clear. It'll be great. Plus, Lisa Blount, can't go wrong there. Generally I'm against so-called reviews which say 'for what it is it's whatever' but in this case, when something does manage to be genuinely unsettling, I give it a go. Not much upsets or disturbs me, but this got under my skin and I think that's worth praising. Write your local congressperson or entertainment conglomerate and demand a North American DVD release. Now!


I have never really given much thought to underground civilizations and the like, but this movie definitely gets you thinking!

It's a bit slow to getting off the ground, but stick with it, it's well worth the wait!

I didn't think the movie would be so good from the beginning, in fact to be honest, there's quite a poor start to it, and I suspect many would switch off before it gets going. I remained open-minded. I think that the idea was very imaginative indeed, and my only complaint was the movie was over too quickly. Would have made a two and half hour movie, no problem. Still, the idea of any great movie, like any great book, is to leave you wanting more.

However, it had a very satisfactory end.

Don't miss this if you get the opportunity - a gem worth watching.


If you're patient enough to stick with this film, and you dig eerie nightmarish imagery, this film is quite a treat! Personally, I really miss the atmosphere of films such as this that relied solely on the characters, and things not so human, without the use of glitzy computerized graphics, something today, in my opinion that has been over glamorized and almost used as filler. As I mentioned if you're patient you'll appreciate this film, it builds and if you hang on and agree with my review thus far you'll most likely really appreciate this film. All in all check it out, it's not a masterpiece by any means, although it rather strikes my fancy!


The idea of making a film about the secrets and wonders of inside the Earth sounds like good idea for a movie but this movie just can't seem to deliver.The actors are bareable(well sort of)except for the main charecter who is just as way to smug.As far as special effects and set the crew did a okay job.And the plot would be better if there were more creatures and stuff and less of a boring,tedious buildup.


Four snotty rich kids at a prep school in England want to get out of a field trip to Wales, where they would have to eat "fish paste sandwiches" and be otherwise uncomfortable. They also don't want to get out of the trip by just returning home over the school break. Two are male friends, Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington), son of a rock star, and Geoff Bingham (Laurence Fox), and two are female friends, Elizabeth Dunn (Thora Birch) and Frances Almond Smith (Keira Knightley). Frances and Geoff have had an intimate relationship, although any relationship between them seems very tenuous, and Elizabeth has had a crush on Mike for a long time; Mike was otherwise going out with another girl, but she had just dumped him. One of them knows, or knows someone who knows, the perfect "getaway" spot, secluded and private, just right for promoting an intimate, extended weekend of partying--an old war bunker deep underground in the middle of a forest. The bunker is accessed via a circular, thick steel door, and is lined with thick reinforced concrete. The four end up trapped in the bunker, with the door locked and no way to get out, for at least 10 days. Who locked them in and why? How will they get out?

If you're someone who only likes straightforward plots, traditionally happy endings and films depicting "facts" that are close to what you believe to be true about the actual world, you're best advised to avoid The Hole. If you instead do not mind, or even prefer, circuitous, twisted tales with strong fantasy elements (in this case primarily to enable what amounts to a parable) and fairly nihilistic endings, you may find much to love here. Reflecting the film's overall ambiguity, The Hole resides in a gray genre area between thriller, psychological horror and a straight-ahead drama. The first half hour or so is much more straightforward, and for me, the film was cruising along at about an 8 for at least that length of time. But as it progressed and things became much more bizarre and "evil", my score gradually rose, with the extended climax being a firm 10 for me. So my rating on this one is more of an average.

The plot, from a screenplay by first time (and only time so far) scripters Ben Court and Caroline Ip, based on a novel by Guy Burt, is unusual for being told primarily from unreliable characters' perspectives. We learn most of the story through the testimony of a victim--Elizabeth, and a primary suspect, Martyn Taylor (Daniel Brocklebank), who may in fact be a friend of Elizabeth's. Their accounts change as the film progresses, often framing different characters as victims and perpetrators, and the bulk of what we see on screen are depictions of these changing accounts. Thus we see some "repeating" material. It's important to show parts of the story again as the supposed facts about the story change.

Stemming from this, it's easy to see that the performances are quite good. Most characters undergo subtle alterations for the different instantiations of the story, and the four principals--Birch, Harrington, Fox and Knightley--adeptly transform themselves, aided also by their clothing, hair and makeup.

Court and Ip cleverly do not change the scenario as much as you might expect after the first couple variations. It keeps you on your toes as to just who the perpetrator was, but also enables a surprising and in-depth exploration of the psychotic personality and motivation behind the "lock-in"--whoever the perpetrator was (and I certainly won't reveal the film's answer here), they were clearly somewhat insane. We're also led to be skeptical about the material that's relayed from an ostensibly third-person point of view. It's never clear for most events just what is meant to be "objective" and true versus what is still the potential fantasy of the storyteller. Personally, I love that kind of ambiguity. Some others do not like it so much.

The Hole is also a bit of an exploration of spoiled kids. All of the main characters are manipulators who are used to getting whatever they want. They all seem to have an attitude that their intellect is far superior to almost every one else, and thus they're entitled to whatever they desire, as well as justified in whatever it takes to get it--that's a classic disposition of many criminals, and not a few business leaders, politicians, Internet geeks and so on. It's notable that when the students' parents appear (which is very seldom), they are distant and mostly dissociated from their offspring, who have come to rule the roost as far as we can tell. The investigators trying to piece together the case come to know this, although they never directly state as much, but the performers give very subtle clues to their complex realizations as the story goes on. We can see them also gradually losing hope that they'll be able to properly sort the events out and reveal the truth.

The Hole can be seen as a parable about how far some may go to get what they want, as well as how far co-conspirators may go before they try to divorce themselves from events gone wrong (there are clues throughout the film that other characters had various levels of knowledge and involvement). It's also an exploration of what makes some go as far as they do and what makes conspirators play along. At the same time it comments on the bewilderment of "outsiders" trying to figure out how some horrific event developed. A lot of the answers are appropriately ambiguous. Under the guises of the subtexts, as well as on a more visceral surface level, the film is a great success.


I've been anticipating this film for a while since it is Thora Birch's first role since American Beauty. So, The Hole. The Hole has been hyped up as a horror/psychological film in which 4 students are locked down an old wartime bunker (-the- Hole) to avoid a boring Geography field trip. How does it fare?

The casting is probably the jewel of this film. It's superb. The absolutely stunning Keira Knightley (Sabé from Star Wars Episode I) appears as Liz's (Birch) friend, Frankie. All the rest of the characters are complete unknowns, except the psychologist played by Embeth Davidtz (Matilda, Bridget Jones, Schindler's List), but they all act their parts excellently.

This film really has the British 'feel' mastered. The sets are excellent, the locations are splendid, and the whole 'feel' of the movie is very realistic. The school really does feel like a British public school (A British 'public school' is like a 'private school' in the US.. one where you need rich parents to flash $$$ to get you in). The unnamed pupils seem extremely realistic.

There are only three small flaws with this film. The first is that it doesn't exactly live up to the hype in the British press. I did not find this scary at all, but it was an extremely well done mystery/whodunnit. Horror? Nah, not unless you classify psychological thrillers as 'horror'.

The second flaw is that the transitions between different parts of the film can be rather confusing. Often, the film bounds around past and present shots and be extremely disorienting in places. Unlike Memento, this disorientation is not an advantage. However, at the end of the film, you'll be able to tie all of the parts together and leave feeling quite satisfied with the story (a bit like the film 'Wild Things').

Another minor let down is the music. Totally forgettable, has no place in the film, and it often appears at the most inappropriate times.

I really do hope this is released in the USA soon, as Thora Birch is definitely not to be missed here.. and I think the stunning Keira Knightley is going to be getting some bigger roles from now on, she's definitely earned her stripes here. So, my big question, why has this not been scheduled for US release!?

This is certainly not a Blair Witch Project clone, although this impression has been given by the press. Instead, this is a cleverly constructed and extremely well casted psychological thriller/mystery.


Truly, fresh and new ideas, rarely make it to film. The Hole, based on the novel (after the Hole) by Guy Burt is a good exception to this. It is seldom that we see a top quality thriller, but this movie is well cast, well directed, and works wonderfully. The story is quite simple really, it relies on strong characterisation and good dialogue. All the cast give good performances and Thora Birch is outstanding. This thriller really does keep you on the edge of your seat throughout; it is very dark, very creepy and has a terrifying atmosphere. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes a good thriller. It isn't in the same league as Se7en and Silence of the Lambs, but it is better than most thrillers that are released.

8/10 A great film.


This is no teen horror movie. Instead its a really good exploration into consequences of obsession. The direction was very good. I found it entertaining, frightening and most of all, thought provoking. Special mention to Thora Birch who adeptly highlights the subtle transformation of her character throughout the story.


THE HOLE tells the tale of four British public (here it would be prep) school students messing around in an old bomb shelter. They accidentally get locked in. After several days, they begin to die off one by one. The lone survivor, played by Thora (GHOST WORLD) Birch, relates her horrific tale as the movie unfolds to investigators, including a doctor (Embeth Davidtz) who follows Birch through her recovery and eventually takes her back down into the shelter. A fellow student who led the four to the shelter is suspected of having locked them in, but has disappeared. This low-budget effort is less a horror flick than a psychological thriller, sort of HIGH TENSION without the barbed-wire baseball bat, although it has its share of grue and contains a couple of highly squeamish moments, the worst involving a pre-PIRATES Keira Knightley. It may remind some of SAW, and I would say rightly so. The end is a shocker, and Birch acts up a storm. Made about five years ago, this is some nasty stuff.


One big damn mess... I was duped into believing this to be a horror film but it is just a dumb mystery psycho-drama with plenty of bad acting, predictable plot development, and an absolutely absurd premise that hasn't got an iota of credibility or realism to it. Birch organizes a "hole" excursion so she can starve everyone to death in order to make a guy fall in love with her?!! What a load of crap. What's worse, the entire British police force and its detectives and psychologists can't figure the mystery out, and are deceived by a half-crazed teen who hasn't eaten or drank much for a fortnight! Can you spell "DUMB"? This whole teen horror/slasher/mystery genre just keeps digging down to new lows. At least De Palma's and Hitchcock's nonsense can occasionally be entertaining, whereas these kinds of films have no value whatsoever.


**WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD**

Short version: this movie sucks. Long version: as somebody else wrote, the hole is in the plot line. Or better, there are lots of holes, but mainly:

a) Martin has a perfect alibi, yet he's the suspect from the beginning and nobody believes him. But, since they find him (dead) with the key, he MUST be guilty. And Liz must surely be rather strong, if she can plunge him in the river so easily. And rather quick, to put the key in his pocket without anybody (in the audience) noticing. Martin dies only a few yards away from Liz's house, but no one seems to care about that.

b) Hello? Did anybody tell the psychologist there were THREE dead bodies in the cell, one of which with his head crushed? How come the police acts as if nothing happened and no one ever talks about it? How come Liz was never questioned SERIOUSLY about these deaths? The first version of the story ends with everybody coming out of the hole happy and smiling, but the psychologist seems to believe it.

c) the hole is abandoned since WW II, but there still is electricity. The hole has an emergency exit which can be locked from outside, in order to make it completely unuseful. The door of the hole has a glass part, but nobody tries to break it.

d)The door key magically appeared in Martin's pockets some time before, because he won't let us know who gave it to him, and if we knew it, that would mean that someone else knew about the existence of the hole, and that would have made it too complex for the writers.

e) Nobody in the school noticed that the boys didn't go to Wales, and their families didn't notice they didn't come home. It took at least three days to understand that there was something wrong.

f) Liz is so convincing when she talks, that everybody instantly believes her: see the ending.

g) Think about this: when Liz came out, the door was OPEN. If Martin was on holiday, who the hell could open it without a key?

I think that's enough to explain why the movie doesn't work.

A thriller is a dangerous game: if you want to play it with the audience, you must be sure you can handle it. As many famous screenwriters said, you've got to take the story and shake its foundations: if it "survives", you've probably got a good movie coming on. This one crumbles quite miserably.


If you have seen the trailers (or read some of the reviews), you would be forgiven of thinking of this film as a dark and disturbing thriller, unfortunately, this is not the case.

The acting is first rate from the leading five, though Embeth Davidtz, an experienced actress, is confined to a character with little scope for the talents she has displayed in previous films, and I find it disappointing that her acting skills were curtailed by such a restrictive screenplay.

And herein lies the main problem for this film. The characterisations are excellent, but the limited experience of the writers shines through. This film has none of the twists and turns you would expect from a thriller, an ending that is at once unconvincing, predictable, and weak, and plot holes you could drive a bus through.

Director, Nick Hamm, shows great promise as this film is very well put together, and he certainly gets the best from the main four actors. However he seems to have neglected the talents of everyone else in the film (bar Daniel Brocklebank as Martin).

In my opinion, this film was well acted and directed, if only the plot could have been better, we might have seen another classic British film. However I fear that this film will sink into obscurity. It seems a shame that such talent was not used on a film with better writers.

I await with anticipation Nick Hamm's next offering, and hope that he finds a screenplay to stretch both himself and the whole cast.


This is a welcome break from the British staple at the moment. This is a well acted and scripted thriller. The film opens with a bedraggled Birch running into her school and phoning the police. She and 3 of her friends have been missing for 3 weeks, we subsequently learn that she is the only survivor. With the help of a counsellor, Davidtz, we learn what happens or so we think. As a result of her story, a fellow pupil at her expensive private school is arrested. His version of events is very different. We do not know who to believe, but Davidtz, has doubts about Birch's story. The 'Hole' of the title an old bunker is visited several times during the course of the film. In the final visit Birch tells the whole shocking truth to Davidtz. We discover what a completely manipulative sociopath, who is instrumental in the death of her friends because she wants to sleep with Harrington. All of the leads are superb, go and see this film!!


The hole ironically named after its major weakness (holes in the plot!) seems to move from flash back to reality a little to frantically for me. Some parts seem rushed and it could of done with more interaction within the hole itself. The acting is hit n miss, Birch isn't great. And her accent tends to wander off to australia, south africa and back to her native country. Although the rest of the cast seem competent. I was specially impressed by Kiera Knightley as the slutty teen queen. This a refreshing film and an indication that School influenced comdies/dramas/thrillers. can be effectively implemented in England. The U.S bubble gum high school nausea is waring thin in the states and these kind of films have found a fresh ground (U.K) In the hole. Our cultural and class history doesn't have to be spelt out like the jock,geek,stoner bland recycled crap that floats to the surfaces regularly

good 7/10


An tense and atmospheric film following four teenagers from an English fee-paying school who plan to spend a weekend partying in an abandoned bomb shelter but end up locked in for 10 days with food and drink running short.

The film is held together by Thora Birch who has a very challenging role as Liz, the films central character. The rest of the largely unknown cast provide excellent support.

What brings this film above the run of the mill teen thriller is the intelligence of the writing which places this film nearer "Se7en" or "Fight Club" than "Scream" or "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

A must see for anyone who likes a film whose scares come from something deeper than loud bangs and psychos in masks, and whose characters have more depth than your average high school cheer-leader.


I went into The Hole expecting another badly acted slasher flick with crazy teens running around subteranean passage ways. I came out a different man. This film is a disturbing and cleverly, psychologically frightening film. With a very low blood and sex rating, this film instead shocks by how it manipulates the viewer. For example, as the characters became more and more dehydrated I started to experience the same symptoms as them... clever use of sound and light maybe, but highly effective. I wouldn't recommend anyone to see this film - they might think I was mad! - but I will say that you will be missing out on something if you don't see this film. Provocative, well directed, nicely shot, reasonably scripted, just about acceptably acted. VVG indeed.


Its nice to see the teen thriller/horror genre being experimented with by the Brits for once.This is being touted as the Brit Blair Witch, and while its certainly not that, its an incredibly enjoyable night out. The cast are surprisingly good, Thora Birch is a talented lead and the other 3 newcomers are very promising. After the first scene and the following horrific flashbacks, audience expectations are very high for a truly terrifying film. On this level, the film doesn't deliver. Unlike the Blair Witch, this isn't that scary. It jumpy, violent and memorable yet not scary. The premise is great and ingeniously explored through uneven flashbacks and the film is nicely directed with some flair. the film also has a clever twist which is deliciously nasty. Overall, this is much better than a lot of the crap that the Americans get away with and this deserves to do well. A thoroughly entertaining film, which will guarantee your undivided attention. 8/10


The Hole is very cleverly written and it keeps you guessing-about both how the characters came to be trapped and what happen to them while they were. This is why i liked it so much, not many films can keep me guessing! I am also very proud that it is a British film as it is far better than any "teen horror" films i have seen recently!


I walked into the cinema not knowing what to expect. There had been no publicity whatsoever about this film and I was surprised. Very tense, very dramatic and well acted. An Interesting take on plot thats been done so many times before, but never quite like this. While its obvious what happens in the end you really want to see it through to the end, so it must have done something right.

It's also nice to see that here in Britain we can produce something other than Romantic Comedies and cheap gangster films. Here we have something of a certain class that's quite a good yarn while being far deeper than most US films. I hope it's a sign of things to come.


this movie is kind of a british take on the teen shocker. i thought it was very disturbing (in a good way), and it is definitely more thought-provoking than, say, i know what you did last summer. also, it is not so much of a horror than a thriller with teens in the main roles. thora birch is convincingly british, and i liked the fact that she didn't just play the same role that she did in american beauty (a common problem amongst teen actors these days...freddie prinze jr, i am looking at you...). another nice aspect is the absence of an authoritative adult presence, which lends a strange lord of the flies tone to the film...are you wondering what happens?? see the film! you won't feel embarrassed to be in the theatre, even if you happen to be over 20 as i am...


The nice thing is, that if you bought this because of all the hype about the underage Kiera Knightly flashing, you won't be disappointed and you see a decent movie as well. Thora Birch, sporting a spotty British accent, plays the only survivor of a group of students who hide out on the school holiday by going into a bunker. The Rashomon type plot is a little too simple, we know that the other three are dead and we also know that when four people go somewhere enclosed and one comes out alive, that they had something to do with it. The script never gives us anything else and trying to convince us that nobody even suspects Thora's Liz is unwise. The fractured way that the story unfolds isn't satisfying either since we only have two versions and the second is the one that we know to be true. The saving grace is the cast. Thora, Kiera, and Desmond Harrington are three good young actors and they make these vain characters watchable. Also, even though the script is week, the direction is good. It's one of those jumpy quick cut movies that fits the supposed state of mind that the main character is in as she tries to find the truth. It's an interesting movie with a strong cast that could have used a re-write to flesh out the story.


I saw the movie because I'm a Keira Knightley fan and in that respect it was good, she brings a great performance as usual. Really there is nothing that I can say is bad about the acting or the movie in general other than it isn't my favorite kind of movie. In a phrase "it was messed up". If you like thrillers and mysteries then this is your kind of movie. It may seem a bit predictable at times, but it is well written and gives some unexpected turns. The movie takes place in a past tense with flashes of memory as everyone tries to figure out what happened, including the audience. If you ever get the chance to watch this movie it won't disappoint you, its a good way to pass the time. But if you don't ever watch it, you aren't missing much.


The Hole tells the story of an abandoned war bunker hidden deep in the Eglish countryside & the four teenagers who want to spend a few days in it partying, sounds like fun to me. Liz Dunn (Thora Birch) has a huge crush on Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington) the son of an American rock star so arranges the unorthodox gathering & invites her friend Frankie (Keira Knightley) & her boyfriend Geoff (Laurence Fox) who happens to be best mates with Mike, Liz reckons she'll score with Mike no problem. However things don't go according to plan as when they try to leave the bunker they discover the hatch is locked tight. They slowly realise they are trapped, they are running out of water, food & soon the bickering & arguing begins as they wait in hope for someone to rescue them from the hole...

This English production was directed by Nick Hamm & I thought The Hole was a top-notch thriller. The script by Ben Court & Caroline Ip is based on the novel 'After the Hole' by Guy Burt & was gripping, clever & engaging. It moves along at a nice pace, it has some nice twists & turns while it's one of those films which really comes together during the final 10 minutes when the truth is finally revealed, it may not come as the biggest shock in the cinematic world but it's effective, satisfying, you'll be thinking about it whether you liked it or not & it ties up everything that has gone before really well. The character's are good & well fleshed out, they didn't seem too clichéd & they were quite likable unlike most American horror/thrillers that rely on teens. On the negative side it's a film which I won't want to watch again in a hurry simply because once the twists are revealed the films impact is all but lost & I just couldn't get my head around Liz as a character or her supposed motivations. OK she comes out of the situation like some sort of genius who plays the system & the scared little girl routine perfectly but would anyone really have caused all that suffering & hurt which eventually leads to your best friend dying just so some bloke would notice them? I have a fantastic friend named Kelly & I know for a fact I wouldn't be able to sit by & watch her in pain slowly dying no matter what the reason & I find it hard to believe anyone could do what Liz does to someone they care for, it would kill me to see Kelly or anyone I like suffer for ANY reason. Anyway, despite not being able to get my head around this aspect of The Hole that well I still think it's good entertainment, it's different, it's memorable & I liked it a fair bit.

Director Hamm does a good job, he doesn't seem to go for out-and-out scares but the film has a nice atmosphere to it. He keeps the pace going while maintaining the mystery elements of the plot so as to keep you guessing, for such a simple idea it all works rather well in my opinion. There's not much in the way of gore or violence, there's a disgusting toilet crawling with maggot's but that's as gross as it gets.

According tot he IMDb The Hole had an estimated budget of £4,158,370 which sounds a very odd figure to just be an 'estimate'. Anyway, I'm a bit surprised because that actually sounds like quite a lot of money to me at almost $8,000,000 & considering there's no big name actors, no special effects, only two or three locations & functional rather than spectacular production design it seems a lot. Shot entirely in England. The acting was good, there were one or two moments where it might have been better but for a largely unknown cast they did OK.

The Hole is an effective little thriller that I thought was well worth watching although probably not more than once. I liked it, it ain't perfect by any means but it's something a bit different, it definitely gets a recommendation from me.


This film is a heavy one. The acting is intense and the suspense carries through the whole movie. As Kiera Knightly's first leading role, I must say it goes against the glam sexy characters she so often chooses now. Thora Birch is also noteworthy although her British accent is inconsistent at the best of times. On the whole it was too intense for me, but I guess that just shows that it pulls no punches. The scenes with the trapped teenagers succeed in conveying a sense of claustrophobia and panic leading to despair. Some scenes actually made me a bit nauseous. Daring undertaking for the young cast and shows that monsters, cheap shot scares and gratuitous special effects are not necessary to scare you. I don't think I could watch this again.


The Hole was a very trippy movie.

I loved it. I'm planning to arrange a movie night so all my friends can watch it with me. That was one of the sickest things I've seen in a long time. The thing about it though was it was scary, just not supernaturally scary. It was psychological and not macabre. I didn't feel scared afterward; let's just say I'll be a little more careful about my friends from now on. Thora Birch was a grade a psycho. I thought the girl looked like Keira Knightley, I had no idea though.

It was playing on one of the movie channels and I got bored so I decided to watch it. That choice has probably changed me. It was an excellent movie. I'm currently trying to find it on DVD


I picked this one up as a "blind" rental and wasn't really expecting much from it. I'd never heard anything about it, and like most blind rentals, expected it to be very mediocre at best - I have to admit that I was very pleasantly surprised...

The story centers around a group of kids at a high-class boarding school. The school is going on a field-trip, and anyone that doesn't want to go has to go back home for the duration of the trip. A group of four students are looking for a way out, and with the help of another student, hole-up (so to speak...) in an abandoned bunker. It all starts off as fun-and-games, until no one comes back to retrieve them. With the bunker locked from the outside, the group has no way out, and the tension builds as supplies run out and the "fun" comes to an end...

I thought this film was pretty dead-on in every sense. The casting and acting were great, the transition within the bunker from a fun party-place to a death-trap is palpable, and the story has some pretty inventive twists that I didn't see coming. I highly recommend this one for horror or thriller fans who want something a little different from the average slasher/zombie/alien/serial-killer, etc...types of films. 8.5/10


I really enjoyed this film, it was such an in depth, deep, powerful, scary, beautifully done film I absolutely had a blast watching it. It was well acted, though to be honest I didn't think Kiera Knightley was that amazing in it, especially since she wasn't in it all the way through. And I do not understand it in the slightest when people say she stole the film from Thora Birch. The one, and only, problem with this film is that, as a very very religious person, the excessive nudity and fondling was a problem. And the blood was unnecessary, but it's Hollywood (or wherever this film was made), and I had low expectations. Great film though, love it to bits, one of my faves ever.


Scenario and story: The story evolves around 4 teenagers skipping school camp and admitting themselves to be locked up in a hole for 3 days voluntarily. What 3 of the 4 don't know, is that one of them has planned all of this: a friend (Martyn) of hers (Liz) came up with the idea of the hole to be locked up with the guy (Mike) she loves for those 3 days.

It's slow upfront but when the first person ('Franky', Frances) dies of starvation because the girl is on an extreme diet, the movie gets intense. As not to give everything away, I won't tell the rest of the story: suffice to say Liz' cunning plan doesn't work out completely like she planned it...

Acting and directing: The acting by the four teenagers is very good: both the school part as the hole part. Especially Thora Birch as Liz: the cool but always plotting girl who's desperately in love with a guy. When she finds this love not answered, she get's even colder. The psychologist (Dr. Philippa Horwood) who has been trying to get the horror stuff out of Liz through therapy does a good job too, as a sort of narrative point without narrating anything.

Audio and cinematography Nothing wrong with the music and sound effects: it all adds greatly to the eerie and weird atmosphere: not too cheesy, not too light, just right. Cinematography is great as well: very good use of environment, lighting and colour. No errors, no odd stuff.

Conclusion In the end, the movie is very good, but still misses something, and that mostly is for the storytelling/development account. The whole point of the movie is the love of Liz for Mike, and that has not been worked out enough in the movie. 7 out of 10 from me.


This movie was a nice surprise,the cast did a great job and Thora Birch showed she can be a very diverse actress.I will buy this DVD very soon,so I can share it with my friends and get their thought on it.I don't agree that this qualify's as a true horror movie, but the directer does a great job!With the script,and the actors earned their money.Great movie with a lot of good guessing and some on the edge of your seat moments.The American audience has a different view on most English made movies .I think not enough of them make it to the states to be seen!This should have had advertising and a lot of promotion along with a movie premier,with the cast on hand opening night the studio would have made a great deal more money with this one.


Four teens at a UK boarding school decide to skip a school trip and party in the bomb shelter. Soon, they realized they are actually locked in and mayhem ensues. Hmmm...this finally got released on DVD in the US and I am a bit disappointed...the trailer made this seem like a creepy straight-up horror flick, but it is more of a psychological thriller. It is entertaining and not predictable at first, but when you find out what is actually going on it does get a little silly. The performances are mostly good. Thora Birch shines as always. While it isn't groundbreaking or a great film, "The Hole" is better than most contemporary teen horror/thrillers. My Rating: 6.5/10.


I almost went to the pictures to watch this one but due to some reason I could not and just caught up with the video release. I expected `the hole' to be another basic slasher teen movie. I was wrong. It actually deserves much more attention than those. The acting was quite good unlike most teen flicks and Thora Birch (the little girl from `Patriot Games') was excellent, she succeeds in carrying the movie alone. The plot is quite complex and gruesome and the director managed to shoot some scenes with a lot of cleverness which brings about nerve racking situations and very tense moments. The film starts a bit slow with some pointless scenes but it got better and better as it went along. The last scene is extremely well shot and acted, there's no dialogue actually just gazes and stares but it's so well acted and done that we are able to guess exactly what's going on in the characters' minds. In addition to this, the score suits perfectly to what's happening on the screen. I give it an 8 but it could well deserve a 9 in comparison to other teen horror flicks. It looks like a nasty version of Big Brother (there is even a shrink !) but unlike Big Brother the film is entertaining, very impressive and worth watching although the twist is plainfully obvious. However, I would not recommend this one to any person who suffers from claustrophobia !


I had avoided this film for some reason - maybe it was the plot details, but when I viewed it I was pleasantly surprised.

Thora Birch's English accent is very good, and she makes us believe her performance - which is vital in this film. The story more or less revolves around her version of events, and after the first 30 minutes, you get the feeling that everything is not what it appears to be.

I won't give anything away, but this film isn't essential viewing, but I'd recommend that you do at some time watch it.

The main cast of five do well, in what could have been a disaster, but they all hold their roles well. But the shining star in this film is Birch herself - it's her film to be honest, and she carries it well enough.

I felt at times though that the actors were generalising. 1 dimensional acting - "Oh, I'm 'playing' irritating now". You'll get the picture.

So, all in all, a decent film, with a nice kinda storyline to it, and as we're in 'thriller' territory, expect a twist that was sooooooo obvious right at the end!!!! Oh well.....

8/10

Enjoy!


The beginning: a young woman walks into an empty campus and gives out an award winning scream which probably scares everybody that watches the movie.

 The plot is great, four students go into a "hole" four three days in the middle of nowhere. What could be scarier? The movie has a great psychological plot which could make it a horror movie that could compare to the great Hitchcock movies. But unfortunately it fails.

The director just fails to deliver the tension the movie starts with. It keeps you guessing what really happened but as soon as you begin to see what the true events were, the movie fails to be a horror movie. The events are displayed without any dark atmosphere and although the idea of what happened is scary (I wouldn't want to give away the ending) it appears just plain.

 However I thought the acting was great, which pretty much saves the rest of the movie. Liz Dunn (playing Thora Birch) gives as a great performance if you ignore her terrible accent, from her great scream at the beginning to her "evil" look in the final scene.

If you ignore "some" of the flaws in the script it still comes out a pretty good psychological horror movie.


The story of 4 Uni students spending a few days in a World War II Bunker. It could've been soo much more. A hugely promising start, with the characters given emotional depth in the early scenes and the key relationships clearly defined. In particular, Martin Taylor (Daniel Brocklebank) is a fantastic character..it's a shame he wasn't in the hole as well, it would've been more interesting.

The main crux of the film revolves around Liz (Thora Birch) and her youthful desire for son-of-a-rockstar Mike Steel (Desmond Harrington). However, a false start recollection and the way the film is conducted by flashbacks under psychoanalysis is not overly effective, slowing the pace down quite a lot. The claustrophobia of being trapped in an underground bunker rarely comes across and the impression I got from the trailer turned out to be false.

I didn't expect a huge amount from this movie..It was one of those, much like "The Gift", where I thought it might be good and it might be bad, hopefully interesting.. The only solace I could find in this really was the intensity that was built up at various points. In flashes some of the cast are excellent, particularly in portraying the interrelations of the group members, but only in flashes. A lot of things are left unexplained. There is a death where the body is strangely scarred, and the reason for this is unexplained; the autopsy would not appear to have required such a scar to be caused, so why?

Overall, disappointing 4/10.


I saw this film at DeadCenter film festival in Oklahoma City. Connell has done a great job assembling a cast of interesting characters. This film is very funny but also shows the harder side of life for these background actors. The film is very engaging and keeps your attention from start to finish. The crew followed these actors for 8 months and then edited for over a year, and it shows. They have done a good job in showing growth in the film, and the editing of the story is excellent, with no voice-over and very little text required to pad the story. The actors are telling the story, and that's what makes it interesting. Recommended!


This is an amazing movie about a father dedicated to finding his son who has been abducted by native Americans in south America. My mother stumbled across it some time ago and recorded it for me claiming she had watched it over a decade ago and it stuck with her since. I watched it with my girlfriend and we were both amazed by the film! I would not normally expect much from an old film but this one had everything. The scenery was amazing, the acting was excellent and the plot keeps your heart racing. The abducted kid grows to become one of the natives and embarks on an amazing adventure following his fathers 10 year search for him. It brings you deep into the amazon rainforest as you learn about the life of 'the invisible people' tribesmen and their conflict with another terryfing tribe. I cannot understand how this film has such a low rating nor the fact that it is not well known. If you stumble across it be sure to watch because in my opinion this is the greatest film ever made!!


I have been after this movie for years. If you like learning about other cultures, predominantly Indian tribes, or if are an environmentalist or ecologist, you will love the movie. Also, any parent will feel for the main characters. It is truly touching how the family never gives up looking for their lost son, and risk everything for that cause. It is true that the ending is unexpected, but it shows the intentions of the father were to give up his dream to give his son and new life a chance to survive in the Amazon. There is light nudity for the children, but it is convincingly part of the story line. I will share this movie with my eleven year old environmentalist as soon as I can get it.


This movie supposedly sends an environmental message, and that's certainly true, but if you look closely it's really a fig leaf (like one of those little flaps on a string that constitute the sole bit of clothing worn by the villagers) for an updated Tarzan movie.

That said, this movie is tremendous entertainment. It is exciting almost all the way through. And when it's slow, there are lots of cute teenage girls in the altogether to gaze at. In fact, there's a demographically striking abundance of teenage girls in this particular tribe.

Favorite scene: During the courtship ritual, Tomme is given a club and is supposed "knock out" his girl in front of the villagers and then carry her off into the forest. She cowers. He hesitates, waves the club around. She glares at him and whispers, "Do it right!" So he hits her and she makes a show of being "knocked out." The whole courtship ritual is beautifully staged. I cannot attest to its authenticity, but it's perfectly clear as he "defends" her from menacing dudes, refuses to be carried off by the other girls, etc. The sheer enthusiasm portrayed is remarkable.

Powers Boothe, playing a dam engineer, makes a dashing Trader Horn-type. He has a great scene when he wakes up in the village only to see his son, Tomme, sleeping peaceful and embracing his girl, both practically nude in the next hammock. The expressions that run across his face are priceless.

The Fierce People live up to their name, but I am dubious that people who live in nature can be so infected with violence.

I learned something. You can climb a high-rise by wrapping vines around your feet. Who knew? The dam business at the end was totally righteous, but, really, pretty preposterous.

And how about that shot of the eagle in flight. Taken from about two feet away. Pretty neat.

Terrific Hollywood movie? You bet. Werner Herzog? Not so much.


Emerald Forest is certainly guilty of oversimplifying the displacement of tribal peoples, but I remembered it fondly. I watched it on video, soon after it came out, and again this morning. I found that I had long since forgotten all the flashy aspects of the plot (the cannibals, the machine gun and the sex slavers), but remembered the courtship ritual very clearly. The parts I had forgotten seemed a bit forced, harder to believe.

After my first viewing, I was certain that "Daddee" Bill had blown up the dam. Now I'm not so sure it wasn't coming down anyway.

Also, it was hard not to be reminded of Jungle2Jungle (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119432/) while watching it now, especially where the son mystically finds his father's skyscraper apartment in a large city.


Tommy is taken from his family by an Amazon tribe called "The Invisible Ones" and father Bill spends ten years searching for him. After finding a few leads, he has an encounter with a dangerous cannibal tribe called "The Fierce Ones" and actually stumbles on his son as he tries to flee for his life. The dilemma of the piece comes with a decision left up to Tommy, leave his tribe which are essentially his real family after ten years of living with them or joining his father in the modern civilization across the river.

The film is more a focus on how modernization, progress if you will, has began to wipe out the trees and land of Amazon tribes as they slowly die out. Interesting enough is that Bill is a model example of this type of progress as he heads a log dam which clears land once civilized by The Fierce Ones tribe. He will spend time with The Invisible Ones tribe and find the error of his ways seeing that what he and others(White Man)are doing to people who have lived here for centuries destroying cultures. We also see how the ugliness of prostitution has became a stigma to tribes as The Fierce Ones trade women from The Invisible Ones tribe for machine guns. Using the machine guns, The Fierced Ones have a clear advantage over The Invisible Ones and their mere spears. Again, through that we see how progress can also destroy a civilization..The Fierce Ones can wipe out who they deem a threat and/or nuisance with advanced weaponry.

When The Invisible Ones lose a great deal of their men to those machine gun attacks, Tomme(his name amongst his tribe)will search for his father across the river for help to get back their women who have been traded to a prostitution house.

Stunning cinematography(by Philippe Rousselot)and score are highlights of this amazingly shot film set in the Amazon. Through Boorman's fluid camera-work, we follow the characters as they travel to destinations in the immense forest, yet see what is happening as modernization is chopping away the trees that once populated said Amazon forest. I thought the angle of the modern age clashing with tribal customs in the form of Tommy to be the strong point of the film while the progress part of the film as it pertains to the cultures being wiped out laid on a bit too thick. I didn't quite like the remaining twenty minutes(the deal with the prostitution ring resulting in heavy violence and the whole rain ordeal as it destroys the dam) as much as the first hour as Powers Booth's Bill was amongst a culture of people he knew nothing about. Seeing his son almost completely tribal is interesting not to mention the viewer getting a glimpse into a unique culture of people and their ways of living. The mythological aspects were also diverting from the realism of the film(if a wee bit silly).

Young Charley Boorman is quite impressive as Tomme.


Are you serious? The customs are based LOOSELY on real customs to become some bastardized mish-mash. The director went and lived for a short while with the Xingu tribe in the amazon. What does that mean? It means he saw them through the eyes of an outsider not as someone part of the culture. All what you see is his interpretation of what Xingu culture is: the taking of hallucinogens, marriage, women's dances, jagua painting and others. This does not even come close to true Xingu culture. (Btw I love how the tribes were really good African and modern dancers.) This is just the magical-childlike-Indian stereotype set in the Amazon.


This movie makes some odd choices. On the one hand it's a good looking and also clearly professionally made movie with lots of talent involved but it just makes some wrong choices in its storytelling.

The movie obviously starts of as a dramatic 'based on true' events movie but soon as the movie starts to progresses it starts taking some obvious 'Hollywood' turns, with its emotions and action and the story becomes more unlikely and clichéd. Of course nothing wrong with this, since it definitely makes the movie an entertaining and bit of adventurous one. But in this case the approach doesn't really work out, since it also obviously is a movie that wants to be taken seriously and has a clear message in it. You know, the kind of message to 'save the rain forest'. It also uses lots of technology vs. nature elements. I'll admit that this movie is a better attempt than all Steven Seagal attempts combined but no, that doesn't mean that this movie is a perfect or truly successful attempt on its own. The movie seems to lack the proper emotions to see this as a completely effective one, though the right intentions are definitely there. I mean for instance, the characters within this movie see each other again for the first time in 10 years but yet they seem hardly affected by it all.

The natives scenes also aren't always among the best or most interesting one's out of the movie. Sure the nature environments are beautiful looking but it slows the movie a bit down in the middle, which also is in big contrast with the serious and dramatic first part of the movie and the action filled final part. The entire movie doesn't always feel like one whole. The parts of it are all too disjointed.

It nevertheless it is a rather good- and also entertaining enough movie to watch, despite its obvious flaws and bad choices in the storytelling. And hey, it's got Powers Booth!

7/10


I thought that the movie was dramatic with heart touching scenes.

I would like to see a sequel to this movie.

The ending does leave one to wonder what will happen to the Invisible People.

Also a story line could be built on the idea that Tomme is now the Chief.

A future sequel could show us how the tribe has thrived under the leadership of Tomme.

This sequel could also show us Tomme and Kachiri and their family.

I would like to see Tomme teaching his children about the traditions that were passed down to him from his adopted father Wanadi.


A movie that totally blew me away when I first saw it. Somehow I've missed out on anything like it if there is. Why?

It contains action, drama and has somewhere I think a conscience, but I'm not sure.

Mr Boorman is such a talented filmmaker who every time somethings bordering on getting personal, might it be action or drama or feelings in general, put a little distance between the audience and the camera again. Its not much, hardly noticeable.

What is does however is that it render the movie tones of reality, tiny pieces of documentary that somehow also makes it a powerful statement without indulging in pointers. Still its no lame movie. It just has nuances

This might be seen as total contrast to many Hollywood action movies, who instead indulge themselves in personal feelings of the protagonists, and even heighten them technically, in order to manipulate the audience to co-feeling. We as an audience are relieved of the responsibility of our feelings, somewhat.

Mr Boorman leaves us with a choice.

Something about the story then: An American architect works in south America, on the border of the Amazon, One day his young son is kidnapped by indians....cant tell you more. Sorry... :). This is the start off.

A must see....


A construction designer working in the Amazon is visiting a logging site with his family when his seven-year-old son Tommy is kidnapped by native tribesmen and vanishes into the rainforest. Ten years later, after an expedition in which he is captured by cannibals, the father is finally reunited with the son, who has been raised by the savages and knows no other way of life.

This is a pretty unique picture, even if the roots of the story obviously come from Tarzan, because it manages to be three things at once; an exciting jungle action flick, an intimate family drama and a sobering environmental message movie. It manages to achieve this I think partly because of the excellent script by Rospo Pallenberg, and partly because there are no big-shot movie stars in the cast looking ridiculous in the jungle. Boothe and Foster are both terrific and virtually everyone else is an authentic-looking non-actor (Polonah in particular, as Wanadi, the Chief of the Invisible People and Tommy's surrogate father, is superb). The casting of the director's son in the pivotal role is a bit ethically shaky, but the younger Boorman is not only ideal for the role (his almost-too-good-looking features and brilliant blonde locks contrast perfectly with the tribespeople) but he delivers a carefully measured performance of confident innocence. The heartachingly beautiful locations, the rich detail of the Invisible People's customs and a terrific electro-ethnic score by Junior Homrich all add tremendous atmosphere to an extremely original and captivating film. A jungle adventure not to be missed.


Regarding Mr. Fedor Markovic comment, I would say "what we have forgotten" is that we belong to the Earth, we are just part of it, not the owners. It is as simple as that, and this is a quite old, tribal, basic knowledge that we seem to have forgotten. For what I know, the Gilgamesh poem already dealt with this subject, and it was written quite a few years ago. We are very clever, very civilized, advanced human beings, but maybe we are not improving. Maybe we are not progressing, but we are declining. And we don't remember, we don't know how to use our knowledge. However, I doubt Mr. Markovic can realize. He is very comfortable sitting at his sofa.


I saw this movie when it was first released. I thought that it was an absurd load of hokum then and it certainly hasn't improved with age. The underlying theme is pretty standard tree-hugger stuff; evil, rapacious white men destroying the Garden of Eden and dispossessing the innocent, noble savages along the way. The film claims to be based on a true story, but I'd take that with very large pinch of salt. If indeed it was based on true events then the producer/director has been a bit careless with the some of the facts. The Amazon basin is an enormously hostile environment, just about every critter, bug and bacterium that likes to eat people lives there. Amongst the native Indian tribes, that still live there, the infant mortality rate is something like about 80% and adults who live much past 40 years are rarities. Needless to say that's not the way the place is portrayed in the film. Certainly not cinema verite.


I`m in two minds about THE EMERALD FOREST . Part of me admires it for its hard edged eco message coupled with its violent action packed adventure elements while part of me hates it for its convienent mystical mumbo jumbo when the script requires Tomme and the invisible people to escape from a tight spot . Is it an action adventure or is it a mystical fantasy ? It`s both and it`s neither if you know what I mean .

Hold on , it`s an admirable film despite the flaws , in many ways THE EMARALD FOREST is the type of film Steven Seagal would have made if he had any talent , it`s a film that doesn`t talk down to the audience unlike nearly every eco-thriller made and does make the point that when everyone you love and everything you survey is in mortal peril then violence is the only way you can defend yourself . Compare this to the pacifist stance of the modern environmental movement and I think you`ll find it`s not a film that`d be too popular with Greenpeace


After the excellent "Excalibur" this was a big step down for director Boorman. This could have been an intelligent and moving film about a man who finds his missing son after 10 years adopted by a native tribe in the amazon. But the stuff about the tribe being mystical and in touch with nature is layed on a little too thick. This "noble savage" cliche just substitutes one stereotype for another. And the climactic scene in the brothel was ill-concieved, not to mention the silly Deus Ex Machina ending involving the dam, making the Rain ending in "Dune" seem plausible by comparison. It seems tacked on and lessens the ecological message Boorman was driving home.


The quintessential eco-drama of civilization, so-called, in conflict with cultures more attuned to nature. Compare to Greystoke: the Legend of Tarzan. My favorite quote from this film is the native chief explaining the limitations on his powers to the father of the long-lost boy: "Any chief who doesn't tell his followers what they want to hear doesn't stay chief very long." Do see this beautiful and poignant movie.