Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Peter Pluymers "Run before it turns everyone against you."The reason why I try to avoid seeing trailers is twofold. Or they are so revealing that you actually saw the film in advance. Either the trailer is inviting and arouses your curiosity, but afterward, you come to the conclusion they better limited themselves to making this trailer alone. Better yet. Perhaps they could have made an extended version of it because the film really doesn't have more to offer. "The hollow child" belongs to this last category. The initial idea had potential. The end result was disappointing again. Or maybe the subject was a little too limited to make a full film of it.I think it's a bit exaggerated to call "The hollow child" a horror. It was never really scary. And the revelation of what's hiding in the dark, murky forest was so momentary and so late, that it seemed completely irrelevant. To be honest, I thought the main theme was the daily struggle of Samantha (Jessica McLeod) against the lack of understanding and the desperation about where she could feel at home. It felt as if the disappearing and reappearing of Olivia (Hanna Cheramy), daughter of the foster family where Samantha stays, was just a secondary subject. Although her personality changed. I got more shivers from what Samantha was doing to herself with scissors than from Olivia's behavior.But no worries. There are also some positive aspects. The beginning certainly isn't bad and shows some atmospheric images of the notorious forest where the youngsters walk through after school. Apparently, it's also an enchanted forest, because after 30 years it still looks the same. Then there's the acting part. First of all, Hanna Cheramy delivers an admirable performance. For children of that age, a leading role is certainly not self-evident. But it's Jessica McLeod who deserves appreciation. Her acting never felt forced. The way she evolves from a rebellious teenager to a responsible daughter who sincerely regrets her mistake looked credible. On the other hand, there's also the irritating acting of John Emmet Tracy, the unsympathetic stepfather and Johannah Newmarch (A ravishing beauty by the way). The latter is portrayed as the crazy woman who burned down her parental home in the past because she claimed her returned sister was an imposter. To be honest, she didn't look that crazy."The hollow child" has its good and bad sides. But what it fails to do, is to create a creepy or frightening atmosphere. It's far from horror and will certainly not stand out among all other releases. Don't be misled by the movie poster. This radiates more horror than the film itself. You can call "The hollow child" a drama with some horror elements. And unfortunately, the end was too predictable. So if you have too much free time and you don't know how to fill it, you could give this average horror a chance. However, I'm sure that afterward, you'll use a statement that sounds like: "Maybe I should have spent my spare time doing ....".

TheLittleSongbird Saw 'The Hollow Child', being fond of horror/thriller regardless of budget (even if not my favourite genre) and being intrigued somewhat by the idea. Being behind on my film watching and reviewing, with a long to watch and review list that keeps getting longer, it took me a while to get round to watching and reviewing it.Giving 'The Hollow Child' a fair chance with being interest and apprehension, it turned out to be far better than expected. Won't say that 'The Hollow Child' is a great film because it isn't and the potential, while not wasted, is not fully lived up to. Considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre and less and wasting potential, was expecting worse and was relieved that while wanting in a fair few areas it was actually one of my better recent low-budget viewings.'The Hollow Child' started off quite well, the first twenty minutes or so starting the film off on a promising, unsettling and atmospheric note that really does intrigue. Production values did have some eeriness and nowhere near as cheap as expected, and the music, which not the most memorable in the world, didn't detract from the atmosphere. The setting is effectively spooky. There are spooky and suspenseful moments and it isn't dull. The direction doesn't feel phoned in and the storytelling in some of the first half does intrigue.However, the story was severely wanting in the second half after starting off promisingly. It is very disjointed and after the promising start the final third especially loses atmosphere, one loses interest and things start to not make sense and gets increasingly jumbled. Too much of the film is vague and doesn't explore some elements and story strands enough, some dropped soon after being introduced, go nowhere or serve much point.Ending is unsatisfying, on top of feeling hasty there are too many loose ends hanging in the air. Got the sense that the writers didn't know how to end the film. Would have liked much more tension and suspense, scares could have been more consistent and some weren't surprising enough. Found too the script to lack natural flow and with a bit of cheese going on, and the characters bland with some adopting some annoying and not always logical decision making. The support acting especially (the leads had their moments) is even more problematic than the second half's storytelling, at best it was poor and too often terrible.Overall, lacklustre but not a waste. 4/10 Bethany Cox

ian Remember those painting kits where you filled in the colors by the numbers? This is the film equivalent. All the stock conventions are used, there's not an ounce of originality in the whole movie. No surprises,no shocks, from the very beginning it follows its predictable course until the very last moment when we get the usual cheap horror film trope of the 'shock' ending.The story is the age-old myth of the changeling. Children are vanishing into the woods and being replaced by the creatures that dwell there, goblins, fairy-folk, Hollow Ones, call them what you will.The actors do their best with the material but it's beyond help, lazy writing and bad directing. The final shot is laughable. (I'd have given the film a 4 but for the idiotic ending. Avoid if you value your time.

tkaine3 This international folk lore tale has been told in many variations but with the same basic emphasis on a child kidnapped then returning and being different. This film however may be the worst rendition to date. Very slow through out and highly predictable. The main characters acting wasn't too bad but the performance of the cast as a whole was subpar. The special effects were not too cheesy but were virtually non-existent albeit a scene or two. This movie wasn't the worst film to watch for an hour and a half but it definitely is a movie you should avoid if possible. I would give this a poor movie rating.