The Hollow (DVD, 2005)

I'd seen "The Hollow" on regular TV before. It was OK, but chopped up pretty badly. When I got th opportunity to buy the DVD cheaply, I went for it. The movie is a weird twist on the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow". This is certainly NOT to be confused with Tim Burton's wonderful effort, but it is an interesting re-telling. It has some star power with Judge Reinhold(The Santa Clause movies, Fast Times at Ridgemont High), veteran TV actress Eileen Brennen(best known as Jack's acting teacher Zandra on Will & Grace), newcomer Lifetime actress Kaley Cuoco(Big Bang Theory) & veteran Stacy Keach who is actually quite amusing as transient cemetary caretaker Claus Van Ripper.
The basic story line is about the newly moved to Sleepy Hollow Cranston family who are the descendants of Ichabod Crane. Their arrival causes the grave of Washington Irving to bleed & prompts the resurrection of the Headless Horseman who goes on a Halloween night killing spree.
Prior to this, young Ian Cranston (Kevin Zegers) runs afoul of the football team's star quarterback Brody (Nick Carter) for the affections of head cheerleader Karen (Cuoco). Cranston wins out, but is also plagued by Van Ripper (Keach) who tries to convince him of his lineage. Cranston gets a job on the community's annual Halloween Hayride, narrating the spooky atmosphere. The Horseman intervenes during the last trip through the grounds & it's a race to try to send him back to the grave.
Most of the headchopping takes place off screen, which is a good thing for this low budget flick. The few severed heads we see are horribly fake looking. They do a good job of setting each sequence up though to get the most of each supposedly gorey scene.
Judge Reinhold plays the senior Cranston who happens to be the new head football coach & is skeptical until the end. Brennan plays crotchety (big surprise!) Joan Van Etten the town's resident rich old biddy, but her appearance doesn't come until near the end & is very brief. We're treated to Keach's attempts at a German accent throughout as well as a good performance as the town drunk. Cuoco in a skimpy cheerleading outfit is nearly worth the cost of this DVD!
Overall, this is not a bad 'B' horror movie as long as you don't have to pay a lot for it. It's a worthy addition to anyone's library & much better than a lot of the "straight to Video/DVD" horror movies that are out! The story is decent, the performances are solid & though the effects are not the greatest, they do a decent job of trying not to let them ruin the film. 4 stars may be a little generous, but it certainly doesn't rate an "Average" rating! I bought it, I recommend it!

I saw this movie when it aired on ABC FAMILY network back in 04. My son really liked it, and I liked it a lot too. I recalled a bit of gore, and one sex scene that I was NOT expecting on "ABC FAMILY"...(the name is a bit of a misnomer now). All in all though I thought it was a well done, and well written "tween" Halloween Movie. Sadly we never saw, or heard of, this movie again till I did an E-Bay search for it last week.

I bought this DVD to show at my son's Halloween Party...he'll be 12. After I got it I got the unpleasant surprise that the movie is rated R. Apparently there was a bit more to the sex scene than even ABC FAMILY would show, and some cuss words had been altered for the cable showing!

As a PG or PG-13 movie this would be a hit...it helps fill the gap between kid movies (like CASPER or the Disney Headless Horseman Cartoon) and more adult horror movies. It could have been a cash cow...the "Tween" demographic has a lot of buying power (can you say "High School Musical"?).

But the R means this is not a movie that is appropriate for Tweens. I simply can't show an R rated DVD to a bunch of my son's friends. As for showing it to an older crowd...well there THE HOLLOW is punching above its weight class. If I was to show an R rated horror movie I'd go for ALIENS, or the original ALIEN, or AN AMERICAN WERWOLF IN LONDON, or Tim Burton's SLEEPY HOLLOW. The Hollow isn't even close to those films.

So by going for the R rating, the producers of THE HOLLOW pretty much shot themselves in the foot. They made it inappropriate for its target demographic, and put it into competition with films so much better that it can not hope to compare to them.

It is a fun movie, and with a little editing would have been a good family Halloween movie....but that is "coulda woulda shoulda..." . Close but no cigar on this one.

This was a great film filled with gore and good acting.It continues the story of the legend of sleepy hollow. A descendant of the headless horsemen is about to meet his long lost kin.The film has good effects and storyline.
Make sure you watch this one!

I loved the story line because I love Halloween. Not to mention, I am in love with Nick Carter and he was pretty good at acting. So putting those to elements together definitely worked for me. I enjoyed this movie a lot! Hope other people like this movie as much as I did.

I bought this movie mainly for the actors: Kaley Cuoco, Nick Carter, Kevin Zegers, Joseph Mazello (who ends up being killed super quickly), etc. but it ended up being one of my favorites! OK I will admit, plot, effects and all that aren't that great but that's what makes it a true "B Horror movie" (my favorite genre). So if your prepared for all the bad you will really enjoy this. it also helps if your a huge Halloween nut like me :)

recommended!