Watch Hollows Grove

Hollows Grove is a 2014 horror movie directed by Craig Efros, which features an intriguing mix of old-school horror tropes with modern found footage techniques. The plot follows a group of paranormal investigators who decide to explore an abandoned orphanage named Hollows Grove in search for the supernatural. The movie begins with its protagonist, a filmmaker named Harold Maxwell (Matthew Carey), introducing his new found footage project - a documentary about a team of paranormal investigators who allegedly vanished while investigating the abandoned Hollows Grove orphanage. Harold explains that he found the footage in the place where the team was last seen and is now piecing it together to tell their story.

The bulk of the film takes place within the found footage clips which form the majority of the movie as Harold puts the footage together. At the start, we see the team of investigators - including Harold's brother, along with a psychic and tech specialist - traveling down a long and winding road to arrive at the remote orphanage. The atmosphere is immediately ominous and oppressive, with a sense of creeping dread and foreboding building from the moment they arrive.

The team sets up their equipment and begins investigating, with the psychic attempting to make contact with any potential ghostly inhabitants, and the tech specialist filming and monitoring the readings from the equipment. It's not long before things start to get spooky, with unexplained noises and things moving around in the dark. The tension is ramped up slowly but surely, as the team experiences more and more strange occurrences.

Mykelti Williamson (Forrest Gump, Heat) adds gravitas to the production as Bill, wary of disturbing the dead and the malevolent forces that lurk in the shadows. He tries to convince the team to leave before it becomes too dangerous, but before anyone can leave, they find out that the door to the outside is locked, trapping the team inside the orphanage. It's at this point that things really start to go downhill, with the team member's fears growing more intense as they each have their own brushes with malevolent spirits.

One of the strong points of Hollows Grove is the effective use of practical effects, which help create a sense of visceral horror that lingers throughout the movie. There are some genuinely unsettling visuals that feel very real, and which help elevate the fear factor beyond mere jump scares.

The technical aspects of the film are also top-notch. The found footage feels authentic throughout, with the movie's 'shaky-cam' efforts never becoming frustrating, and the sound design creating a truly immersive audio experience.

While the main focus of the movie is on the horror elements, there's a certain amount of character-building that allows us to empathize with the individual team members. It's thrilling to see their different personalities and backgrounds unfold, but the majority of the character development seems to be sidelined in favor of the scares. It might have been nice to see more time given over to the people behind the horror story, but it's clear that the director's priority is to scare the audience, and in that, it is for the most part, successful.

The final act of Hollows Grove takes some interesting and unexpected turns that further cement the feeling of the team being trapped in a place they can't escape. The film's climax is tense and genuinely creepy, with some nice twists and turns keeping us on the edge of our seats right up until the very end.

Overall, Hollows Grove is a solid horror movie that stands out from the crowd of found footage horror choices. Its effective use of practical effects and immersive sound design, keep the tension level high throughout. Lance Henriksen and Mykelti Williamson add some gravitas and character to the cast, while the filmmakers are unafraid to take some bold and interesting turns in the story. Despite the occasional lack of character-building, the movie effectively uses found footage techniques to create an ominous atmosphere that is sure to make the hairs on the back of the viewer's neck stand to attention.

Hollows Grove is a 2014 horror movie with a runtime of 1 hour and 21 minutes. It has received mostly poor reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 4.8.