Synopsis
Panting, a young woman calls 911 for help. The police arrive and begins an investigation. Two weeks ago, the four high school kids had been reported missing, and Liz is the only survivor. Dr. Philippa Horwood is the psychiatrist assigned to hypnotize Liz to find out what happened, and the case unravels in piecemeal as Liz tells the psychiatrist what happened. Bored with school, the four students (Liz, Mike, Geoff, and Frankie) make plans to shut themselves in a WWII underground bunker for three days. Martin, who has a crush on Liz, masterminds the plan. However, after three days, the teens find the door of the bunker jammed, unable to get out, and the imprisoned teens start to question what had happened. Did Martin intentionally lock the door? Through Liz? flashbacks, the puzzle is pieced together one by one, but the ultimate truth remains hidden. Based on Guy Burt's novel of the same title, < The Hole > appears to be another teen horror, but the unraveling of the plot through flashbacks makes it more of a psychological thriller. The emotional distress suffered by the affluent teens imprisoned in an underground bunker represent their neurotic state of reality, and the scenes monochromatically done effectively depicting the emotional state of traumatized Liz. The trembling camera that hovers about Liz also expresses her psychological instability. Such cinematic techniques place the audience by Liz's side and takes us along for the ride as the story unfolds. (KIM Sung-uk)