The Stickman´s Hollow

I have a female friend in my hometown Uddevalla named Maria, i actually met her through my work in health care back in the early 2000´s. When i got to know her really well i found out she loves horror movies in many different cartegories. So we used to have horror movie nights in my apartment, where we would rent DVD´s downtown of horror films that looked interesting. But she did have one rule, no found footage horror films. She hated that category while i enjoyed some films in this genre. So, whenever i wanted to watch a found footage horror film Maria always told me:- You will be watching that one without me. I was completely fine with that since she liked most horror films in general. I have not seen her for many years unfortunately, probably because she moved to a complete different city with her fiancee, far away from where i live now. But we did have a lot of enjoyable horror nights together that i always will remember. Found footage horror films have followed with me for many years, and there are several titles i could easily recommend. Instead of going through a whole list, let´s just dive into one specific title for a moment. My recommendation for a found footage horror movie would be, the 2014 horror film known as The Taking Of Deborah Logan. This film is directed by Adam Robitel ( who horror fans might recognize the name since he directed the sequel Insidious: The Last Key ). The Taking Of Deborah Logan tell the story of Deborah Logan ( played by actress Jill Larson ), an elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer´s disease who have a film crew filming her, filming her condition and what changes she goes through with her disease. As the film crew capture more footage of Deborah´s behavior they notice some unexpected changes. The Taking Of Deborah Lamb was one of the better horror films of the year 2014, and i love it just as much today. One of the better found footage horror films that i can remember, highly recommended picking up on physical media. One found footage horror film i have wanted to see since early this year is a film called The Stickman´s Hollow. The reviews were pretty positive, and the plot looked interesting as well. I decided to rent this film on VOD and give it a chance. Is this a solid horror choice for true fans of horror, or is The Stickman´s Hollow not as good as i was hoping it would be?

A family travel out into the wilderness to enjoy a family holiday together. As they spend their first night out in these woods, they are about to find out that this is no ordinary hunting ground.

When you make a found footage horror film on a very limited budget, to make the audience fascinated you have to be creative and tell an interesting story. Since you are not supposed to use CGI effects and everything is supposed to portait a certain event on camera, this is where you have to prove yourself as a film maker. I have to say director Jack Cox manage to make this film far more interesting than what i expected. If some of you remember the 2013 found footage horror film Mr. Jones, i could proabably say that The Stickman´s Hollow reminds me of that film a little bit, but still have a completely different plot. Mr. Jones managed to capture the mystery surrounding strange symbols and wooden figures, and this is something that we will find in The Stickman´s Holllow as well. Let´s be clear though that both of these films have not much else in common, just in case you happen to be a huge fan of Mr. Jones and was hoping for something similar. The Stickman´s Hollow is divided into different chapters, where each chapter is connected to why certain specific locations have a important meaning to a young possessed girl. I like that the film is divided into different chapters, makes you think a litle bit more than just being served the entire plot. The acting in general is alright and i can´t really complain about some of the performances. The best part of this film is where the most effective horror scenes kick in, and they actually deliver. You also later find out how these symbols are connected to the story, and i love the design of these wooden figures ( especially the biggest one ). Director Jack Cox manage to find the right tone towards the end of this film, making it a creepy anthology horror film. Nothing original or any surprising twists, still i feel that The Stickman´s Hollow deserve some respect for actually making an effort to bring back this genre on the right path. This is a difficult genre to succeed with and this film proved that it´s still possible. Worth a watch on VOD if you also enjoy the genre of found footage horror films.

Rating: DDD