Director Joe Dante presents this scary little Horror as a throwback to the teen terror of the '80s and adds a head-on, face-up of child abuse. The 'hole' itself tortures its victims with what they're most afraid of, and for Dane (Chris Massoglia), that means a now jailed, abusive father.

Dante almost always delivers high energy, but mostly juvenile scares. He seems to concentrate on exciting and imaginative visuals in his movies, but this time he's more interested in bringing a teenage trio together to battle the Hell from below.

The young actors are really good and are the difference makers in "The Hole". The adults are mostly oblivious parents that offer little assistance to the distressed youngsters.

This isn't as crazy as Joe Dante's "Gremlins", "Small Soldiers" or "Explorers" and certainly isn't similar to say, "The Howling" but it is a solid little shocker with some surprises.