Black Hollow Cage

If you have enough interesting ideas for a watchable seven minute short film but decide to stretch it out to feature length by simply directing your performers to "walk down the hallway slower...No, even slower than that." you would probably end up with this film. Other directorial notes must have included "Stare longer"; "Wait longer before you speak"; and "Cross the room as slowly as you can - don't worry we're not cutting away!" For the record I am a fan of the long lingering take; of strange original visions; of movies that want to play with complex themes and concepts. And here they might have been going for all of that, and just stumbling badly in the process. Watching patiently is one thing- suffering pointlessly is another. Full disclosure; I finally shut it off after an hour eighteen but unless there was an epic scene with flying penguins, exploding elephants, and a chorus of dancing robots after that I can think of no reason to have subjected myself to further boredom.

I must warn you people... This one is VERY different. And, like many other reviewers state here, S----L----O-------------------------W...

At first I was kind of into it liking the David Lynch vibe. But, once again, although I do indeed give the director credit for trying, it just shows that there is truly only ONE David Lynch.

Like one of the first 'Helpful' reviews stated above, a really great idea, although fairly simple, but just not executed quite right (at least in my lowly and wretched opinion)

First and foremost... IF you do indeed want to see this film, please do yourself a favour and DO NOT READ OTHER REVIEWS HERE! It's just yet another case where clumsy people state WAY too much either in the title of their review or in the substance of it. I'm sure it's not deliberate, BUT... to me, incredibly stupid (sorry... just trying to save you from ruining whatever miniscule possibility of sparse enjoyment that you MIGHT stumble across in this story)

Yeah, really too bad... I can see that with a much more creative and atmospheric, moody touch, this movie really could have been a hell of a LOT better. Another reviewer here (I ONLY read these User reviews AFTER I see the movies, NEVER before!) was kind of funny in stating how drawn out and very SLOW everything was. And, sadly I must agree... long, lingering takes are one thing, but I'm sorry, but the director although, again, making an effort I'm sure, just didn't have the chops to incorporate what I feel was the right accompanying mood, atmosphere, soundtrack (although at times it was perfect, but only at times) and I cannot for the life of me understand why he felt the need to artificially REALLY drag out the 'dramatic' scenes, particularly. I think I could have gone along with most of the pacing overall, but those scenes where either someone was killed or someone they loved was killed, etc., he drug it out WAAAAAAAAAAY too long.

Also, about the mood... And again, this is only my impression. But, if you wanna go the Lynchian route, just long, slow, cryptic takes are NOT enough. It is the WAY that he does it with mood, style, lighting, and above all SOUND. This director in my opinion just missed all that and I guess figured that simply just slowing everything way, way, way the hell down in and of itself was 'Artistic' enough.

It wasn't... (sorry...)

Like I say, too bad too. If you simply trimmed off the overly extended 'Drama' scenes number 1, and 2nd, added some real mood or other touches that would have given all that slowness some Psychological or Emotional 'Grab' to it, then I think you would have really had something here. Yes, it would still have been super slow and ambiguous (I'm STILL not quite absolutely sure about the ending - I'm going to try to look it up somewhere) but, if done 'properly', at least to me, I think it really could've been pulled off a LOT better than it was. I think that I am being SUPER generous giving it a '6', mainly because the idea was intriguing.

So, my 'recommendation' would be, ONLY as an artistic curiosity, and only, ONLY if you are an EXTREMELY patient person, there is the remote possibility that you might find something here.

Otherwise to everyone else who isn't into VERY slow cinematic experimentation and just wants to see a good, well made Horror / Suspense / Sci Fi film, this will not be the movie for you...

Was drawn into seeing 'Black Hollow Cage' with a cool poster/cover, a very intriguing and creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

'Black Hollow Cage' is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films have are present here, that to me was somewhat disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. As a film it is actually one of my better and more watchable recent low-budget film viewings though, it's not a great film at all but it is a long way from the mediocre at best and irredeemably awful at worst standard of most recent low-budget viewings, and it could have been so much worse.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky and 'Black Hollow Cage' is surprisingly well shot. The music is suitably moody and adds a good deal to the atmosphere.

Found too that the acting was not bad, doing their best with disappointingly nowhere near enough material to work with.

Also that there were a few nice twists that intrigued and weren't telegraphed too early.

Unfortunately, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. It didn't feel properly resolved or like everything tied up. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. The less said about that weird talking dog the better. The effects are ropy at best.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés and no depth whatsoever (definitely one of the worst assets), while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags with not enough going on worth caring about. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense.

There are a good deal of underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. It is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, with little sense of horror or urgency. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden, inexperience seems to be all over the film. There is little creativity or anything shocking, and it seems to try and incorporate more than one tone and it doesn't always feel very focused tonally.

Other than the script, the sound and editing are the worst assets. The sound is too echoey and often without warning or reason and makes some of the voices sound strange. The editing is haphazard and affects the coherence of some of the goings on and story structure.

In summary, far from great but surprisingly watchable. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Terrible slow-burner. Cringey and annoying acting, obvious twists and absolutely no pay off. You keep watching it in hopes it'll improve and surprise you but it doesn't. I still can't believe I made it to "mom, mom, mom... Ahh, ahh, ahh...". After that I had to fast forward. If you're an architect, the house will be the only take away. And that's what my 3 is for.

Black Hollow Cage has a plot plain and simple but subsequently more and more complex and strange ; being shot in a shoestring budget . Concerning a weird happening : a mysterious cubic device that appears as if by magic in the middle of the forest . A girl who lives secluded in a house in the woods with the only company of her father and a wolfhound finds among the trees a large black box without any decoration . Alice, who lives with her father in a modern house, feels that she is trapped and alone in a prison from which she cannot get away , a house with glass and windows like walls that allow you to see from the outside everything that happens inside but that leaves you blind the owner when he looks from inside, especially if it's night, An accident in the past took her mother and left her as a gift the loss of one of her arms that has been replaced by a robotic one. Together with them we find, sharing their lives, a dog with a mechanical voice, thanks to a loudspeaker, whom she calls mom and who replaces the figure of Beatrice. The three will receive the visit of two children, one of them speechless, just at the precise moment when the girl in the long shirts, who uses a considerable number of models throughout the footage , finds the mysterious box that seems to come from the future.

A dull and non-sense plot about a large box that shows up in the forests with no apparent reason and including bizarre inhabitants at an isolated house . This claustrophobic and tiring film was written/produced/directed in very low budget by Sadrac González-Perellón himself . A horror and science-fiction story with time travel that changes the events that happen every minute. The girl's doppelganger and later the father's doppelganger will have to do the rest to disrupt the plans of those children who have sneaked into her life and who have a rather harmful purpose in mind . Like in the work of Michael Haneke's Funny Games, the threat comes from the hands of two strangers who use physical violence as the only weapon to carry out their objective . Two wandering souls in the shape of a child who need affection and who hide evil intentions. Here the words are replaced by written messages that become warnings of what is going to happen, the cries sometimes multiplied reinforce a heartbreaking feeling of loneliness and everything drowns in a deathly silence that runs every meter from that mysterious house with lots of slow-motion scenes and classical music in the background. This disturbing and frightening motion picture with an unknown cast relies heavily on fantastic and creepy events . We don't know whether to say that we are dealing with a suspense movie, a science-fiction feature film or a lyrical drama with hints of Stanley Kubrick. Alice, Erika and even the white wolf-dog are strange beings in motion when they walk through the woods or walk barefoot on the cold ground.

It contains adequate cinematography , as well as suspenseful musical score. Being a main starring of the flick the state-of-art house , a known and ecological mansion located in Girona , Catalonia , Spain. The motion picture was slowlly and strangely directed by Sadrac González-Perellón who uses long scenes with hard and short dialogue , resulting to be sometimes tiring due a its slow pace , though a poetic aesthetic makes it attractive at times . He is a Spanish winner award film director, writer and film producer born in Madrid in 1983. After studying art and drawing, he made several short films and he shoots his first art-house film, Myna has gone (2009). As writer and director he is known for Black Hollow Cage (2017) and as producer for House of Sweat and Tears (2018). And other important shootings : Deathcember 2019 (segment "Kill Santa) and post-production : Asombrosa Elisa (2022) with a great cast as Asier Etxeandia , Ivan Massagué , Silvia Abascal . Sitges welcomed the visit of its director and its protagonist, a Lowena McDonell who was chosen as the best candidate in a numerous casting and now comes to Nocturna, this Black Hollow Cage as a novelty among so many horror films. And it ad several prizes and nominations , such as : Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival 2017 Winner Bucheon Choice Award Jury's Choice for Feature Film Sadrac González-Perellón . FANCINE Festival de Cine Fantastico de la Universidad de Malaga 2017 Nominee Fancine Award - Official Jury Best Film. Fant, Bilbao Fantasy Film Festival 2018 Nominee Jury Prize Best Film . Fantasia Film Festival 2017 Nominee Best International Film Best Feature Film Sadrac González-Perellón . San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Film Festival 2017 Nominee Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in SilverSadrac González-Perellón . Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival 2017 Nominee Best Film Oficial Fantàstic Competition and Oficial Fantàstic Competition, among others.

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