The Holding (2011) User Reviews (10)

"The Stepfather" on a farm. In England. With less tension.

[krachtm · 6/10 · 3 October 2011]

For all those Terry O'Quinn junkies, who fondly remember The Stepfather, there's another clone of that venerable "family in peril" thriller. Again, a messed-up guy with a dark past suddenly ingratiates himself into the lives of a struggling family. Appearing too good to be true, the eldest daughter remains skeptical, not trusting him or his motives, despite the rest of the family's wholehearted acceptance. It plays out exactly the same as The Stepfather, though with somewhat less tension. It's not much of a spoiler to say that bodies start piling up rather quickly.

It's not a bad movie, but it's a complete rehash. I chose to be a bit generous with my rating, since I thought the film was fairly well done, even if the story is a complete and utter ripoff of a cult classic. It's an inoffensive way to pass the time, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who've never seen The Stepfather -- to them, the plot will probably seem fresh and exciting. I'd recommend that they check out the original 1987 classic, though. Terry O'Quinn was amazing.

"The Stepfather" in the Countryside of England

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 24 September 2011]

In the countryside of England, the lonely farmer Nancy (Kierston Wareing) raises her daughters Hanna (Skye Lourie) and Amy (Maisie Lloyd) with financial difficulties in her farm with her only employee Cooper (David Bradley) since her husband has disappeared a long time ago. Her neighbor Karsten (Terry Stone) and his son intend to buy her farm and is pressing the family in an abusive way.

Out of the blue, the wanderer Aden (Vincent Regan) appears in the farm and helps Nancy with the delivery of the offspring. Aden explains that he was a friend of her husband Dean in an offshore rig and he offers to work for food and lodging. Nancy accepts the offer and sooner she has a love affair with Aden. But either Nancy or Aden have dark secrets and Nancy finds that Aden is actually a psychopath and her family is in danger.

"The Holding" is a rip-off of "The Stepfather" that takes place in the countryside of England. The plot is predictable and uses the clichés of the genre, but the acting is good and raises tension with the dangerous situation. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Passado Obscuro" ("Obscure Past")

Depressing

[paul-ayres-60784 · 5/10 · 3 March 2019]

A darkly depressing tale. It's enough to put any off of country folk in rural England. Not to be enjoyed but a well made movie.

This is what it is

[thekarmicnomad · 14 November 2011]

This is a solid little indi film about a family who are terrorised by a nutter out in the countryside. That is pretty much it.

The acting, camera work and set is very good considering the tight budget. There isn't much substance to the movie and the plot gets a bit frayed (it seems bodies pile up unnoticed in the countryside quite easily) but it is tense in places and although annoying you do engage with the central characters.

The film is not terrifying there is no gratuitous gore or nudity -must admit we were a little disappointed on that point as Kierston Wareing oozes sex appeal.

Don't expect too much from this and you won't get let down. I enjoyed it but I wouldn't recommend selling the farm to watch it.

Hold it

[kosmasp · 3/10 · 23 January 2012]

What starts as a pretty strong thriller descends into an odd (and sadly) bad mix of clichés. Notice who is still standing at the end and who isn't. See a pattern there? I wouldn't have, because I didn't really bother to think about the movie, but another viewer pointed that out to the director. She said it was a coincidence, but I seriously doubt that it was.

Don't get me wrong, there have been movies going the opposite way than this (didn't like that either), but that's not what appalled me. The fact that you get a soap opera, dripping with melodrama in a bad way, that may have gore as a redeeming factor (for some) does make this a difficult watch. It's a shame, that the mood set at the beginning gets undermined by that.

Is he an angel?.....

[FlashCallahan · 3/10 · 11 February 2012]

Lonely farmer Nancy raises her daughters Hannah and Amy with financial difficulties on her farm, since her husband has disappeared a long time ago.

Her neighbour Karsten and his son intend to buy her farm and are pressing the family in an abusive way.

Out of the blue, wanderer Aden appears on the farm and helps Nancy with the delivery of an offspring.

Aden explains that he was a friend of her husband on an offshore rig and he offers to work for food and lodging.

Nancy accepts the offer and soon she has a love affair with Aden.....

Another one of those silly British movies that is all gritty and dirty looking, but trying to be the new 'thriller' or something.

This film fails on every level.

For a start the film has no plausibility about it, as no one would ever let a stranger stay in their house if they just appeared out of th blue, and the transformation from normal bloke to psychopath is just laughable.

When you look at it from another angle, the film ha no real meaning to exist. It just happens, in a very boring and predictable way.

Boring stuff, with a few minor distractions.

A well made, well acted British suspense movie

[frwatty · 8/10 · 8 October 2011]

I really enjoyed this film. Set in rural England with some great scenery the film unfolds into a fast-moving will they / won't type film. I found myself rooting for the central characters even though you don't get too know that much about them until later in the film. From the box I knew that some violence was due but even then I was taken back a bit by the swift "justice" that Aden dished out I read that this was the first feature film by the crew and I have to say that I was most impressed. They have put together a really intense and enjoyable film which has a real edge to it. I would highly recommend especially to those who love this genre and all you brit film fans out there!

Nobody seems to get this one.

[dawtrina · 28 October 2012]

I don't tend to review many films here at IMDb, because I run my own review site, Apocalypse Later. However I felt I should chime in on this one as none of the other reviewers seem to have got the point of this film and I didn't want potential viewers to be put off by their comments.

Yes, there are similarities to The Stepfather. Certain scenes are overt homages to it. No, it's not a rip-off or a remake or anything similar.

This is a feminist take on that whole genre of horror movies. The strong characters are the women, all of them. The men are only physically strong, but otherwise weak. That the 'stepfather' character gets ludicrous towards the end isn't weak writing. It's making a point. The only man in the picture with any strength is the one who's too old to do much that's physical.

There's also a blurring of the roles of 'killer' and 'victim'. Traditionally, Aden would be just the killer, but it's shown that he's a victim too, not to elicit any sympathy from us but to highlight that his failings are because he's not strong enough to be anything else. He can't break the cycle. Traditionally, Cassie would be the victim but she's anything but here. Even when she's playing that role for necessity's sake, she's the strong one in the scene. She just can't match Aden physically so she doesn't try.

I'd really like to see what female horror fans have to say about this film, especially those who have been subjected to abuse and found a way out. I'm male, but it seems to me that this would be an empowering film for abused women, far beyond its value as a horror/thriller that doesn't follow convention. I've seen it twice and felt that it played even better the second time through as I picked up on certain details that I'd missed first time round.

Atmospheric, falls sort of great

[BakuryuuTyranno · 8/10 · 13 September 2011]

A family, the father having disappeared, are going through some hard times. The owners of the next "holding" intend to buy their farm, and with their financial troubles, their future seems grim except when a mysterious man appears. This traveller, claiming he knows the disappeared father, helps the family out. However, he might as great as he seems. Soon he confronts those trying to force the family out, killing them horribly.

Now this may seem familiar, may even sounding bad, because similar recent films ("The Stepfather" remake, "The Resident & "The Roommate") have been lowly regarded. Despite that, its pretty good.

The movie mainly relies on atmosphere and that the family are living with a dangerous man, a man they might themselves be in danger from.

The only stupidity, thankfully, came from a character who only gets speaking scene.

Very Well Made and Directed British Film

[stevejervisprice · 9/10 · 12 July 2023]

Very well produced and excellent direction, got a very typical British Feel to it, makes a change from crash bang whollop ie car chases and fake never ending fighting sessions (mission impossible / Jack Ryan etc etc ) type of film. Acting was excellent and a good storyline 9/10 for me. I would recommend this film. Don't listen to the bad reviews.

Very well produced and excellent direction, got a very typical British Feel to it, makes a change from crash bang whollop ie car chases and fake never ending fighting sessions (mission impossible / Jack Ryan etc etc ) type of film. Acting was excellent and a good storyline 9/10 for me. I would recommend this film. Don't listen to the bad reviews.