The Stickman’s Hollow (2024) Film Review – Don’t be a Stick in the Mud [Dead Northern Film Festival]

Posted on by Jim Cox

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The Stickman’s Hollow is a 2024 Canadian found footage horror, written and directed by Jack Cox. Mostly known for his extensive voice-directing work in English Dubbed anime and other animated series. Best known for World Trigger, Beyblade Burst, Beyblade Burst: Evolution, Zoids Wild, Gintama, Haunted House: The Secret of the Ghost Ball, Mr. Magoo, and The Little Prince.

A young couple on a fishing trip with their son decides to explore an area of remote wilderness known as the Stickman’s Hollow. Told through the surviving pieces of footage from their fateful trip, the film documents the family’s vacation as they are mercilessly hunted in the forest by an unknown force, and the dark past of the hollow is brought to light.

Delivered as three interconnected found footage vignettes, The Stickman’s Hollow follows the “unwritten rules’ of the genre perfectly. Bypassing the stylish cuts and scores that seem to be prevalent in recent years, the film relies on hard cuts and ambient sound to maintain its believability. Additionally, the camera is always filming with purpose, always providing a plausible experience throughout the different segments.

While the cinematography is fairly standard for a found footage film, the first vignette’s implementation of a child as the camera operator is an esoteric yet fascinating approach–bestowing a consistent low-angled camerawork. Furthermore, the camerawork relays a child’s low attention span, aimlessly panning away from the scene to focus on whatever has captured their attention.

Implementing a less is more approach to its horror, The Stickman’s Hollow uses obscuration throughout the majority of its run time, keeping the horror just out of reach. This method allows for a masterful building of tension and invites the audience to fill in the blanks–ultimately perceive something far scarier than what could be visualised on screen.

Being driven by a small cast of characters, each member provides a pragmatic performance that aids in achieving the authenticity strived for in found footage. However, an outstanding rendition comes from Father Monroe, played by award-winning voice actor, Jason Simpson. Only appearing in the second vignette, his commanding presence as the disbarred exorcist is certainly dynamic and authoritative.

A tremendously unfeigned piece of found footage, The Stickman’s Hollow relays an astute verisimilitude that continues to its very end. With a compelling, overarching narrative, fantastic performances, and great camerawork, the film is sure to entice fans of the genre with its masterful representation of why found footage is so effective in horror. 

We watched The Stickman’s Hollow (2024) as part of this year’s Dead Northern Film Festival.

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