Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The nefarious Broderick family hold various drifters, hobos, and migrants captive at their slave ranch in Texas. Writer/director Glen Stephens relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, does an ace job of creating and sustaining a powerfully bleak atmosphere of utter hopelessness and depravity, makes fine use of the desolate backwoods locations, and develops a considerable amount of nerve-wracking tension. The sturdy and credible acting from an excellent cast rates as another substantial asset, with especially praiseworthy work by Jason Connery as tough and troubled war veteran Trevor Lloyd, C. Thomas Howell as the evil and slippery Clayton Connelly, Mark Holten as the dim-witted Weldon Broderick, Michael Madsen as the shady J.T. Goldman, Deneen Frazier as the ruthless Lois Broderick, Randy Spelling as browbeaten foreman Parker Hilton, Lin Shaye as the no-nonsense Mrs. Broderick, Robert Carradine as the mean Thad Simmons, and, in a regrettably minor part, Dennis Hopper as the amiable Sheriff Green. The jolting moments of sadistic violence and torture pack a seriously harsh punch while the redneck clan are a truly scary and brutal bunch. The fact that the plot is inspired by actual events adds an extra unsettling edge to the already upsetting proceedings. John-Paul Beeghly's glossy cinematography gives the picture an impressive polished look. Evan Evans' rattling score hits the shuddery spot. Worth a watch.

"Hoboken Hollow" is a disappointment.The plot: Trevor (Connery) is a war veteran trying to take life easy and hitchhiking his way to California. While hitchhiking, a trucker named Clayton (Howell) asks him for help on his ranch. Trevor agrees only if he can leave the next day. Trevor finds out very quickly that the ranch is filled with deranged lunatics who like to torture and kill their helpers.It's a good idea for a movie but it just doesn't work because the pacing is lethargic and the scares are minimal. Howell does a decent job as one of the killers, but Connery is wooden.If you're thinking "Hey, Madsen and Hopper are in it! It can't be all bad...." well, I'm sorry, you're wrong this around. Hopper is in this for about two minutes and he basically says the same line over and over: "I'll give you a lift to the next town". Madsen has it worse because once again, as in "The Covenant: Brotherhood Of Evil" he has an obviously phony mustache. 2005 was the "glued on facial hair stage" in his career. One more thing: Anthony Michael Hall was one of the producers of this mess. Odd...."Hoboken Hollow" is a very poor flick, that you should only watch if you're a Madsen or Hopper completist (I've seen "Tycus" and "The Prophet's Game" with Dennis and "Flat Out" with Mike. I deserve a medal. Not Really.) For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Since I had a unique perspective behind the scenes, to include providing the use of my large fixer-upper house, I'll leave it up to IMDb to decide if this should be a review or if I should post it in one of the discussion forums. Anyway here goes.Two years from the time my old house was besieged by film crew and actors, I found the one rental DVD copy that our San Angelo TX Hastings store had. I popped it into my DVD player, cranked up the old television and settled down with beer and popcorn in one of the very rooms upstairs where a scene had been shot. After some hype, anticipation, and production company aftermath, I could finally see Hoboken Hollow for myself.I'd already read a number of reviews, had seen trailers along with the first few minutes thanks to the internet, and had my trusty copy of the script. So I knew I was a little 'front loaded' for the experience.As advertised, the beginning was somewhat hodgepodge. A lot of characters and things were introduced all at once. This made me want to look for the guy who runs around selling programs, saying you can't tell the players without a program. Things then settled down to an easy, nearly leisurely pace. If there were one major criticism on my part, the pace would be it. I think an easygoing pace was intended to contrast with the shock and intensity of the torture scenes, but if that was the idea, it needs some work. I will qualify this criticism in that it may be my own theatrical background speaking there.This movie tells a story beyond the scope of a horror flick. It requires some attention, (or in my case my aforementioned trusty script). I'm not a connoisseur of horror films and I think it would be a disservice to rate this film solely on that basis.As for a few plot elements, I do note the similarity between the words Hoboken and Hokey. I would expect a chainsaw to trump a cattle prod and the lone shotgun to be commandeered by the majority slave population, given the opportunity. I don't know what the actual Ellebracht family did to keep all these folks in line, but it had to have been better than this, which was nearly laughable in places.But I can't dismiss it; this could be a sad commentary on the people down on their luck that blundered into such a place. Why would they choose to remain suppressed as slaves, even to the point of death? A previous review makes the comparison with mid-level employees trapped in the shenanigans of a cooperation. They are used to this and even want a piece of the action for themselves. I find that as frightening as any of the torture and abuse.The rape scene was straight from a nightmare, never mind the given repulsiveness of such an act. This was like watching a train wreck and not being able to do anything about it, and trust me, I would have decommissioned the perpetrator(s). Even though I knew about the scene from my script, I was left physically ill after watching it.That scene, harsh as it was, probably epitomized much of what must have happened during the time the actual ranch was in business. And Teri, like the rest of the 'employees' there, seems to go on, resigned to more of the same, no longer able to muster the effort to get out. She holds one last hope for Trevor to come back and rescue her.The script has Trevor narrating the movie in voice over, and based on reviews I've read, this was probably the version released "across the pond". Unfortunately the reviews of the narration were less than stellar. So it appears a decision was made to make an edit of the DVD for release here in the states with somebody else narrating. The person with the honors this time is Weldon (in his non-stupid character). Weldon's narration is well done, short and to the point. I hear what I think is Glen Stephens adding a few remarks. Weldon's identity as narrator is not revealed until the end.The photography has been mentioned in previous reviews. I was quite impressed with the way shots were set up during what I saw of the filming and I see where that paid off in the final product. Definitely good work there.The music was very good, with one possible exception of becoming a little repetitive at one point about two-thirds through the movie. The music complimented the action well.And so, I give my rating of 6 stars out of 10. It sure as hell leaves you thinking. As a fellow Menardian, I wish Glen Stephens the best in his future works. Based on the little that I know about horror films, I think Hoboken Hollow is not bad for a first endeavor into this realm.

Hoboken Hollow is set in west Texas where three vagrant hitchhiker types, Andrew (Kingsly Marin), Howie (Rudolf Martin) & Archie (Erick Brubaker) have all been picked up by & offered work by a couple of guys named Clayton (C. Thomas Howell) & Junior (Jonathan Fraser) who run a ranch out in the sticks called Hoboken Hollow, unfortunately for the three hitchhikers they soon wish they had been left at the side of the road as working at Hoboken Hollow is quite literally torture. Owned by the Broderick family life at Hoboken Hollow is tough, you are forced to work all day, you barely get any food, you don't get paid, you get treated like dirt & if you try to escape you end up in pieces hanging from meat hooks. However ex-soldier Trevor Lloyd (Jason Connery) has other ideas...Written, co-produced & directed by Glen Stephens I have mixed feelings about Hoboken Hollow, I sort of liked it & hated it in equal measure. The script starts off extremely promisingly in an isolated way out in the sticks The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), The Hills Have Eyes (1977 -2006) & Wrong Turn (2003) sort of way as it sets the story up. Unfortunately while I was hoping for a slick, nasty atmospheric gore filled slasher by the mid way point of Hoboken Hollow I thought I was watching a prison drama as the story settles down & focuses on the trials & tribulations of the workers rather than the activity of the homicidal Broderick's, I'm all for a good story but this goes off the rails so to speak & once it had settled down I started to find myself becoming bored & a bit disinterested. Having said that it's still a decent little horror/thriller with some nice exploitation, some rape & a fair bit of torture although the final twist is as obvious as they come & I'm not convinced the guys kept there would have been so co-operative, I mean why didn't they just take the chainsaw they had been given to chop wood & use it against their captors, torturers & eventually murderers? I know I would have at least tried to get away & a good old fashion chainsaw would have made for a decent weapon, right? I'm confident I would have been able to convince my captors to hand over the keys to the pick-up truck with the aid of a trusty chainsaw.Director Stephens does a fine job, Hoboken Hollow is surprisingly well shot & has that isolated, baking hot Texan outback feel to it. The family & their house reminds of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre although Hoboken Hollow is more graphic & doesn't go for atmosphere or scares as much. The gore is OK, there's a severed arm, a severed foot fed to the pigs, someones leg is repeatedly stabbed, someone is impaled on a large spike & there's some torture where people are hanged, electrocuted & peed on. I think this is one of those films where you think you see more than you actually do.With a supposed budget of about $1,100,000 Hoboken Hollow is very well made with impressive production values & it actually looks like a proper film, the special effects are decent & there's a surprisingly good cast here including Sean Connery's son Jason! I wonder if his dad's seen Hoboken Hollow because if he has I'd be more than interested to know what he thinks of it! Michael Madsen, the great Dennis Hopper, Robert Carradine & Michelle's sister Dedee Pfeiffer who I haven't seen since her role in Vamp (1986)!Hoboken Hollow is OK overall but I thought it had both good & bad points, unfortunately the bad points are pretty crucial to how I feel about it. It's an OK watch but I'd be hard pushed to recommend it to anyone.