A young couple moves to the suburbs in a neighborhood with an HOA which turns out to be more trouble than expected.
Written and directed by William Bagley from a story by Scott Hawkins, this horror comedy is, simply put, a hoot. For anyone who has ever owned a home of thought of buying a house, the HOA is a thing of nightmares. Will they regulate your trash cans, your holiday decor, or perhaps how far from the curb your potted plants are? Who knows. Here, the HOA has a whole new purpose and of course one of the leads signed on without reading the contact, and they find themselves in the craziest situation possible. No spoilers here, see the film for yourself. In terms of writing and direction, everything is fantastic. The story is fun and funny with some decent kills; there is a ton going on, and it kind of feels like a horror comedy made for the ADHD brain. Things pop up left and right, beings are killed, blood, kamikaze bats, a man called McScruffy, etc. There is a ton in here and the run time is relatively short. This is fun, this is how you write a bloody, bloody horror comedy.
The cast here understood the assignment, and they all give solid performances that are all a bit unhinged, for the best. Leads Chris Mayers and Haley Leary are fantastic and fun to watch. They argue a bit but ultimately show love, and it makes their characters and performances endearing. They show a natural ability for horror and comedy. The supporting cast is also fantastic and ballsy at times even. Not one single performance will make folks think there is a single weak link in the cast. This is a solid cast, and they all have great comedy timing. The scenes on the credits are hilarious, do not miss a chance to see some of the less used cast members go nuts.
The special effects here are fantastic as well, plenty blood, some goo, and other practical elements are great. The visual effects are sadly uneven however, but they are the one low point of the film and not that bad generally speaking. This is easily forgiven when the bats show up. Holy bat man, these are fun to watch. The cinematography by Alex Allgood is lovely and adds to the film’s look and dynamism along with the editing by William Bagley.
Hold the Fort is a tight horror comedy that wastes no time getting to the red stuff and the humor, manages to maintain these going throughout and make for a fun time for all. Well, all but the characters, but hey, who’s watching here. Hold the Fort is a strong horror comedy that knows what it’s doing and shows that folks both behind and in front of the camera knew that they were doing and had a great time doing so.
Fantasia 2025 runs from July 16th to August 3rd 2025