Three unusual things happened at Saturday’s screening of Joe Dante’s new film The Hole: one audience member heckled the rest of us for for not joining him in uproarious applause for the genius of W.C. Fields, the digital projection froze about 10 minutes in, and the screening was called off about two-thirds of the way over after a fire alarm was pulled. Now those first two things I get; I’ve been in numerous digitally projected screenings where the thing’s gone boink, and I can’t fault someone else’s man-love for the great Mr. Fields. But whoever pulled that alarm, if it was someone’s idea of an awesome Frosh week prank, I hope they get skewered alive – by Joe Dante – and that they film and put it on You Tube.

So there we were, me and over 1,000 of my closest friends, having to shuffle out of the film not knowing if we’d ever get to see the ending. Outside the Ryerson Theatre, preparations were already underway to receive none other than Mr. George Clooney and his fellow special guests for the premiere of Up in the Air, never mind those of us among the lowly that just wanted to find out what was at the down in Dante’s bottomless pit. I’ve never gotten the bum’s rush before, but I think our evacuation from the Ryerson came pretty close.

But let’s talk about the movie, or least the 66 per cent of the movie I can certifiably say I saw (and if I don’t get to see the rest, I at least want a t-shirt). First things first, The Hole featured the next generation of 3-D technology, the same tech James Cameron’s been developing for his upcoming Avatar. Now these aren’t the same glasses you get at the local Cineplex to see Ice Age 3, the one’s that look like faux-Ray Bans. Nope, these look more like stylish welders goggles, and were designed not so much to get the screen to jump out at you, but to give the audience a greater perception of depth of field. So we were warned going in, these weren’t souvenirs. The glasses coast $150 a piece and were to be handed in as soon as you stepped foot from the theatre (even if you just had to visit the little filmmakers’ room).

As for the new and improved 3-D, it was rather impressive – at times. The images on screen were sharper and brighter, but the staging of some of the scenes occurred to me more like a pop-up book than a film. But content wins, and in this regard The Hole boasts some serious chops. It easily stands as one of the best family adventure films to come along in some time, and is definitely right up there with The Goonies with its ability to exploit childhood phobias and making the imaginative leap of children with suburban ennui. Two brothers, Dane (Chris Massoglia) and Lucas (Nathan Gamble), find a bottomless pit beneath a locked trap door in the basement. After numerous, half-cocked attempts to see what’s down there, sucking in their cute neighbour Julie (Haley Bennett) in the process, they leave it alone. That is until they starting getting nocturnal (ghostly) visitors.

With his usual flair Dante mixes scares and humour to great affect. I think fans of the original Gremlins will find much to admire in Dante’s directorial voice, and Massoglia does bare a bit of a resemblance to Zach Galligan. The desperate qualities of the various things that crawl out of the dark hole make the film seem a little scattershot, but about where the film got interrupted, the elements started coming together in a way that made total sense. Fortunately, the story engenders patience from the audience to get there, and the kid actors are so great playing together just the three of them you almost don’t need mom (Teri Polo) and her drama.

Again though, I say these things not knowing how it all turns out in the end. Things might end up badly, for both the characters and the film itself. But from what I saw, I’m positively pumped about this picture. As for the 3-D, it was fun but the movie didn’t need it for added entertainment value. However, it was cool to be privy to the new technology, and it will definitely be exciting to see where else it can go, specifically in regards to the big action pictures like the aforementioned Avatar. In the meantime, The Hole is a great example of a family film that doesn’t need juvenile humour or anything too cutesy-pooh to catch on. In fact, if you have any kids with Coulrophobia (or clown phobia) you might want to keep them away. Pupaphobia (or puppet phobia) too, because The Hole combines both. I guess Joe Dante’s just a masochist like that.