A resurfaced clip from a 2021 horror initially piqued the interest of prospective horror viewers, but the excitement didn’t last long after they branded the movie ‘bone dry’ and ‘disappointing’.

John And The Hole, a coming-of-age psychological thriller, follows the story of 13-year-old John (Charlie SH๏τwell) who feels disillusioned with his wealthy family.

He discovers an underground bunker on their estate – and for no apparent reason, decides to drug his family and hold them captive inside it.

John then carries out the mundane, yet familiar, childlike fantasy of ‘living like an adult’, while his family wrestles with the implications of their confinement, in a sinister Home Alone-esque narrative.

John and the Hole was the directorial debut of Pascual Sisto and featured prominent horror stars including Taissa Farmiga (The Nun, The Conjuring, American Horror Story) and Michael C Hall (Dexter).

It captured attention at the 2020 Cannes and Sundance festivals, thanks to an ingenious marketing campaign – but failed to live up to viewers’ expectations.

John And The Hole (pictured), a coming-of-age psychological thriller, follows the story of 13-year-old John (Charlie SH๏τwell) who feels disillusioned with his wealthy family

He discovers an underground bunker on their estate – and for no apparent reason, decides to drug his family and hold them captive inside it

John then carries out the mundane, yet familiar, childlike fantasy of ‘living like an adult’, while his family wrestles with the implications of their confinement

One reviewer on Reddit highlighted the disappointing hollowness of the movie despite having a ‘cast that had so much potential’.

The film attempts to explore the psychological perplexity of adolescence but appears to be more irritating than insightful to viewers, many of whom perceive it to be a directionless euro-arthouse romp.

‘You could cut 15 minutes from this film just by trimming time off long stares and useless establishing sH๏τs that serve limited purpose,’ writes one Letterboxd reviewer. 

‘It’s a showy film that wants you to think it’s artsy. The performances work and the film does build tension effectively but it’s an annoying type of tension.’

‘Sick of these empty “ambiguous” exercises with nothing of consequence’, writes another. 

‘Nobody cares about your static sH๏τs and your failed attempts to be literary. I’m done with this empty, meaningless yuppie-core festival bait.’

Many were also disheartened by the movie’s lack of commitment to the horror genre, calling it ‘boring’ and a ‘snoozefest’ with unbearably slow pacing.

Critics rated the film 59 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, with audience ratings at an even harsher 24 per cent and it averages a 1.7/5 rating on Google reviews.

John and the Hole (pictured) was the directorial debut of Pascual Sisto

It featured prominent horror stars including Taissa Farmiga (The Nun, The Conjuring, American Horror Story) and Michael C Hall (Dexter)

It captured attention at the 2020 Cannes and Sundance festivals, thanks to an ingenious marketing campaign – but failed to live up to viewers’ expectations

One reviewer on Reddit highlighted the disappointing hollowness of the movie (pictured) despite having a ‘cast that had so much potential’ 

The film (pictured) attempts to explore the psychological perplexity of adolescence but appears to be more irritating than insightful to viewers

One reviewer on Reddit (pictured) highlighted the disappointing hollowness of the movie despite having a ‘cast that had so much potential’

‘You could cut 15 minutes from this film just by trimming time off long stares and useless establishing sH๏τs that serve limited purpose,’ writes one Letterboxd reviewer (pictured)

Many were also disheartened by the movie’s lack of commitment to the horror genre, calling it ‘boring’ (pictured) and a ‘snoozefest’ with unbearably slow pacing

Critics rated the film 59 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, with audience ratings at an even harsher 24 per cent (pictured)

It averages a 1.7/5 rating on Google reviews (pictured)

One viewer commented: ‘Worst movie I have ever seen in my life. I made an account just to rate it. -10000/10. This is one shallow hole’

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One viewer commented: ‘Worst movie I have ever seen in my life. I made an account just to rate it. -10000/10. This is one shallow hole.’

Another echoed: ‘WORST MOVIE EVER!! I want my life back!! 

‘You are forced watch the most ridiculous situation ever and you are waiting for a resolution that makes sense of the absolutely stupid premise and then… NOTHING!!!! 

‘It’s the stupidest, sorry, who paid for this? Who read this script and went, YES!! A movie WITH NO POINT.’

The dull film is a far cry from a controversial horror film that was aired on BBC2 on Friday night, which caused mᴀss crowds to walk out during its first screening.

Crimes Of The Future, which stars Twilight’s Kristen Stewart and Lord of the Rings’ Viggo Mortensen, is not for the faint-hearted.

Dozens of viewers could not handle it at its debut screening at the Cannes Film Festival and had to leave. 

But the 2022 David Cronenberg hit – which has been described as ‘skin-crawling – also received a seven-minute round of applause, as well as an 80 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score.

The dull film is a far cry from a controversial horror film (pictured) that was aired on BBC on Friday night, which caused mᴀss crowds to walk out during its first screening 

Crimes Of The Future (pictured), which stars Twilight’s Kristen Stewart and Lord of the Rings’ Viggo Mortensen, is not for the faint-hearted 

Dozens of viewers could not handle it at its debut screening at the Cannes Film Festival and had to leave 

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The film includes a gory child autopsy scene, sH๏τs of bloody intestines and characters who orgasm by licking each other’s open wounds

The synopsis reads: ‘As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations.

‘With his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), celebrity performance artist, publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances.

‘Timlin (Kristen Stewart), an investigator from the National Organ Registry, obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed…

‘Their mission – to use Saul’s notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.’

Cronenberg told Variety previously about the walkout uproar: ‘It doesn’t make me sad.

‘I mean, the worst thing is if your movie is boring and I’ve been some screenings in Cannes where nobody walked out, but nobody cared about the movie either.

‘And that would be very depressing.’

John And The Hole is available to stream on Prime Video.