The Holding (2011)

Lonely farmer Nancy raises her daughters Hannah and Amy with financial difficulties on her farm, since her husband has disappeared a long time ago.Her neighbour Karsten and his son intend to buy her farm and are pressing the family in an abusive way.Out of the blue, wanderer Aden appears on the farm and helps Nancy with the delivery of an offspring.Aden explains that he was a friend of her husband on an offshore rig and he offers to work for food and lodging.Nancy accepts the offer and soon she has a love affair with Aden.....Another one of those silly British movies that is all gritty and dirty looking, but trying to be the new 'thriller' or something. This film fails on every level.For a start the film has no plausibility about it, as no one would ever let a stranger stay in their house if they just appeared out of th blue, and the transformation from normal bloke to psychopath is just laughable.When you look at it from another angle, the film ha no real meaning to exist. It just happens, in a very boring and predictable way.Boring stuff, with a few minor distractions.

For all those Terry O'Quinn junkies, who fondly remember The Stepfather, there's another clone of that venerable "family in peril" thriller. Again, a messed-up guy with a dark past suddenly ingratiates himself into the lives of a struggling family. Appearing too good to be true, the eldest daughter remains skeptical, not trusting him or his motives, despite the rest of the family's wholehearted acceptance. It plays out exactly the same as The Stepfather, though with somewhat less tension. It's not much of a spoiler to say that bodies start piling up rather quickly.It's not a bad movie, but it's a complete rehash. I chose to be a bit generous with my rating, since I thought the film was fairly well done, even if the story is a complete and utter ripoff of a cult classic. It's an inoffensive way to pass the time, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who've never seen The Stepfather -- to them, the plot will probably seem fresh and exciting. I'd recommend that they check out the original 1987 classic, though. Terry O'Quinn was amazing.

In the countryside of England, the lonely farmer Nancy (Kierston Wareing) raises her daughters Hanna (Skye Lourie) and Amy (Maisie Lloyd) with financial difficulties in her farm with her only employee Cooper (David Bradley) since her husband has disappeared a long time ago. Her neighbor Karsten (Terry Stone) and his son intend to buy her farm and is pressing the family in an abusive way. Out of the blue, the wanderer Aden (Vincent Regan) appears in the farm and helps Nancy with the delivery of the offspring. Aden explains that he was a friend of her husband Dean in an offshore rig and he offers to work for food and lodging. Nancy accepts the offer and sooner she has a love affair with Aden. But either Nancy or Aden have dark secrets and Nancy finds that Aden is actually a psychopath and her family is in danger."The Holding" is a rip-off of "The Stepfather" that takes place in the countryside of England. The plot is predictable and uses the clichés of the genre, but the acting is good and raises tension with the dangerous situation. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Passado Obscuro" ("Obscure Past")

A family, the father having disappeared, are going through some hard times. The owners of the next "holding" intend to buy their farm, and with their financial troubles, their future seems grim except when a mysterious man appears. This traveller, claiming he knows the disappeared father, helps the family out. However, he might as great as he seems. Soon he confronts those trying to force the family out, killing them horribly. Now this may seem familiar, may even sounding bad, because similar recent films ("The Stepfather" remake, "The Resident & "The Roommate") have been lowly regarded. Despite that, its pretty good. The movie mainly relies on atmosphere and that the family are living with a dangerous man, a man they might themselves be in danger from. The only stupidity, thankfully, came from a character who only gets speaking scene.