Fantasia 2025: Hold The Fort Review

Directed by: William Bagley
Written by: William Bagley

Starring:
Chris Mayers – Lucas
Haley Leary – Jenny
Julian Smith – Jerry
Michelle Lamb – Annette
Levi Burdick – Ted
Hamid-Reza Benjamin Thompson – McScruffy
Luke Williams – Marcus
Tordy Clark – Leslie
Luke Michael Williams – Marcus

Running Time: 74 minutes
Not Rated

The neighborhoods of suburbia are fertile ground for horror. Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Stret, Poltergeist, It Follows – some of the greatest films in the genre have explored the terror that lurks behind the manicured lawns and white picket fences of the suburbs. And when the suburbs become ground for comedic horror, it’s all the better. Films like The People Under the Stairs and The Stepford Wives have taken a more humorous, satirical approach to their horror.

That’s the neighborhood that Hold the Fort is playing in. William Bagley’s new film, which premiered at Fantasia Fest on Wednesday night, trades in its frights for laughs and comes out ahead. The film’s gore-spattered approach to HOAs keeps things silly and fun while still presenting plenty of supernatural hijinks and violence so to revel in.

Hold the Fort isn’t playing its cards too close to the vest; the opening scene reveals an elderly couple in a suburban area who are preparing to fight supernatural evil while arguing over whether to sell to new developers, including Jerry (Julian Smith). Sometime later, married couple Lucas (Chris Mayers) and Jenny (Haley Leary) move into the neighborhood from the city. Lucas is excited for the smaller town experience, while Jenny is reticent because she doesn’t want to deal with the community’s homeowner association – which is now ruled by Jerry with a firm but folksy hand.

Upon moving in, Lucas and Jenny find themselves invited by Jerry to the HOA’s annual Equinox party. It becomes very clear right away that this isn’t your average community – the property tax is so low because the HOA has to deal with against a demonic portal in the community, which spits out all sorts of supernatural creatures one night a year. Lucas finds himself a fish deeply out of water as he, Jenny, Jerry, the aggressive Ted (Levi Burdick), his wife Annette (Michelle Lamb) and others have to try to survive the night. As Lucas is told many times after the fact, you always have to read your HOA contract.

There are a lot of ways a horror film about evil-fighting HOAs could go. In this case, Bagley decided to lean into the fun side of horror comedy. The tone here is much more The ‘Burbs or Tucker & Dale vs. Evil than something a bit thematically sharper.

But that’s not a criticism because it’s the right tone for what he’s trying to do here. It helps that he has a game cast who is up for anything. Mayers and Leary are well matched as the primary couple; Lucas has a rather prissy nature that can occasionally be frustrating as his cowardice results in some difficult situations, but Mayers keeps the character amusing throughout. And Leary, whose Jenny is more quickly on board with the battle, does a fine job acting as the emotional bridge between Lucas and the rest of the cast.

Speaking of the other cast members, they all get time to shine and are clearly having fun. Smith adds a creepy sense to Jerry but is also very game for physical comedy, while Burdick’s Ted adds the irascibly gruff energy that seems to be a requisite of at least one person in every HOA. Hamid-Reza Benjamin Thompson is another standout as McScruffy, the badass who the community usually relies on to keep them safe but runs into trouble.

Horror comedies require a delicate balance between their two aspects, and fortunately Bagley’s firm grasp on the tone that he’s going for means he’s on solid ground here. There’s plenty of comical gore in the blood-soaked attack sequences and a couple of nice menacing moments.

Bagley directs the action well, utilizing effects that are purposely cheesy to add to the sense of fun. Several wounds are smartly played for laughs, and there are a couple fun subversion moments for characters that play on the kinds of tropes we might expect from the film.

Like most horror comedies, this won’t be for everyone; it would be easy to be turned off by how pathetic Lucas is at times, the comedy won’t work for everyone and it’s not going to give many people nightmares. But this is a tightly paced film that knows exactly what it’s trying to do, with a lot of fun for people looking for a little comedic carnage to brighten their day.

The Fantasia International Film Festival takes place in Montreal from July 16th through August 3rd.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

William Bagley's Hold the Fort is a delightful little horror comedy that leans into its Tucker & Dale and The 'Burbs influences to deliver a violent, and often quite funny good time. A game cast elevates Bagley's material and the Bagley shows his confidence as a director, delivering a balance of comedy and gore that hits its mark far more often than it doesn't.