This review is part of our ongoing coverage of the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a film, let alone a horror film, so devoted to HOAs. As someone who hopes to one day be a homeowner, I have often wondered whether or not I would be interested in even joining an HOA, having heard so many horror stories over the years from friends. Sure, they offer consistency, safety, and fellowship for newcomers to a community, but they also tend to be sticklers for things that don’t really matter, make your life a living hell and, in some cases, cause you to be kicked out of your home. So: everyone can make their best judgment. With Hold the Fort, Atlanta-based filmmaker William Bagley has crafted a hilarious nightmare for young homebuyers, and turned the HOA into a monster-ass-kicking collective.
Young couple Lucas (Chris Mayers) and Jenny (Haley Leary) have just moved into the lovely town of Gruber, a suburb with white picket fences, friendly neighbors, and a terrible secret. You see, every Equinox, a portal to hell opens in Gruber, and various monsters emerge hellbent on taking over the town. It’s up to the citizens of the town, led by the HOA, to destroy these monsters and keep their town safe. After being invited to an Equinox party (and having not read the entirety of their HOA agreement), Lucas and Jenny are shocked to discover the first day in their new home will end with a blood-soaked battle to the death with everything from witches and Kung Fu ghosts to werewolves, vampires, and even the dreaded Stick Man.
At just 75-minutes, Hold the Fort doesn’t waste any time. We get a fun little prologue that sets the stage, and then we’re right in the thick of things. Hold the Fort has a lot of crazy ideas packed into its runtime, and I was surprised at how well Bagley and his team were able to balance them, given how rushed the picture can occasionally feel. The visual effects are low budget, to be sure, but they’re also quite playful. Take, for instance, the sequence with the witches. Heads are exploding, witches are being shot out of the air, and a broom comes sailing through the window like a projectile. Is it goofy? Absolutely. Does it work? Ya. It does. I’ve seen far inferior visual effects in films that have received a theatrical release.
What really sets Hold the Fort apart from low budget horror films of its ilk is the performances. Everyone here is clearly having the time of their life. Julian Smith steals the show as “Jerry”, the President of the HOA who cannot understand how difficult it might be for someone to just accept that (a) monsters exist, and (b) they crawl out of a hole and might kill them all. Levi Burdick as “Ted” brings a no-nonsense humor to his role, and has some of the best lines in the picture. As “Lucas”, Chris Mayers is an appropriate mix of white yuppy cowardice and attempted bravado. There’s also a woman on every drug known to man, a hired assassin known as “McScruffy”, and a whole bunch of ancillary characters whose heads explode throughout.
This is the kind of raucous horror comedy that could easily get lost amongst all the others. It’s regional, and it features no well-known actors. I truly hope this isn’t the case because Hold the Fort has a ton of heart and deserves as many eyeballs as it can get. If Bagley can take his limited resources and make something so inventive, it excites me to no end what he might be able to do with a larger budget. The script is there. It’s crackerjack. He has a phenomenal assortment of actors. They’re delightful. Hold the Fort might seem like standard horror fodder, but it’s much more. And, if nothing else, it’s a tribute to all the HOA heroes everywhere constantly judging your grass size.
Rating: ***1/2/***** (WORLD PREMIERE)
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