With a family-friendly return to the kind of filmmaking Amblin did best in the 80s, Joe Dante‘s The Hole earns a strange honor as a horror film. It’s pleasant. A pleasant, scary movie. It builds from a standard coming-of-age tale: the single mom (Teri Polo), teenage son Dane (Chris Massoglia) and younger brother Lucas (Nathan Gamble) move from the big city to the small town complete with the tough transition. That change of pace (at least for Dane) is softened by the cute next-door neighbor Julie (Haley Bennett), but it’s made a bit more difficult by the bottomless hole in their basement that brings their personal fears to life. Apparently that wasn’t in the real estate listing.

Darren and Steve are best friends despite different upbringings and personalities. They both attend a mysterious Freak Show populated by fantastical beings, and Darren joins the ranks of the undead by becoming a vampire, but Steve will have his own, darker journey to go through.

Kevin Carr takes a look at this week’s movie releases, including Saw VI, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Astro Boy and Amelia.