Hold the Fort Review
Hold the Fort (2025) Film Review from the 29th Annual Fantasia Film Festival, a movie directed by William Bagley, written by William Bagley and Scott Hawkins, and starring Chris Mayers, Levi Burdick, Julian Smith, Haley Leary, Mark Ashworth, Tordy Clark, Devney Nixon, Danielle Kwoka, and Hamid-Reza Benjamin Thompson.
Anyone who has been a part of or knows someone that belongs to an HOA (Homeowners Association) has probably heard some real-life horror stories. In his new film Hold the Fort, William Bagley takes those neighborly annoyances into a whole new realm by thrusting his characters into a fight for their lives against all sorts of hellish creatures. In a film that can barely be described as a horror comedy (80% comedy, 20% horror), Hold the Fort doesn’t try to be anything that it isn’t, which is a silly time and a gore-filled romp.
Before even turning the film on, Bagley gives you an insight into what the tone of the movie is going to be with a 74-minute runtime. A lean and mean runtime like that signals a film that doesn’t want to overstay its welcome and Hold the Fort never does.
The movie opens with our young couple from “the city,” Lucas (Chris Mayers) and Jenny (Haley Leary), as they try to acclimate to the slower pace of life in the suburbs. Lucas is a bit softer around the edges, while Jenny wears flannel shirts and colors her hair, facing more of a struggle acclimating to the white picket fences and Sunday barbecues.
They are greeted by the newly appointed HOA president Jerry (Julian Smith), who invites them to a soiree that everyone in their community will be attending. Feeling the weight of their new neighbors on their shoulders, Jenny agrees to go in hopes they’ll be serving alcohol (they are!). These events happen in rapid succession as we arrive at the party and learn that the reason they all gather there every year is to defend their community against a slew of monsters that rise out of a pit of hell next door.
The nervous-speaking Jerry transforms into a swear-word-spewing general as soon as the first enemies rise out of the glowing fissure and the chaos kicks into overdrive. The rest of the film plays out about exactly as you’d think it would and makes no attempts to make you think otherwise. Bagley’s vision is clear and his execution is sound, but it became so predictable that the stakes never felt real. It’s difficult to critique the film because of it, though, because it never attempts to raise the stakes or foster your fear. It just wants to have fun.
Films should be fun. Not all of them, of course, but if that is the goal of the picture, that needs to be the aim, and Hold the Fort is lots of fun. There is a levity to the characters and action that may conjure thoughts of Ready or Not or, more closely, Jeremy Saulnier’s fantastic debut Murder Party (which also boasts a similar 79-minute runtime.)
The characters are surface-level templates used for cannon fodder. That may sound like harsh criticism, but it’s not, because Bagley never makes any attempt to make us think otherwise. There are some obvious character arcs that round out the end of the film, but it’s not exactly The Godfather. But say it with me: “It doesn’t want to be!” The digital effects do come off a bit cheap and don’t land all that well, but there are plenty of practical effects for the gore purists out there.
Hold the Fort is the kind of movie you put on with friends at a party while enjoying your alcoholic beverage of choice. Turn your brain off, sit back, and have some fun!
Rating: 7/10
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