Sean Parker
Homeowners Association or HOAs can be pretty ruthless. We’ve all heard stories of HOA presidents riding waves of power, and there are some pretty unbelievable stories out there from public court cases to personal accounts on Reddit threads. It’s no wonder Jenny (Haley Leary) has reservations about moving out of the chaotic city and into the cookie-cutter suburbs. Her partner Lucas (Chris Mayers), however, feels the opposite. Elated to be able to go for a run in a neighborhood where the neighborhood doesn’t host nightly gunfire, Lucas feels relaxed and happy to have his property under the watchful eye of HOA president Jerry (Julian Smith). But something lies just below the surface of this HOA in William Bagley’s Hold the Fort, and the HOA is hosting a party to fight it.
Hold the Fort gets going super quickly. After a cold open and some momentary exposition about our lead characters, Jenny and Lucas, we’re walking through the doors of the community center with them. From here, we’re introduced to some wild characters, most with some notably ostentatious quirks. Lucas believes he’s just going to shake a bunch of hands and make some new friends, but Jerry seems to be focused on the Equinox and the monsters that are about to attack the place. Confused but polite, Lucas tries to interject one of his numerous questions, but Jerry is too worried about being prepared. And, many of the other residents are getting concerned that McScruffy (Hamid-Reza Benjamin Thompson) won’t arrive in time to protect them.
While Lucas is trying to decipher whether he, as the neighborhood newbie, is being pranked, Jenny finds a kindred spirit in Annette (Michelle l Lamb) and others on the periphery of the meeting. The experience even kind of bonds her to the neighborhood. So, while Lucas is preparing to put his cardio training to use and run right out of there, the minute the portal opens, Jenny is ready to defend her new home and friends.
Hold the Fort is genuinely about people and community… and a portal to hell, but mostly the first part. Though it takes inspiration from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead movies, Schwarzenegger’s Comando, From Dusk Till Dawn, and the wave after wave mechanics of Call of Duty: Zombies, Hold the Fort is a unique and original concept that offers one simple truth: your community, however strange, is what you make of it. Allow me to regress to last weekend’s box office blockbuster, Superman, and the film’s message of kindness, for a second. Are we witnessing the rise of the badass good guys? Have we entered a Twilight Zone where even an HOA can change its stripes and protect and serve its members the way that it should? That would be pretty cool if it caught on.
Bagley’s movie is pure entertainment. This cast of mostly unknown faces works excellently as an ensemble. The chemistry and comedic timing between all of them is somewhat magical at times, catching me off guard on occasion and causing bursts of laughter. Thompson’s heroic wildcard character is a ton of fun. He’s a straight out of an ’80s action movie type that exudes Michael Jai White at his most eccentric. Thompson, like Tordy Clark, Levi Burdick, Luke Michael Williams, Lamb, Myers, Smith, and Leary, just look like they’re having a blast, and it translates well on camera.
Little bits where one character continually gets tossed around is absurd and silly, slapstick done right. Meanwhile, the fight scenes are well-choreographed and shot stylistically, much like a larger-scale action film, lending Hold the Fort some popcorn-worthy qualities before leaving viewers grossed out by the Mel Brooks-style blood sprays of Dracula Dead and Loving It. Truly something for everybody.
At seventy-six minutes, Hold the Fort is a bottleneck horror-comedy that truly doesn’t wear out its welcome, even if it is a little rough around the edges. There are a few questions and plot holes that deserve some attention, but don’t necessarily take away from the experience. However, the most considerable criticism I have is with the SFX. There’s some CGI used in the film that could use refinement, but full disclosure, the film played on an early screener, so it’s possible it may look better now. Regardless of my nitpicks, Bagley’s comedy remains disarmingly hilarious, and the creature feature work on the nightmarish-looking Stickman is stunning and some of the best creature effects work I’ve seen this year.
Hold the Fort may not end up being the best film I catch over the next few weeks at the Fantasia International Film Festival, but as my first film of Fantasia 2025, it has set the tone to relax and have a good time, which is exactly what I’d call Hold the Fort. This movie is a good time, loaded with heart and a great message about not abandoning community when it needs you the most. So, if you’re looking for something funny and farcical, put Hold the Fort on your Letterboxd watchlist so you don’t miss it when it releases.
Hold the Fort had its World Premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival on Wednesday, July 16. An encore presentation will be held on Saturday, July 26. Check out the film’s page on the Fantasia website for more information.
