The Hallow (2015)

Memorable, crazy movie

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Adam and wife build up a case for why Americans should just stop caring about what Brit's think about everything. The stupidity of all of the characters will have you cheering on the forest demons because the characters parents shouldn't have been allowed to procreate.

I was a little hesitant about taking Leliana and Tony to this one, but since they liked The Witch so much, I decided why not? It was so worth it! The fairies were beautiful, the mommy and daddy were so nice, and the baby was adorable! I just thought it was wonderful how the fairies offered to babysit for free, and they took such good care of Finn. Heck, they're probably better parents than me and my husband! And it was so touching when the mom took care of the little fairy baby.After the movie, Leliana kept asking me if she could live with fairies too. I said of course she could, so now we're planning a trip to Ireland next month. She's so excited!

"Elves are terrific, the beget terror" -Terry Pratchett, Lords and LadiesFairy tales were the original horror stories, so a return to the source is a refreshing departure from the Tinker Bells and Caspers of today. And the woodland creatures in The Hallows are creepy enough to fit the bill.However, the oblivious, bumbling, pig-headed stupidity of the male lead will so frustrate you, you'll start to wish he'd die faster. His much-smarter-than-him wife is constantly calling his name like the teacher from Beuller as he completely ignores her and does yet another idiotic thing that gets him stabbed in the eye. Further aggravation is to be had as the writers ignore traditional lore and begin making up their own rules, twisting the Fae until they more closely resemble contagious alien vampires. Freaky they are, accurate they are not. And then they start contradicting the guidelines they made up for themselves.To conclude, the cool practical effects and few scary moments are not enough to save this ultimately irritating and dumb movie.

THE HALLOW is yet another Irish horror film about a young family who move to the Irish wilds and are soon assailed by local folklore. Upon watching this low budget horror I was immediately reminded of 2014's FROM THE DARK, which has almost exactly the same premise. The two films are extremely similar and although THE HALLOW is the better-made of the two, it rips off FROM THE DARK quite extensively in terms of look, feel, and plot ingredients. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned that fact.I don't mind low budget horrors but so many are being made today that they really have to offer something different or special in order just to stand out from the crowd. THE HALLOW doesn't. The early atmosphere building stuff is quite good and intense in places, but in the second half things fall apart with one cliché scene after the next. I wish scriptwriters would give up chronicling the exact same twists and events in every script and try something different for a change. As for the creatures, they're little different from Gollum or the ones in THE DESCENT.Still, the direction of this film is quite good, and the cast are decent. Joseph Mawle has been a solid presence in film and TV for about a decade or so now and doesn't disappoint. Bojana Novakovic (EDGE OF DARKNESS) does the best she can with an underwritten role. Michael McElhatton and Michael Smiley are both excellent in support although they needed bigger roles more important to the storyline. THE HALLOW is no masterpiece but it does pass the time, I just wish with the resources they had they'd made something better - and more original.