Movie Review - The Hallow

The Hallow

2015

The Cast

This is a very special horror film... because it's a horror film!  This flick really does meet all the criteria of the genre... Secluded house in the woods; Check.  Something strange happening in the woods; Check.  Monsters of fairy tales and legend; Check.  A newlywed couple with a newborn child; Check.  Tension to create fear; Check.  Atmosphere to give a nice spooky eerieness; Check.  Special effects to make you shake and shudder; Check.

The only thing this appears to be missing is a priest and a few teenagers, but hey!  I can live without them.

When I read the blurb of the story I knew I had to watch the film.  Adam's (Mawle) new job as a woodsman in Ireland's last forest, brings his family to a secluded millhouse.  On one of his investigations of the woodland, he comes across the carcass of a dead animal, which has a strange substance growing out of it.  Taking a sample, he finds it to be a living organism... one that can destroy it's hosts cells.  But before he can make the report other, more violent events occur.  At first, he believes it's the locals as they see him as the enemy since he works for the men wanting to pulp the trees.  But before long, he and Claire (Novakovic) begin to realise that it's not the locals they need to be afraid of.

The film is beautifully shot and the opening sequence sets the atmosphere for the rest of the movie very well.  Though the new family are smiling and looking forward to a prosperous future, the overcast sky gives the feeling of a storm ready to break... things are not going to be sunny for this family.  The pace is quite meandering and builds slowly into soft peaks, this has the effect of letting the tension and unease get under your skin.  Not just a hack slash and scream film.  Along with some strong acting from the cast, it makes the film very enjoyable.

The thing I liked about the characters is their ordinariness.  This makes them more believable and easier to relate too.  The only actor that appears to go a little over the top is the Police Officer, Garda Davey (Smiley), though I do know people of the same temperament as him so I can overlook it.  It's the subtleness of the actor's and actress' portrayals that make this film stronger, especially Mawle, who does a good concerned wonder.

However, there are a few drawbacks.  The main one being the creatures themselves.  these are meant to be the Fairies and Banshees, etc, of Irish myth.  But, to me, they look nothing like you would expect.  It would have been nice to see smaller Fairies and screechier Banshees, for a start.  But these are minor things, they may have added a strength to the overall film, however, as they are, they don't detract the viewer from the story at all.

If you're a lover of real horror films then this one is for you.  It's one I'll be only too happy to watch again... and again...

I give this a Creepy Child Stealing 7.25 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - The Woman In Black 2: The Angel Of Death

The Woman In Black 2

Angel Of Death

2014

Alliance Films / Da Vinci Media Ventures / Exclusive Media Group / Hammer Films / Talisman Films / Vertigo Entertainment : Momentum Pictures / Entertainment One

1 / 10

Hammer used to stand for Horror, so what the hell went wrong here?

Firstly, where was The Woman In Black?  The only time you see her is when you look at the advertising poster.  As for Angel Of Death!... well there wasn't much to speak of at all.  After watching this I was amazed it didn't get a PG certification, especially because there was nothing overtly frightening or horrifying about the story or the picture.  The closest we came to an eerie atmosphere was when young Edward was trapped in the constantly locked, however always open, room where the spirit of The Woman resided, all we got then was a few moving toys and a dark shadow.

I think the director, Tom Harper, was trying to build atmosphere and get the minds of the audience to "fill in the blanks", therefore immersing themselves into the story and film more.  It didn't work.

In fact, I'd probably recommend this film to all insomniacs as the banality within should put them to sleep quite fast.

Did the studio pay its light bill?  Because everything that was shot in darkness was so poor in visibility that if I even turned on an incidental light source the picture on the screen was near unwatchable!

This is a travesty in Horror filmmaking, from the story (which is basic, lacking in substance, and holds no surprises) to the direction (which lacks style, atmosphere, and power).

The only good thing about the whole movie is the acting though it's impossible to save this film.

Video Nasty - The Slayer

The Slayer

(1982)

The International Picture Show Company : 21st Century Film Corporation / Continental Video / Marquis Video

7.5 / 10

So I thought I would revisit my youth and have a "look see" at the films I couldn't watch then because, for censorship reasons, they were banned.

I cannot understand why The Slayer received the "Video Nasty" distinction, yes there are gory scene's though nothing too untoward for a horror movie, especially from the 1980's.  I think it might be the necrophilia overtones in one scene, but hey, she doesn't know he's dead!

That said, this film ticked all the boxes for what I look for in a horror movie - a spooky atmosphere and location - characters and situations that are believable (excluding the supernatural and paranormal elements) - tension and a feeling of unease - decent to brilliant FX (no unrealistic CGI here).

The story concerns two couples who decide to vacation on a remote and, at this time of year, uninhabited island, to get away from the stresses of modern life and take a breather.  Kay is an artist who has started to have a reoccurring nightmare, which she used to have as a child.  David is her husband and he's on the island to take photographs as well as to fish.  Eric is Kay's brother, he arranged the vacation through a colleague at work who told him about the splendid fishing the island provides.  Brooke is his wife, who has come along reluctantly, an isolated island is not her idea of fun.

Once they've been dropped at the island the pilot warns them of an oncoming storm as storms hit hard there and come at you from all directions.  Heeding his warning they choose to stay.  Once the storm hits and the rain falls and the lightning tears open the sky, one-by-one the holidayers are killed off in gruesome ways.  My favourite of which is the pitchfork.

So this appears to be your usual run of the mill slasher film...  It Isn't!

It's not a slasher film at all.  This is why:  I make this differentiation:  A slasher film to me is Chopping Mall, Visiting Hours, Friday The 13th, the type of movie where the murderer is human, commonly a psychopath, and goes on a killing spree, usually with very sharp weapons.  This puts it into the Thriller genre.

Therefore I do not classify the Halloween movies, the Friday The 13th Films (the ones with Jason as the killer), or A Nightmare On Elm Street saga as slashers.  These are true horror films with elements of the supernatural and paranormal. 

It's the ending of this film that plants this firmly into the Horror genre.

This is J S Cardone's first directing job and it's a pretty decent endeavour.  He creates a nice uneasiness throughout the film which adds to the suspense and tension.  The only thing which irked me was the darkness.  I know directors use the darkness to try and build tensity in their film, though sometimes like here, it's just too dark.  Even when lanterns and torches are lit the light they give off is minimal, to say the least.  I don't remember them being that bad back then.

The acting is average and, as was the case back then as well as sometimes now, relies too much on screams.  I've never screamed and I don't know anybody who has... yelled and jumped in fright... but never screamed and never like they do in horror films.  As I said, I liked the FX in the pitchfork death scene, though the screaming from the actress is really annoying.  It is almost laughable as she screams continuously while trying to get away and breaking a window... you hardly hear the glass break above her screams...  this girl can sure wail...

If you're a horror fan, as I am, then you will enjoy this twisted and gory tale of dreams come true.  Well worth watching on a dark night with the lights off.

Nergling - The Video Nasties Scare - The Slayer

Movie Review - It Follows

It Follows

2014

The Cast

The premise of this film is a good one - a person has sex and a supernatural spirit begins to follow them, with the intention of murdering them.  The only way for that person to survive the entity is to have sex with someone and pass the "curse" onto them.  Should they die then the spirit reverts back to following the last person once again.

Unfortunately, the premise is not fully utilised in the story, there are quite a few holes.  The main hole in the story is the origin of the "curse"; we are not told it is a curse, it may be something else; we are not told why the killings are happening; or how it all started.  These things deter from the story because at the end of the movie these issues made me feel as though the story was incomplete and lacking.

Had these issues been resolved it would have made the story and the movie a lot stronger, and possibly a lot darker and more haunting.

Taking that into consideration, what you do get in this movie is a strange surreal feeling, this is due to the direction and the soundtrack.  These are very reminiscent of John Carpenter and David Cronenberg.  It's as though they had a baby and his name was David Robert Mitchell.

The opening scene has John Carpenter's Halloween written all over it.  The entire film took me back to my youth in the 80's and I loved it.  Sometimes, though, the soundtrack was too jarring, as Cronenberg's electronic soundtrack was apt to be, though here it doesn't work as well.

The acting is above average with the mostly unknown cast doing a pretty decent job of adding to the tension and atmosphere of the movie.  Even though there's not much gore, it's the palpable tension and atmosphere which make this a spooky supernatural story.

So if you like a slow burning taut eerie tale then this could be right up your street.

I give this an eerily spooky 5.75 out of 10.

The Trailer