Irish Horror Film 'The Hallow' Is A Decent Creature Feature
By Joel Wicklund in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 18, 2015 9:39PM
Bojana Novakovic in 'The Hallow,' photo: IFC Films)
The good qualities of The Hallow oddly work against it. Had this movie strictly been a guilty pleasure throwaway, its overly familiar, overlong, man vs. monsters finale would hardly be noticed. But this independent Irish horror film begins in very strong fashion, promising a memorable genre offering that it ultimately fails to deliver.
The movie has gotten a fair amount of good buzz, but it will play best for those who haven't heard any fanboy hyperbole and go in expecting nothing more than a decent creature feature. It is that, as the beasties shown onscreen (a mix of old school effects and CGI artistry) are certainly fearsome things.
Director and co-writer Corin Hardy also shows considerable talent with atmosphere in his debut feature, bringing the forested world of a dark fairytale to life. Hardy's narrative skills, on the other hand, need a little honing.
The story is very basic, which is fine. Many good horror films are built around its simple, well-worn elements: the sophisticated couple from the city, now living in backwoods territory, surrounded by unwelcoming neighbors and...something far worse out among the trees.
The newcomers here are a conservationist, his wife and their new baby. The couple is well played by Joseph Mawle (a Game of Thrones veteran, soon to be seen in Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea) and Bojana Novakovic. Shades of Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs come into play when their closest neighbor (Michael McElhatton, also of Game of Thrones) makes it very, very clear their presence is not wanted.
'The Hallow,' photo: IFC Films
Some unsettling moments make the couple assume the locals are terrorizing them, but the threat turns out to have more ancient origins. The Hallow is at its best setting up its mixture of folklore and science fiction. The area's legends are of faeries and banshees, but the conservationist finds the monsters are linked to a bodysnatching fungus with some basis in real science.
Once the threat is established, however, the movie falls victim to that common pitfall of modern filmmaking: the overextended climax. I didn't check the clock, but it felt like more than half the movie's running time is devoted to the couple battling the forest monsters as they try to get in the house or in the car and take possession of the infant. The initial excitement wears thin and the action becomes monotonous.
The Hallow owes more than a little to Neil Marshall's The Descent, John Carpenter's The Thing, and Sam Raimi's Evil Dead. But lack of originality isn't the problem...it's dramatic momentum. Once Hardy puts his monsters on full attack, the movie is more like a repetitive action flick than the classy chiller it suggests in the opening scenes. That said, the movie has a few good scares up its sleeves and those will certainly play better with a crowd revved up for a good time. So catch it at the Music Box this week, rather than via on-demand sources, if at all interested.
The Hallow is not a bad movie, but its remote, rural Irish setting brings to mind a far better one given a token release early last year. In Fear, a film with minimal effects and an even more minimal story (two tourists lost in the woods, essentially), managed to wring real dread out of its elemental plotting and effectively build to its climax instead of getting to it too soon and letting it overstay its welcome. The Hallow has the monsters, but In Fear delivers the creepy goods.
The Hallow. Directed by Corin Hardy. Written by Hardy and Felipe Marino. Starring Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic and Michael McElhatton. No MPAA rating. 97 mins.
Opens Friday, Nov. 20 at the Music Box Theatre. Also available through Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and other video-on-demand providers.