'The Hallow' Review

When you think of horror films on an international scale, you tend to associate certain countries with a specific subgenre or films with certain characteristics. Italy has its giallo films with their black leather gloves and colourful cinematography, Japan has J-horror usually focusing on spirits from their folklore or containing graphic violence, but what springs to mind when you hear 'Irish horror'? Well generally you tend to recall Warwick Davis running around in a leprechaun costume in those god awful Leprechaun films and not much else. Sure, the past couple of years have seen the gory comedy-horror Stitches and the comedic alien film Grabbers, both severely entertaining but nothing truly horrific. However, this may be about to change with the release of Corin Hardy's suspenseful creature feature The Hallow. The British filmmaker presents us with a dark insight into the world of Irish folklore set against the backdrop of a beautiful forest setting in a film that has a lot of atmosphere and plenty of scares for all.
The film follows British conservationist Adam Hitchens (Joseph Mawle) and his wife Claire (Bojana Novakovic) who move into an old house in rural Ireland along with their newborn child so that Adam can survey the forest for future construction. However, this disturbs the forests demonic inhabitants and the family find themselves in a desperate fight for survival against the creatures of the hallow. Mawle's performance is reminiscent of Jack Torrance, closer to the book version rather than Jack Nicholson's portrayal. He is a loving family man who finds himself slowly becoming something more malevolent which leaves him not only fighting against the dark forces around them but also against himself. Mawle gives us a transformation that is both convincing and harrowing to watch, only backed up by his co-star Novakovic's performance as his wife. The two have a convincing onscreen chemistry that only makes the events of the film more emotionally gripping. The film also sees appearances from Game of Thrones star Michael McElhatton and the always entertaining Michael Smiley who seemed a bit underused in the film.
The film is a slow burner and it seems to take forever for something to actually happen, which can be quite tedious at times; even when the creatures do appear it can feel a bit repetitive to watch, but there are a few memorable scenes. The creatures themselves are beautifully grotesque like something straight out of a Guillermo Del Toro film and when we finally do see them onscreen they bring with them many memorable scenes such as a very Fulci-esque scene involving eyes. The stunning woodland setting is only enhanced by the dark cinematography which combine to give the film an extremely tense atmosphere throughout, reminiscent of the remake of The Evil Dead. This makes the rather monotonous first act a bit more pleasing as it at least gives us something attractive to look at. The story utilizes this rural setting and the folklore surrounding it and combines it with more contemporary themes such as forestry and the environment so that it helps to make the ancient folklore more engaging for modern audiences.
The Hallow is a film that draws clear inspiration from many earlier horror films that have been previously mentioned, however it is in itself it's own film and one of the few films out there to give a dark and creepy representation of Irish folklore. It does not conform to the excessive use of zombies, vampires or ghosts that we see continuously nowadays, instead it presents us with these original creatures that bring a sense of horror to the alluring woodland setting. It's two leads give an excellent performance although one can't help feel like the talents of supporting actors McElhatton and Smiley could have been used more. Although it is tedious to begin with and repetitive at times, The Hallow is both a suspenseful and dark horror film that has many moments that will make audiences jump or hide behind their hands. This original take on the creature feature subgenre displays Corin Hardy's skills as a director and gives us a little more faith in his remake of The Crow, if it ever makes it out of development hell.

3.5/5.