Review of The Hallow (2015) by Van H — 21 Oct 2015

The Hallow is an Irish fantasy horror film that the director has touted as Straw Dogs meets Pan's Labyrinth, and while that is pretty accurate, it'll never be as iconic as those two films thanks to a few too many cliched elements.

The film centers around a family who have moved into a new home in the thick of the woods and against warnings from the locals, trespass on "hallowed" ground and begin to be terrorized by monsters lurking in the trees.

The Celtic folklore angle of the film is a solid setup for the creatures and they're described as fairies, banshees, and baby-stealers which quickly gets your mind racing as to what they'll be up against and this is where the Pan's Labyrinth comparison lies.

Once the scares start, it becomes quite relentless and there's a solid section in the middle that had me clenching my fists in terror, most notably in a scene where they are trying to get their car started! However, once we reach a certain point in the film, the script's momentum falters and by the time the husband is exposed to some of the creatures' dark influence; you know exactly where the story is going.

This film truly succeeds on atmosphere and creature design, providing a mish-mash of quality scares in the beginning, and truly lame jump-scares by the end that didn't need to be there. I enjoyed the film's commitment to its world and the story progresses well, but it really loses momentum in the third act once all the cards are on the table and the ending is pretty underwhelming.