Steeped in ancient Irish folklore, Corin Hardy’s THE HALLOW drags the viewer through a dreamlike, picturesque landscape with an all too fearsome realism. The film opens with a section of text cited from the ‘Book of Hallows’ offering a stark warning to all that dare trespass in the wooded lands. Reminiscent of THE DESCENT and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, THE HALLOW could easily be approached with scepticism: ‘What’s different about this one?’
An energy seems to radiate through the first half hour that can’t quite be described
In the first thirty minutes of the film, classic horror motifs are evident. The creaky score mingles with the picturesque countryside; soft Irish folk music plays over a dark, brooding backdrop as the young family discover their new surroundings — and oh yes, the dog barks and the baby cries at anything barely suspicious or supernatural. Yet something feels different about THE HALLOW. Something is fresh. Something is exciting. An energy seems to radiate through the first half hour that can’t quite be described: both frightening and encapsulating.
Joseph Mawle offers a valiant performance throughout as Adam, battling with his neighbour Colm (Michael McElhatton) over his insistence on returning to the forest to undertake his job has ‘the tree doctor’. Adam is met with defiant criticism and protest from the Irish locals, believers in supernatural, child-snatching creatures called ‘The Hallows’. His wife Clare (Bojana Novakovic) and their baby son, Finn, are pulled along for the ride: this conflict with the neighbours isn’t the only battle that must be fought and won. Unfortunately, it is baby Finn who bears the brunt of the torment, enough to add even more nightmares to any parents who may be inclined to watch.
‘The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown’
THE HALLOW starts off promisingly, with tension in abundance and a bone-quivering suspense which has the potential to revitalise the genre. Hats go off to the special effects team behind THE HALLOW, as the creature effects are original and genuinely frightening. However, as H.P. Lovecraft famously said, ‘The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.’ This rings true for the Hallows, who begin to feel overexposed after a number of close-up reveals, an abundance of jump-scares and one too many narrative twists.
Whilst Hardy never quite delivers on the subversive promises suggested in the film’s opening, THE HALLOW masterfully navigates a whole catalogue of classic horror cinematography and innovative sound design which is as nostalgic as it is unsettling.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL5WfklIB-o