THE HALLOW is yet another Irish horror film about a young family who move to the Irish wilds and are soon assailed by local folklore. Upon watching this low budget horror I was immediately reminded of 2014's FROM THE DARK, which has almost exactly the same premise. The two films are extremely similar and although THE HALLOW is the better-made of the two, it rips off FROM THE DARK quite extensively in terms of look, feel, and plot ingredients. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned that fact.
I don't mind low budget horrors but so many are being made today that they really have to offer something different or special in order just to stand out from the crowd. THE HALLOW doesn't. The early atmosphere building stuff is quite good and intense in places, but in the second half things fall apart with one cliché scene after the next. I wish scriptwriters would give up chronicling the exact same twists and events in every script and try something different for a change. As for the creatures, they're little different from Gollum or the ones in THE DESCENT.
Still, the direction of this film is quite good, and the cast are decent. Joseph Mawle has been a solid presence in film and TV for about a decade or so now and doesn't disappoint. Bojana Novakovic (EDGE OF DARKNESS) does the best she can with an underwritten role. Michael McElhatton and Michael Smiley are both excellent in support although they needed bigger roles more important to the storyline. THE HALLOW is no masterpiece but it does pass the time, I just wish with the resources they had they'd made something better - and more original.
I don't mind low budget horrors but so many are being made today that they really have to offer something different or special in order just to stand out from the crowd. THE HALLOW doesn't. The early atmosphere building stuff is quite good and intense in places, but in the second half things fall apart with one cliché scene after the next. I wish scriptwriters would give up chronicling the exact same twists and events in every script and try something different for a change. As for the creatures, they're little different from Gollum or the ones in THE DESCENT.
Still, the direction of this film is quite good, and the cast are decent. Joseph Mawle has been a solid presence in film and TV for about a decade or so now and doesn't disappoint. Bojana Novakovic (EDGE OF DARKNESS) does the best she can with an underwritten role. Michael McElhatton and Michael Smiley are both excellent in support although they needed bigger roles more important to the storyline. THE HALLOW is no masterpiece but it does pass the time, I just wish with the resources they had they'd made something better - and more original.