Complete A-Z list


Hallow, The

3/10

Stars: Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton

Director: Corin Hardy

Hallo! Something wicked this way comes... It's that house in the woods again, this time in Ireland, and there are faeries at the bottom of the garden. Well, slavering demons, actually, naked monsters who make that chattering noise that all film demons make and are out to steal the baby of new tenants Adam (Mawle) and Clare (Novakovic).

As to why they wait a month to besiege the house, your guess is as good as mine, but still, as darkness falls, here they come - and the family dog is first in line (now there's a surprise).

Adam's a tree surgeon planning ahead for deforestation in the area, so you suppose he could be regarded as an invader in alien territory. Alas, he soon falls victim to one of the needles that shoot out from demonic fingers and finds himself 'taken over'.

One local (McElhatton) whose daughter was snatched by the crouching wood-dwellers utters dire warnings along 'You should have listened' or 'You should never have come' lines. Goodness knows what he thinks when dozens of men turn up at the end to cut down the trees.

It's a horror film with lots of guck and darkness - messy black matter seeps from the house's timbers and foils the couple's attempt to escape by car - but very few real scares. Cinematography's good, though, almost a given today in derivative horror movies like this one. It's of marginal interest at best, even to buffs.

David Quinlan

Ireland/USA/UK 2015. UK Distributor: entertainmentOne (Altitude). Colour (unspecified).
97 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 3, Drugs 1, Swearing 1.

Review date: 11 Nov 2015