Inspired by Irish folklore, The Hallow is the claustrophobic tale of a family who move to the rural Irish countryside, only to find that they are not exactly welcome. Evocative of The Descent, the film builds suspense effectively until all chaos breaks loose in the foreboding forest. Horror elements are aplenty in Corin Hardys debut feature with aspects of monster-movie, home invasion, body-horror and fable. The narrative concerns conservationist Adam (Joseph Mawle) and his wife Claire (Bojana Novakovic) relocating to a remote mill house deep in an ancient isolated forest. Whilst studying the woods, Adam finds a fungus capable of infecting the local fauna with grisly mutations. This strange occurrence is further accentuated with the locals warnings of ancient evil in the forest. Basically, bad juju is afoot, but Adam doesn't want to listen... He'll wish he had. All in all, The Hallow is a strong directorial debut that effectively blends adult fairy-tale with suspenseful horror in an atmospheric and ominous package. It looks like The Crow reboot is next on the cards for Hardy and itll be interesting to see how that develops.
Most of my time is occupied by reading, staring at a screen, being oppressed by the government and awaiting the return of the Great Old One Cthulhu... I also write a little too.
