The Hallow review: A dark and atmospheric chiller from director Corin Hardy.
The Hallow review
Ever since Jason’s mother sought vengeance for her son, Friday the 13th has been linked with the horror genre. With that in mind it’s only fitting that this Friday (the 13th don’t you know) should have a suitably scary offering arriving in cinemas and The Hallow more than meets expectations.
Set deep within the Irish forests, the film introduces us to young couple Adam and Clare along with their infant son. The family have relocated due to Adam’s work, which involves marking trees for destruction, something that isn’t going down well with the locals. The land that Adam is working on is also the subject of local folklore, and when strange things start happening the couple must protect their son and themselves from an unknown threat.
Not since Labyrinth has a baby gone through so much. Just like in the aforementioned movie, the child is highly coveted by the creatures of the hallow and his parents have to do everything they can to keep him safe.
For a first time feature, Corin Hardy makes an impression with The Hallow which is a visual delight. The colour palette is forest greens and earthy tones are made all the bleaker with the minimal lighting. Essentially it’s a movie which manages to beautifully encapsulate an autumnal night. It isn’t just the visuals that work well, the plot is clever and innovative, and this is a rare example of a family unit within the genre that works. The tangibility of the clan makes it all the most heartbreaking as events unravel and inevitably take a turn for the worse.
In terms of horror elements we have malevolent beings, some surprisingly squeamish moments (eye lovers beware) and some excellently executed jump-scares. If this is Hardy’s début, I can’t wait to see what he brings next.
The last couple of years have seen the horror genre make a comeback. It’s a genre that has never really taken a back-seat, but the quality has suffered over the years. Films like It Follows and The Babadook have demonstrated that they can be more than just a set of cheap scares, a trend that The Hallow furthers. This is a film for the genres fans; it oozes references to all the classics – The Thing, Evil Dead and Alien.
A promising début that reinforces the latest upwards trend of an abused genre. The Hallow is tense, haunting, horrific and fiendishly frightening.
The Hallow review by Kat Hughes, November 2015.
The Hallow arrives in UK cinemas on 13th November 2015.
