Hallow, The (Blu-ray / DVD)
Anthony Arrigo
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Starring Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton
Directed by Corin Hardy
Distributed by Scream Factory
When Scream Factory first teamed up with IFC Midnight the partnership seemed dubious, since nearly every distributed picture was less than stellar. Lately, however, the fruits of this deal have ripened to produce some solid modern horror films, a few of which originate from outside U.S. borders. One of the better pictures to be released is The Hallow (2015), a British-Irish co-production that premiered at Sundance last year. Writer and director Corin Hardy is clearly a massive horror fan, but he’d grown tired of seeing vampires and zombies and every other overused horror villain up on the big screen. So he turned to Irish fairy tales, pounded out a script, oversaw the creation of some nasty little creatures, and unleashed his love letter to practical FX and original moviemaking.
Adam (Joseph Mawle) has just moved to the Irish countryside with his wife, Clare (Bojana Novakovic), and infant son, Finn. The town doesn’t take kindly to his arrival, however, since Adam is a conservationist whose job it is to tag trees for a logging company. During an expedition into the woods, with his son strapped to him, Adam comes across a dilapidated home and decides to do some exploration. Inside, he finds the carcass of an animal with a huge bite taken out of the neck, the wound covered in viscous dark goo. Clare, meanwhile, is removing iron bars from the home’s windows when Colm Donnelly (Michael McElhatton), one of the town locals, stops by to see Adam. Colm is one of the many who intensely dislikes Adam’s work and wishes to speak with him at once.
A rock crashes through the window in Finn’s room that night and Clare thinks Colm is responsible, so she has Adam call in the police. The cops arrive and chalk the broken window up to a lost bird, but the officer warns Adam of what locals call “the hallow”, referring to the woods as being home to fairies and woodland creatures. Adam dismisses this possibility but seems to be aware there are strange occurrences in the area. The next day he and Finn go out to get the window fixed and the locals once again warn him about the hallow. Adam gets a taste of what they’re talking about during the ride home, when his car breaks down due to vines and that mysterious black goo clogging up his engine. As he’s checking under the hood, something knocks him out. He awakens in the trunk to the sound of multiple things clawing at the car from the outside while Finn cries in his seat. Adam rips his way free, grabs Finn, and the two run back home to Clare. And so begins a long night, besieged by these creatures from the hallow whose goal is to steal away Finn and make him part of their brood. Adam and Clare hold fast to protecting their child… but that black goo has begun to take hold within Adam, and he’s starting to change.
This is one of those films that works almost entirely due to the love and care put into the production design and creature FX. The script, while by no means poor, doesn’t present anything revelatory or exciting; nothing viewers haven’t seen in similar pictures. Family moves into semi-spooky town, locals warn them of something, family brushes it off, whatever they were warned about appears and attacks. Hardy’s film distinguishes itself with a woodsy Irish setting that feels alive, and that’s because it kind of is. The creatures populating the hallow look like Sam from Trick ‘r Treat (2007) and that creepy masked kid from The Orphanage (2007) had deformed babies. The film relegates these little beasties to the shadows for much of the running time before giving them a showcase in third act. That’s de rigueur for films of this type, but since the story isn’t the most compelling it makes the absence of frequent monster action conspicuous.
Also hampering things is Adam, who makes a lot of very dumb decisions. He’s the typical non-believer; a guy who’d rather move to the beat of his own drum than stop for two damn seconds and listen to what locals – you know, those people who have lived here forever and a day – have to say about his business. A conversation with Colm might’ve assisted Adam in better protecting his family, and himself, but the dude just isn’t keen to listen.
The initial setup of the film flows nicely enough, but the second act feels a bit disjointed and meandering before getting to the good stuff in act three. At the very least viewers will revel in cinematographer Martijn Van Broekhuizen’s sumptuous visual feast. The film looks positively gorgeous, with some excellent lighting choices made for the forest canopy and the Hitchens’ little cottage style home. Same goes for the animatronic creatures, which are shot beautifully, looking like some deformed miscasts from a Jim Henson production. The Hallow isn’t quite the stunner I had been hoping for, but there are enough positive elements at play to make it a worthwhile watch.
Featuring a 2.35:1 1080p image, The Hallow presents a strong visual presentation that looks splendid in hi-def. The Irish countryside setting provides a picturesque locale, brimming with earthy hues and tons of variable foliage. Definition is top notch, with crisp imagery and lots of fine details. That level of detail extends to nighttime as well, with great shadow delineation that allows the picture to remain clear even in dark lighting conditions. Contrast handles very well, with solid black levels.
The English DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound track provides an immersive experience, with great levels all around. There’s a nice weight to the effects, along with a strong sense of direction, too. Those dastardly little creatures are easily heard and not so easily seen, and this track does a fine job of allowing them to “pop up” from any corner of the room. Rears are used to create an enveloping atmosphere, though they aren’t pumping out sound the entire time. Subtitles are included in English and Spanish.
Director Corin Hardy delivers an audio commentary that is very personal, filled with insightful comments and all the technical goodies listeners might expect.
“Surviving the Fairytale: The Making of The Hallow” – Do you want to know everything about how this film was made? Then watch this, because it’s long and covers just about everything.
“Behind the Scenes: The Story” – Hardy talks about how he came up with the story and what his intentions were in telling it.
“Behind the Scenes: Influence” – Hardy discusses the films he drew from when it came time to make his own.
“Behind the Scenes: Practical FX” – Hardy talks the appeal of tangible FX and why he wanted to minimize CGI use.
There are a handful of galleries, too, including “Director’s Storyboards”, “The Book of Invasions: Original Illustrations”, “Director’s Sketchbook”, and “Creature Concepts”.
The film’s theatrical trailer is also included.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with director Corin Hardy
- Surviving the Fairytale: The Making of The Hallow
- Behind the Scenes: The Story
- Behind the Scenes: Influence
- Behind the Scenes: Practical F/X
- Director’s storyboards gallery
- Director’s sketchbook gallery
- The Book of Invasions original illustrations gallery
- Creature concepts gallery
- Theatrical Trailer
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The Hallow
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Special Features
Categorized:Reviews
