Clive Desmond The hallow is a fairly typical horror movie, family stays in a secluded house surrounded by a forest and strange things start to happen. Despite this however it is still an enjoyable film to watch and the monsters are somewhat original. The atmosphere of the film is tense and is mildly scary for those of us horror fanatics. The acting was decent although at some stages the script leaves a little something to be desired. The make up and special effects teams are both to be applauded, great effects. There wasn't any real character development besides seeing how the characters react to the situations thrown at them. I did feel that the film was slightly dragged out and could've done with a few unimportant scenes being edited out. Overall though its a good one watch film.

absinthechinadoll I do not write that many reviews on here, but after reading the other reviews, I felt compelled to write this and stand up for this movie!! I personally thought it was EXCELLENT with only a few (very few) flaws. I read many reviews stating that this movie was unoriginal and had been done over and over in other titles. Perhaps so, but then again, it seems to be a difficult thing to do in the horror genre...I mean really, look at how many Friday the 13th movies there are, and how many vampire movies, and how many haunted house stories, and exorcisms, etc. So what if this has a similar plot to others? The main thing is that it was just plain good.First off, the two main characters are extremely likable and you find yourself rooting for them. They are NOT the typical stupid college kids that just go to the woods to get drunk and have sex and act like bullies or stuck up snobs. One reviewer said that there was no one famous in it - I disagree. The father's character is also Benjen Stark from Game of Thrones!! I do not personally know much about the mother and her other roles, but she did a fine job acting. Also, they did what normal people would do - they tried to flee!! They tried to save their baby!! There are no scantily clad women running around, there are no jerk/jock boyfriends that deserved to die as in soo many other horror movies that try to use nudity to capture the audience's attention.I'm not going to give too many spoilers here, but let's just say the basic premise of the movie involves the mythical "changelings". One reviewer didn't understand why there were two babies - just read up on changelings and you won't be confused anymore.The setting in the woods were absolutely gorgeous, and the director even was thoughtful enough to bring in smaller details regarding changelings, such as the iron scissors on the door for protection. Kudos to him for bringing in elements of the original mythology.As for the scare factors and the creature/monster effects - absolutely EXCELLENT for such a small budget. It's nice being able to have a clear view of the creatures, and they looked amazing. Someone else said the creatures reminded them of Pan's Labyrinth, but this reviewer also gave Pan's Labyrinth only 1 star. The creature effects were very, very good. I don't know if they were CGI or just great costuming and make- up. There were some seriously intense scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat - such as when the father is in the trunk of the car, or when the mother was trying to hold down the attic door with the slimy ooze "hand" going for her eye. Some reviewers called it a slow movie - come on, what did they expect? So what if the movie took 10 minutes to give us some background? Geez, people are so critical. It's a MOVIE, it's there to entertain us, give it chance!! I am even tempted to give the movie 10 stars (and no, I'm not part of the production crew giving it a false high rating). The main reason that I take away a star is because the baby crying so much was annoying... But then again, you'd cry too if dozens of demonic looking forest fairies start attacking you in your baby crib.So please - give this movie a chance. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Considering the fact that I mainly watch horror movies and nothing else, this one was a gem!!

David Arnold The Hallow. Here we have yet another film where the trailers make the film seem better than what it actually is, which is obviously disappointing as there is nothing worse than seeing a film that looks promising only to be let down. Now, I know the trailers for films are usually pieced together in a way to entice audiences to watch them (unless it's a film that people KNOW they want to watch regardless), but the point still stands...the trailer for The Hallow is better than the overall film.However, with that being said, the film (at least for me) wasn't a complete waste of time (I only said the trailer was better than the film...not that the film completely reeked) and it is watchable, but only just.The film has a good enough premise and plays on the Irish folklore of faeries/banshees ("baby-stealers") with the film-makers giving it a pretty good dark & grim feeling, and I'll admit that some of the atmosphere within the film is very nice. The unfortunate thing is The Hallow never got much better after the first initial 30 minutes or so. It never got any worse, but it didn't exactly take off either.I'm actually surprised reading reviews that stated the movie was fast-paced as I found it to be anything but fast-paced and it got pretty slow in parts. There were moments where it moved a long at a decent enough pace with some good tension to accompany it, but to say the film was "fast-paced" is a bit much I feel.I definitely wouldn't say that The Hallow is one of the best British/Irish horror movies as there are much better (28 Days Later, Hellraiser, The Descent just to name a few), but it's also definitely not as bad as some people make it out to be.If you're a fan of (or open to watching) British horror films - low-budget or not - then I'd say that The Hallow is worth a shot. Just keep an open mind and don't put too much expectation into it.

Geoffrey Dover The Hallow is rather hollow, with a nerdy scientist, his resourceful wife and their infant son under siege in a house built within and slowly being subsumed by a surrounding forest. This after Adam, the scientist well played by Joseph Mawle, starts removing samples of tree bark and worm-infested rotting stone and wood from a supposedly enchanted forest. This results in retaliation from the forest dwellers. Was it surprising that the infant is eventually kidnapped by a gaggle of half decayed fairies and slime creatures? The creatures seem organized and rush Adam and family in strategic manner. The sequence of Adam becoming infected is a highlight, with his ultimate end story being entertaining. The character is hopelessly illogical in action. Every time he turns around he makes terrible decisions that endanger his young family. I could hear an imaginary 42nd Street theater audience hooting and hollering at this. His character is so irritating it sure takes a long time to get to some kind of resolution.... The fairies or whatever they are certainly have some kind of society, but the filmmakers ignore insights and go for chasey action in the decaying house. The ending with the two babies had me scratching my head. Well made but hampered by confusion.