The Hallow or The Woods as it is otherwise known is a UK/Irish collaboration. Its by no means a mainstream horror flick, yet, in spite of its humble credentials, its actually not half bad.
The scares in The Hallow come on on quite early and linger till "after" the closing credits. This should make the impatient viewer quite happy. There is a nominal amount of ratcheting up the tension in this film which is followed by an abundance of reasonably well executed creature scares. The creatures themselves tap into a supposedly Irish mythology about spirits and fairy like creatures that "assimilate" those who violate their forest haven.
There's a lot to like here. The setting is suitably creepy, the premise is well established and convincing. What's also refreshing is the couples very sane reaction when confronted with the creatures, that is, to run like hell.
Perhaps the only downside to this film, I felt, was its early introduction of the monsters. I believe this film would have been more effective with a more gradual application of tension and maybe another ten-fifteen minutes run time.
That said, The Hallow still hits all the right horror buttons and does so in a convincing and creative manner. Eight out of ten from me.
