"If you trespass upon them, they will trespass upon you."
The Hallow is a creature feature that takes its inspiration from Irish folklore. At its heart, this movie is an environmental cautionary tale that warns against the danger of trespassing on and violating nature. That said, it is not preachy. It simply uses this angle as the premise for the main conflict.
Adam and Clare are a young couple who have just moved into a remote house located by a forest. While a run-down fixer-upper of a home may not be the most ideal place to raise their baby, Finn, the surrounding forest provides job security for Adam, who is an arborologist and intends on cutting down trees with black fungus. The problem is that the townsfolk are against this, for they believe that the trees belongs to magical forest folk known as The Hallow, or as one policeman phrases it, "fairies, banshees and baby stealers".
The movie takes it's time to establish its main players and premise, and it is not afraid to let the viewer stew in a vague sense of dread before kicking off the action. However, once it gets going, the film grips you with its tension and takes you for a thrill ride! The meat of the conflict manages to combine a few different ideas, such as monster movie, home invasion, and even body horror, and transmute it into a unique and memorable story. It's also not afraid to pull from Irish folklore and give those ideas a modern twist.
Joseph Mawle as Adam had quite an interesting role, as his character goes through a transformation that is smartly kept ambiguous, leaving the viewer questioning his decisions. Bojana Novakovic, who plays Clare, is very convincing as a mother who struggles to overcome the horror of the situation in order to do whatever it takes to protect her child from the creatures. Speaking of which, the monsters were very well-designed, and effectively scary. They showed off some unique abilities that made sense as to their nature.
An a side note, this movie is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The forest is a vibrant green, its branches letting occasional streams of light into its darkened paths. Director Corin Hardy certainly wanted his film to have visual appeal, and it shows.
On the downside, the potential for exploring more of the Irish folklore definitely had me wanting more. The movie would tease me with a reference to iron on windows, or a huge fairy tale book that we were allowed to glimpse a few pages of. It felt like there was room for a lot more enrichment. The same goes for the creatures. Don't get me wrong; they were mighty effective at being threatening. But I expected the final act to ramp up their size and scope and go all-out. That never happened. Ah well, can't have everything.
Still, what the film did offer was a tension-filled jaunt with plenty of scares, that continuously upped the stakes and gave a satisfying conclusion. It's definitely an above-average monster movie.
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