Customer Reviews

Hallowed Ground

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hallowed Ground is one of those direct-to-DVD releases that you pick up off the rack at your local movie chain and instantly your gut tells you to pass on it... but against your better judgement you decide to take a chance on it, "hey, maybe it'll even suprise me" you wonder aloud (to wich you may or may not recieve some odd looks). Well, unfortunately this one gives you exactly what you expected. This is the story of the town known as Hope (groan) and the evil preacher that sacrificed "sinners" by hanging them as living scarecrows to keep the crops healthy. Eventually the neighboring town finds out and hangs him as a scarecrow... then burns him alive, his final words being "I'll be back" or something to that effect. Fast forward to the present as our female lead (Jaime Alexander who's solid throughout, although her running could be considerably more convincing) gets broken down in Hope a 100 years after the aforementioned events and just in time for the ancient evil to be resurrected. The plot is pretty busy here and they seem to jam plenty of ideas together (probably too many), which results in odd spots of exposition with characters ranting important plot threads to keep us in the loop. The movie also commits the cardianl sin of attempting CGI effects without the budget to get away with it (you'll see what I mean within the first 5 minutes and especially in the finale). The movie isn't a complete waste of time and provides a few decent moments but overall I'd recommend the recently exhumed 1980's film Scarecrows for better killer-on-a-stick entertainment.

HALLOWED GROUND reminded me of some of those horror films from the seventies where a young girl must free herself from religious fanatics and the spirit of a crazed minister who is inhabiting a scarecrow. Jaime Alexander (REST STOP) plays Liz, a young girl just out of a failed relationship whose car breaks down in a town called Hope. She pairs up with reporter Hudson Leick who tells her the town's sinister history and invites her to go to the farm of the evil minister; that's when the horror begins.
The movie's pacing is quite quick and it has an ominous air to it. Not a classic, but far above many of the SAW IMITATIONS and torture flicks glutting the market.

Hallowed Ground (David Benullo, 2007)

I must be going soft in my old age. I watched two SFCOMs this weekend, and (to some extent, mind you-- I didn't say I was going senile) I enjoyed both. Hallowed Ground doesn't have nearly the potential that Something Beneath did, but it delivered what was expected, and despite the godawful low-budget special effects, it was a pretty fun little movie.

The plot: Liz Chambers (Kyle XY's Jaimie Alexander), on the run from something traumatic in her past (we find out what later in the film), has her car mysteriously break down near the town of Hope, a nasty little piece of rural America where, we find out in the opening scene, a psychotic preacher spent many years crucifying folks as live sacrifices to ensure a good harvest back in the nineteenth century. In this extremely odd town, Liz meets plucky reporter Sarah (Chill Factor's Hudson Leick), who's doing a story on the preacher for a tabloid, and after some prodding, Liz decides to tag along to the preacher's farm with Sarah for a photo shoot. The two of them build a scarecrow and erect it on the site where the preacher is buried. Complications ensue when the spirit of the preacher possesses the scarecrow so he can be reborn. (The ins and outs of this process are a little complex.) The only person in town Liz can find to help her out is the sheriff (I Know Who Killed Me's Brian McNamara), who's also an outsider. All the rest of the townsfolk, well, they're kinda weird.

Benullo's first feature film is derivative, silly, and low-budget, but he wasn't really aiming for deathless cinema here. If you enjoy mindless monster movies, this should be right up your alley; it's fast-paced, fun, not that horribly acted, and is actually shot well enough that you can see what's going on the entire time ("too dark to see" has been an increasingly annoying feature of low-budget horror flicks in the past decade or so). Yeah, you've seen it before, but so what? There are seven basic plots, every movie uses one of 'em. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. ***

It's hard to find a low budget horror film that's not a rip off of a bigger movie or a sequel. Hallowed Ground is neither. It's an original, well acted, movie with just the right amount of gore and plenty of scares. And what really makes this film cook is Jaimie Alexander's performance. There wasn't a moment in the film that felt false. Unlike most horror shows were the girls do a lot screaming and call it acting, Alexander is very believable. Don't worry, I'm not her manager or her boyfriend, I'm just a horror fan who's seen enough to know when something is really working and she totally kept me in the story. Cool deadly scarecrow and good scary music put this one high on my Halloween list.

I admit it--scarecrows are freakin' scary! After all, being scary is in the job description. It's part of the name. So when a horror film promises to revolve around an ambulatory scarecrow, I know there's potential for some scary fun. I mean, for me at least, a creepy scarecrow automatically raises a film's fright factor. And provided the filmmakers didn't muck it up too much, the film shouldn't be a total waste of my time.

Sadly, the folks behind the 2007 direct-to-DVD film HALLOWED GROUND (2007) did, indeed, muck it up a bit. Oh, there IS a creepy scarecrow in the flick, and that scarecrow IS possessed by the spirit of a dead preacher and therefore walks around and kills a few people. As the plot progresses, however, the spirit that animates the scarecrow moves on to possess something else, thus turning the actual scarecrow itself into just another inanimate background prop.

To make up for the loss of the spooky walking-dead scarecrow, the filmmakers bring in a group of rural religious fanatics who have slipped totally off their proverbial rockers. A good move, you might be thinking, as the only thing scarier than a rotting, ambulatory scarecrow is a mob of over-zealous religious nuts. But, alas, there's nothing very spooky or original about this group of spiritually dubious rednecks. I mean, we've seen 'em before--they were there in the movies THE DARK SECRET OF HARVEST HOME (1978) and CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984), to name just a few--and all they really want to do is impregnate the heroine so that their fallen leader can be reborn. True, they off a few folks who try to get in their way. But that's what horror-movie religious nuts usually do. Yawn.

Something else that reduces the fright factor of HALLOWED GROUND are the special FX, almost all of which are conspicuous CG add-ons. The flock of killer crows, the burning bodies, you name it--it all looks like computer-drawn cartoons superimposed over live-actions shots. Did these filmmakers really believe that we, the modern horror audience, would be scared or creeped-out by something that is obviously a cartoon? Puh-leeese!

Surprisingly, HALLOWED GROUND contains practically no skin and very little genuine gore. This might be forgivable if the filmmakers were obviously attempting to create an old-school type of horror flick, one that relies on a strong story or spooky ambiance to generate scares. Like something along the lines of, say, THE FLY (1958), THE HAUNTING (1963) or even NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968). But HALLOWED GROUND tries to be too hip and modern, and with a plot revolves around twisted religion and impregnation, the film just screams for a little bit of T&A...and copious gore.

Now, to be fair, I must admit that HALLOWED GROUND is not without its good points. First off, the film's opening-credit sequence, which follows a short expository lead-in scene, includes some really cool graphic art that alludes to the film's major plot elements. Secondly, the aforementioned scarecrow is pretty cool and creepy, even if it doesn't get nearly enough screen time. And finally, the acting (at least from all the principals) is really good. Portraying the film's heroine, Jaimie Alexander--whom genre fans might recognize from 2006's torture-porn horror flick Rest Stop--creates a very convincing and affecting portrait of a city girl who faces peril down on the farm, and actor Ethan Phillips--well-known to SF fans for his portrayal of the extraterrestrial Neelix on TV's STAR TREK: VOYAGER--is excellent as the smarmy preacher who shepherds the film's flock of evil rednecks.

2007's direct-to-DVD film HALLOWED GROUND has a creepy-cool scarecrow on the jacket that suggests there's a good scare flick within, but the film just really doesn't deliver on that promise. The scarecrow itself only turns up in a small portion of the film, and the other genre elements are mostly cliche and simply don't compensate for the lack of a ubiquitous monster. Considering that the film is direct-to-DVD and unrated, there's a surprising lack of the skin and blood that many modern horror filmmakers use to pad out the scares. So all in all, most genre fans will be disappointed with this flick.

In short, horror fans should steer clear of HALLOWED GROUND. Those who want to see a genuinely spooky scarecrow flick might do better with William Wesley's SCARECROWS (1988) or even Victor Salva's JEEPERS CREEPERS, both of which are, as of this writing, readily available on DVD.

Hallowed Ground is one of those quasi-religious horror yarns that you've seen before in different iterations, meaning you're not getting anything new here, but then again, you probably already knew that. Jaimie Alexander (Rest Stop) stars as Liz, a girl on the run from her past that winds up in a small town, and learns that she well may be part of a prophecy involving the resurrection and rebirth of the town's demonic old preacher (a briefly seen, scenery-chewing Nick Chinlund). Taking many cues from Children of the Corn and its ilk, Hallowed Ground isn't anything terrible in the least, but as said before, it isn't anything you haven't seen before either. The acting isn't completely horrible (which is a nice change of pace), but the effects work is pretty bad in itself. Either way, you probably know what you're getting into with Hallowed Ground, so don't say you weren't warned.

This is a must see film. Yes I am in it. I am a featured extra in it. I went to work on it for 1 day, and wound up in the whole movie. When you watch it, I'm the long haired, bearded guy at the counter. It was a great experience working with David Bunello the Director. The cast had several friends of mine. I have worked with several of them since then. I also have a film I am working on producing/acting in. Jaimie Alexander has expressed interest in the lead role for the film. I hope to work together again with these great people. Enjoy the film.

Hallowed Ground is one of the best horror films of all time. I first saw it on the Syfy Channel and within the first 10 minutes, I was sold. Don't hold back. Even if you have never seen this film before, go on ahead and buy it. You won't be disappointed!

SARA AND LIZ GO TO THE PLACE WHERE A LEGEND TOOK PLACE.WHILE THERE-SARA GOT THE IDEA TO PUT UP A SCARECROW.SOON AFTER-THE SCARECROW JUMPED OFF THE CROSS,AND PUT SARA ON THE CROSS.HE ALSO PUT NAILS ALL AROUND AND IN HER MOUTH AND TEETH.LIZ CAME BACK,AND THE SCARECROW ATTACKED HER.SHE ESCAPES HIM.LIZ IS TO MAKE THE PREACHER REBORN/THE SCARECROW BY GETTING PREGNANT.THE CHILD WILL BE HIM REBORN.LIZ HAS THE SYMBOL TATTOED ON HER BACK THAT'S THE SAME SYMBOL IN THEIR BIBLE.AS SOON AS THE BABY'S BORN-THE SPIRIT OF THE PREACHER/THE SCARECROW,WILL GO INTO THE BABY.LIZ RAN AWAY FROM THE TOWNSPEOPLE.WHEN SHE MADE IT TO TOWN TO USE THE PHONE AND TO GET HELP,THERE WERE PEOPLE HUNG UP AND NAILED TO CROSSES ALL OVER THE PLACE.THIS IS A REALLY GOOD MOVIE.IT'S NOT SCAREY.SOME SUSPENSE.IT'S DIFFERENT.IT'S INTERESTING.YOU WANT TO WATCH IT TO SEE WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT.

i loved jaime alexanders performance in rest stop so i got on imdb to see what else shes done and saw this and thought it looked decent plus i bought a used cheap one from here so wasnt really a loss, but anyway i would of gave this 3 stars but jaime alexander is so hot i gave it 4. it is pretty ok though.