The Hallow is, at a glance, a supernatural horror movie. But if you don't pay attention to the opening scene and a couple other key, if not obscure scenes throughout the story, you'll find yourself feeling a little lost in the woods like Adam and Claire are in most of this movie.

It's difficult to the say what this story is about as it's melange of different genres: supernatural/paranormal, creature, magical, pseudo-scientific. And that's why the plot fails. A black, tar-like substance that Adam finds in the opening scene of the movie is somehow supposed to explain the whole premise of the story. That the tar-like substance is actually a type of pathogen that infects humans. We have the Irish folklore of trolls and banshees as the backdrop to this premise, in that, the pathogen is actually the driving force of the legend, not the actual existence of magical woodland creatures.

However, that concept, in and of itself, is rather clever--until the second half of the story unfurls, in which Baby Finn becomes the denouement of the film. We are to believe that, after this assertion that the magical creatures of folklore are actually humans that have been transformed into this hideous creatures, that the folklore element of the changling is also real. But if there is this supposed rational, scientific explanation, this introduction of an actual evil and/or magical aspect completely upends the earlier concept of the story and completely messes up the whole movie. It makes no sense.

The plot is convoluted and over conceptualized, trying to do too much and add too much of this and that without any real focus. It started off with so much potential and then got stupid and silly by the second half. You have fairly decent actors and a perfect setting for a spooky watch but all you'll get is a confusing, incoherent mess. In horror movies, it's best to keep the concept simple. I also did not think that the writer/director utilized the baby at all, which was just a prop and nothing more even though the baby factors in the plot in a huge way towards the end.

Overall, The Hallow had more minuses than pluses. The acting was decent, the CGI/creature affects were pretty seamless and believable, the look and feel were also good. It had a lot of potential to be a solid movie but the failure of a focused plot sunk this into the hollowed halls of forgettable horror movies.

Warning SPOILERS! THE HALLOW (2015), is basically a "monsters in the woods" film with a few effective scenes. A conservationist from London, Adam (Joseph Mawle) travels to Ireland with his wife Clare (Bojana Novakovic) and young baby boy to survey an area in the Ireland forest believed to be hallowed ground (Which brings up a good question: How would a conservationist know it was hallowed land?) Adam searches the land and immediately comes upon a horde of tiny creatures who prey among the lost. Pretty soon Alan's windows are being broken (A window replacement man tells Adam, "If you trespass upon them, they'll trespass upon you"). It's not long before Adam and Clare's house is under full attack from the creatures, who ooze a slimy black liquid that could change people into one of them. Adam believes his baby boy is changing, but Clare doesn't, so there is also some internal strife inside the house. In fact, it is Alan who is changing and not the baby, which makes Clare run out into the forest (Not a good idea Clare!) to try and escape.. Alan goes running after her and subsequently finds the creature's home in a hollowed-out tree and it is full of the little buggers, who don't seem scared of Adam. Clare finds a house of a local resident and finds out the creatures are stealing the children of families (which could be why they are so small). The creatures kill Alan and Clare does something so stupid and unfathomable with her baby (yet it works) that she would be arrested for child endangerment in the U.S. But it satisfies both the creatures and at the end we see the creatures' land being destroyed by a logging company during the closing credits. That'll teach these creatures for fooling around with a woman! The last shot we see is a log on a truck covered with the slimy black substance, so the creatures will have to find a new home, hopefully not next to mine! Directed and co-written by first -time feature film director Corin Hardy (whose next film seems to be a remake of THE CROW, titled THE CROW REBORN!), who does one right thing that most "monsters in the woods" films don't: He actually gives us a clear view of the monsters. There is very little gore or blood, no nudity and no foul language that I could hear, which makes me wonder why this film got a "NOT RATED" tag (Probably because they never submitted the film to the MPAA) I have seen hundreds of these types of films and this one neither excites or makes you gasp. It just is what it is.

Okay, so here's the thing: when you hear about a horror story, taking place in Ireland, you assume it's going to be rich in Irish folklore or mythology, especially when, in the opening act, the story expressly says the word "faeries"; so, when that's the promise, when a fairy story is waved in my face and, instead of 'Pan's Labyrinth', I get 'The Last of Us' in the woods, pardon me if I'm not brimming with gratitude.

So, here's the plot: there's a goo, the goo turns people into "fairies", and then stuff happens. That's where faeries come from, boys and girl, goo. Kinduh slurps all the primeval romanticism out of the fairy tale concept, now, doesn't it? What's even more eye-rolling inducing is the fact that whoever wrote this script didn't understand that, as in any ANY genre, the best stories reveal their characters, what they want and what they need. The couple neither want nor need anything, so it's just a generic home invasion/survival horror story with a pseudo scientific coat of paint slapped on a fairy tale wrapper. In fact, the more I think about it the more underwhelming and wasteful this movie is. At best, it's sci-fi for people who don't like science and it's fantasy for people who don't like fantasy; of which I fall into neither camp. It's not science fantasy, like 'Star Wars', nor is it realistic fantasy, like 'The Exorcist'.

The good parts: To its credit, the cinematography was top notch, dovetailing with some superlative sound editing. There is great atmospheric tension (at least in the first half of this story) courtesy of these two essential elements. The practical effects and make up are also well done. The "fairies" look creepy but not for the right reasons. They look like gooey zombies and move like Gollum. They don't look fantastical like The Faceless Man or The Faun in 'Pan's Labyrinth', they don't look magical in any way, and that's fine, the Gremlins don't look magical, they look nature-made despite clearly being fantastical; but you have to pick a lane. Are they zombies or are they a whole nother species, like, name a fairy in 'Hell Boy 2'? You have to choose between being naturalistic or fantastical, and, no matter what lane you pick, you need to keep your promises. Don't say "fairies" and then give me zombies.

This is a great film that advocates for ecological responsibility, a warning from the deep mythological woods of Celtic Ireland. Great effects, great cinematography, great aesthetics: makeup, puppetry, computer effects all culminating into a visually sumptuous and powerfully tense hollow creatures (surreal embodiments of the ancient woods' power). The sparse presence of the actual of the dark woodland nymph creatures and their genesis / righteous reaction to humanity's invasion and parasitism, is seen on a cellular and ephemeral level, reminiscent of the zombie fungus cordyceps. The movies whole pattern and buildup is synchronized well. The actors were good, including the adorable dog and baby. Although their is loss in the film, their is a beautiful and bittersweet dedication to family, loss, and longing. Their is a respect for both Irish mythology and the Irish cause against the British; referencing, changelings, dark fairies,and wood nymphs all with a valid political and social contention for the destructive colonizing force of humanity. "You trespass on the hollow and it will trespass against you"; this brings up the moral question of who is in the wrong here really? Is it the humans who are just doing their job (begrudgingly) to support their family and study their passion or is it the forces of the hollow, who seem to have the only genuine and pure vested interest in the health and survival of natural habitats which sustain all living creatures, and are only rewarded with destruction and banishment from existence? This is one of those miraculous Indie films that are genuinely erudite in nature and is actually a really entertaining, stimulating, heart wrenching, spooky, non-pretentious, and well done horror film. I recommend this film gem.

I agree with others here who think this movie could have used a bit more story and characterization, at the expense of its monster effects (which are quite good). Instead it is a familiar man vs. nature sort of tale... with nature represented by forest goblins who might just be victims of a parasitic fungus. Either way, they can't stand bright lights or cold iron.
It's a perfectly good monster movie, but it obviously had the resources to be a bit more than the home invasion/creature feature it is. Maybe make the creatures less overtly malevolent, deal more with the moral quandry of deforestation, give the main characters some choices beyond where to run and hide.
So good... but ultimately forgettable, except for the creatures themselves.

It was pretty good @ maintaining tension, and was very atmostpheric. But it didn't give enough background into the antagonist & why they do what they do and exactly how they originated, though about halfway into the film, you pretty much figure out what's going to happen to the male lead. It leaves you with unsatisfactory ending that is very cliche' these days. U know --- the one where the main character(s) has seemingly overcome all of their odds & beat the villains, only to have something in the end signal "It's not really over!!" which usually is an indicator there could be a sequel *rolls eyes.* If you're goin to end a movie ---- end it. It makes no sense to have the protagonist go through hell to earn their victory, then U find out as the viewer & unbeknownst to the protagonist, that it was all for naught cuz the villain survived --- even if it was by-way-of another person, being, or channel. But the acting was good. It had potential to be a lot more that what it was, but as I said, not enough background into the folklore & the un-finished ending placed it among more common horror fare. But I wouldn't call it a total waste of time.

The first hour of this movie was very good. The acting was excellent and the director was able to establish a sense of mystery and impending dread with controlled precision. It's those final thirty minutes when the film goes completely off the rails. Adam and Clare are an English couple who move into an isolated Irish cottage in the middle of the woods with their infant son. It isn't clear what exactly Adam does. Is he a botanist? An environmentalist? Regardless, the three of them are clearly not welcomed by the locals who think they are trespassing on hallowed ground. Their neighbor, Colm, has continually warned them not to go into the woods and he becomes more and more menacing as Adam completely disregards him. You see, Irish legend says that these woods are ruled by the Hallow and by God, they do not want to be bothered. One local remarks that if you trespass on them, then they will most certainly trespass on you. It was at this point in the movie when everything started to nosedive. It was as if the film makers were eager to get the story over with. The careful pacing of that first hour dissolved into a by the numbers creature feature with characters doing mind-numbingly stupid things. For instance, there is a scene late in the film with Adam, Clare and their baby are trapped inside their cottage as the Hallow are trying to get in. Adam then inexplicably opens the front door that's only secured by a chain lock to see if they are still outside. Of course, the obvious happens. If there is a plus in these final thirty minutes, I'd have to say that the Hallow are excellently designed creatures using both practical and CGI effects. They're definitely scary. But in the end, I can't really recommend this film.

A baby in continuous jeopardy always incites a definite primal dread, especially when this poor baby is in the care of a dimwitted dad and a mother who would rather play fix-it with a gloomy old house they decide to call home. It’s not entirely clear why they are out in the middle of nowhere, deep in a dark woodland. He’s a scientist of a sort who likes spray painting Xs on trees. He also plays with a dead carcass while his son is strapped to his back! Supposedly, this careless dad is a conservationist, or does he work for a logging outfit? At any rate, he has a distant neighbor who is a bit touched, convinced that the fairies stole his daughter. Eventually, creepy things start happening. There’s something nasty in the woods. Too late they realize why there were iron bars on the windows and what a mistake it was removing them.

The creature design is interesting. The idea of a “mold” infecting living organisms is interesting but not fully developed. The action happens later rather than sooner. And it takes place at night, in the dark, with limited lighting. What you can’t see, you can’t be afraid of. They can call this a fairytale, they can call it mythology, they can call it a hole in the wall, it’s still just another creature feature.