Wake Wood

Love these tucked away films that you chance upon. Nice, neat, right running time, little shocker.

Its the premise thats of interest here and fascinating. A youngish couple losing their only child (and she says she cant have any more)and then given the chance to have her back, as she was, but for only three days. Given the emotional turmoil involved, and the couples position (a split is also on the cards), how many couples would go along with this. I suspect quite a few.

This also comes along with i) not everyone playing by the rules i.e. lying (how long girl was dead) and ii) it comes at a price! The viewer knows this, he's watched a lot of horror films.

Like the Irish feel, the ancient ways handed down in a localised village, the underlying creepy atmosphere, then again balanced by the modern i.e. the wind machines at the boundaries of the village.

Nice touch with the life cycle, from death comes rebirth; the mixture of births e.g the dead rebirths, cesarean of the cows, and even Alice pulls her doll through a rubbish bag.

Maybe Brendan Gleason ought to have played the squire, Timothy Spalls accent was a bit suspect.

I was happy when I heard that Hammer studios was back in business. So far they delivered 2 flicks, The Resident (2011) and this one. Wake Wood leans more towards the Hammer style then The Resident although both do have their own thing. Wake Wood has more red stuff. But that doesn't make a flick. My only point of negativity is the use of CGI. There is one scene that I didn't like, when they make a close-up of the child's neck and we see her wounds disappear. It was done 100% CGI and I hated it. I guess one shot is also CGI, when blood sputters out of a neck.

But luckily the film has a good atmosphere. It takes place in Ireland and let that be the country of Paganism and Witchcraft. And that is what it's all about. Bringing back the death by old rituals. As I stated it do contain a lot of blood but it never becomes too gory. It was David Keating his first attempt to make a real horror. And he succeeded. Some shots were typical seventies style , even hammer style and the way it was edited was also a return to the seventies. The acting was okay. Only Eva Birthistle we knew from the horror The Children (2008). She even has a small nudity in Wake Wood.

If I must choose which one, Wake Wood or The Resident, leans most to the old Hammer I would say wake Wood.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

I watched this film a few weeks ago and i found it to be a very good horror film. i found it to be a very gripping sort of film with some nice views of the Irish countryside. It is about a young couple whose daughter is torn to death by an angry Alsatian not very far from their home. To get over the terrible loss of their daughter they decide to start a new life in Ireland in a small village called Wake Wood. Soon after they arrive there the girl's mother Louise finds that the local villagers are involved in some rather unusual behaviour. I found this film to be very entertaining throughout, with a very good storyline. I thought that the young girl's parents Patrick (Aidan Gillen) and Louise (Eva Birthistle) were very good actors too. I would definitely recommend this film: 6/10

Following the unnecessary, yet excellent remake 'Let me In' Hammer returns with Wake Wood a supernatural chiller in which a child is brought back from the dead to comfort her parents for three days. But she's not quite the angelic child she was.

Eva Birthistle plays the grieving mother Louise and Twelve Rounds (2009) bad guy Adian Gillen is exceptional as the deceased child's father. Reliable Timothy Spall and the child actress are notable and the supporting cast are solid. 

There's some effective bloody gore, grizzly births, severed spines, dog attacks and killings. Some supernatural elements take place out of shot to avoid the use of CGI, which adds to the believability and saves the budget.

Wake Wood is dark, damp and dreary just as it should be. Nevertheless, it is slightly stifled by a filmed for TV look. That aside, with a small budget director David Keating keeps the blood flowing and the pace going.  It benefits from plausibility and atmosphere with an on location shoot. There's plenty of shadows, eerie music, sharp editing and a grounded screen-play (by Brendan McCarthy) to keep you watching with a grin that Hammer may have a place in this century.

With elements of  Don't Look Now, Case 39, Carrie, The Wicker Man and Pet Cemetery to name a few you could argue it's all be done before and better. However, Wake Wood's great ending debatably leaves you thinking sometimes less is more.

Even though they will forever remain linked to Peter Cushing, Christoper Lee and a whole variety of immortal Gothic horror movies produced during the sixties and seventies, it's still tremendously great news that Hammer Studios are back in business! The legendary British studios, of which I loved nearly everything they ever accomplished, make an exquisite comeback with the traditionally themed and old-fashioned spooky "Wake Wood". The plot borrows obvious and less obvious elements from a handful of famous genre classics, but it nevertheless stands on its own as a solid and competent horror movie that is occasionally very tense, disturbing and repulsive. Approximately one year after they tragically lost their only daughter in a rabid dog attack, the emotionally wrecked couple Patrick and Louise move to the small farmers' community of Wakewood, where he takes up his profession as a veterinary and she re-opens the local pharmacy. The town's patriarch Arthur informs Patrick and Louise that the entire town of Wakewood participates in a secluded and very secret Pagan ritual. Through the cadaver of a freshly deceased villager, Arthur can bring another dead person back to life for a period of three days, so that his/her family can spend some beautiful last moments together and properly prepare their goodbye. There are a few strict rules, however, including that the resurrected person's passing was less than one year ago and that he or she is forbidden to leave the town's perimeters. Blinded by their desire to be reunited with their daughter, the couple takes the risk of altering a few facts and convinces the town to bring back their beloved Alice. Needless to say horrible events ensue, as Alice doesn't exactly return as the cute and cherubic girl she once was… As said, "Wake Wood" clearly sought inspiration with some genuine classics, like "Pet Sematery" (bringing back a dead child), "The Wicker Man" (the entire town participating in the pagan ritual) and "Don't Look Now" (processing the tragic loss of child). This isn't a negative comment; however, as writer/director David Keating processes the subject matter in a respectable way and adds a modern and personal touch wherever possible. Arguably, the film is somewhat too slow-paced and pretentious in terms of editing (too many collages and brief insignificant flashbacks), but you can't really blame a film crew for trying to be stylish, now can you? The climax is a bit of a letdown, mainly because the events are too hectic, incoherent and also all of a sudden extremely cruel and sadist. There were some violent parts and grisly images throughout the entire film, like the harrowing dog attack at the beginning and the macabre Wakewood ritual, but the last ten minutes are really quite sick. It's a shame to let the movie end in such a negative and illogical way. Terrific acting performances here as well, particularly from the reliable Timothy Spall ("Sweeney Todd" and the "Harry Potter" franchise) as the town patriarch. Very much recommended, can't wait to see what Hammer does next.