Hallowed Ground

JAIMIE Alexander is a young woman who inadvertently stumbles upon a town full of loonies who believe a legend about a demented preacher involved in human sacrifices. The ghost of a town is the wrong place for a gal like Alexander to be, for she's in immediate peril from them and a scarecrow that comes to life.

It's all very reminiscent of every horror film ever made about cornfields and "children of the corn" and skies full of menacing black crows. This one had a lot of potential if it knew that the real scares would come from the scarecrow coming to life and had developed that theme in a more compelling way. The scarecrow angle could have been played for better thrills.

BRIAN McNAMARA, as the town sheriff who knows more than he's willing to say about everything, is fine, but JAIMIE Alexander gives the impression that she's not capable or willing to give the role of the distraught woman more than a basic reading.

I just happened to come across it while surfing cable TV and stayed tuned to see whether it developed into a logical fright film. It didn't. Too many loopholes and implausible circumstances throughout, but it was at least an average thriller of its kind. The cornfield scenes were extremely well photographed but there was a tacky "direct to TV" look about the rest of the film.

Most reviews make this out to be horrid. I watched it because of Jaimie Alexander and Hudson Leick. I wasn't expecting very much, especially with plot keywords like "Killer scarecrow", and it's not my particular favorite horror sub-genre.

In the end, it wasn't that bad. It was somewhat predictable, falling prey to many clichés of the genre. It had a couple twists to make it seem to break away though. Overall the acting was OK...some of the townspeople seemed a little cardboard, but the leads do a good job.

It could have done with a few less scenes of people running through cornfields, but at 83 minutes with credits, I think it needed all the time it could get. If you like Jaimie, it's a good view. While the storyline is a little generic, overall it is mostly put together well and better than some things out there.

Hallowed Ground was neither a good or great movie. In my eyes, I'd say it was mediocre. I did like the stylish camera work, there are some haunting moments in the score, the acting is decent considering what they had to work with and there are a few good ideas in the mix. On the other hand, while not bottom-of-the-barrel awful, the effects do still have a rather cheap look to them, the scarecrow is alright but not as menacing as he should be as a result. The characters are clichéd and not really that engaging and the script has a rather stilted nature about it, but the biggest let down was the story, which promised much but was too derivative and dull in alternative to thrilling and atmospheric. All in all, not good and disappointing but not as bad as some have made out. 4/10 Bethany Cox

I don't care for thrillers, however, this one was better than most I've been forced to watch. I saw it on Sci-Fi, and watched it from beginning to end.

That, in and of itself, speaks volumes about the film. I'm not one to watch films if I become bored or if I dislike it.

The highlight for me was a stupid bird flu joke, which, now, I cannot recall. It will drive me crazy all day. Care to help a gal? I enjoyed the film... was drawn into it and had the opportunity to leave half-way through it... but stayed til the end just because I was having a good time.

It was enjoyable. Not bad.

This is my first IMDb review, and I'll keep it short.

I watched this movie on the sci-fi channel during the never ending writers strike when nothing good was on TV. I expected it to be a poorly acted generic horror flick, which it was. The acting wasn't AWFUL, but it was far from good. The plot was really bland and predictable. It basically borrows from classic horror flicks (e.g. Children of the Corn) and doesn't contain much in the way of originality. Also, I am incredibly easily creeped out by horror movies, and this barely had an effect on me.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend it. It isn't scary, the acting and characters make you cringe constantly, and there isn't anything interesting about the story.