Hallowed Ground

HALLOWED GROUND is a peculiar little movie. Good camera work. Decent actors. And dull as watching paint dry.

Somebody forgot that the first six letters in "thriller" are t-h-r-i-l-l. The object is to make people's pulses race, not to put the audience to sleep.

Elizabeth's car breaks down in a strange (and underpopulated) little town. She gets it to a garage, only to be told that the needed part can't be gotten until tomorrow. Stranded.

She goes to a diner and gets into a conversation with a tabloid reporter conveniently in town to do a story on strange events in the area many years ago. The reporter conveniently provides exposition establishing the main conflict that the story will cover.

And so we're treated to Elizabeth's adventures trying to escape a crazed cult. So we have a little CHILDREN OF THE CORN, a touch of THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and a dash of those movies Hammer Studios made where Christopher Lee's cult got outsmarted by Peter Cushing. For seasoning add a cute little girl. But no original ideas involved.

This would have been a great thirty minute episode of Tales from the Darkside. But stretching it to feature length was just cruel.

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.

While decidedly overdone, and giving us an early taste of weak CGI that threatens our suspension of disbelief, the opening scene is mildly promising as a suggestion of what the narrative could be. The opening credits display a list of names that offer a world of welcome possibility, and I can't help but be mildly gleeful at finding out that composer extraordinaire Neil Acree lends his talents for this feature; even the first few themes we get to hear are quietly inspiring. Even with his involvement, though, it's very fair to enter 'Hallowed ground' with at best mixed expectations - after all, it was released direct-to-video, and had its grand premiere on... the Sci-Fi Channel.

Yet then, before 15 minutes have passed, we get an absolute treat: purposefully, abjectly over the top, and more than a little tongue-in-cheek comedic horror. The glassy-eyed stare townspeople give protagonist Liz is delightfully hammy, while Hudson Leick gives reporter Sarah the same intense, wild energy she brought to villain Callisto in 'Xena: Warrior princess' - while gushing a veritable flood of exposition within 5 minutes. Why, she even gets to deliver an outstanding pun, and inorganically speak the film's title aloud, only a few minutes later! Nick Chinlund happily chews scenery in what we see of town founder Jonas Hathaway, while one small embellishment after another greets our vision. 'Hallowed ground' actively, willfully declines any sense of subtlety, and with that it becomes a wonderful, jolly good time very quickly.

The plot is kind of light, and one or two details are perhaps not really explained, but it's plentifully sufficient in light of what this movie wants to be. Jaimie Alexander, playing it straight in the lead role, offers a nice contrast of some nuance and range relative to the deliberate bombast we get otherwise. The unbothered fun includes the appearance of Ethan Phillips, whose soft timbre is so out of place in a horror flick that it would be impossible to take 'Hallowed ground' totally seriously even if it wanted us to - I mean, just imagine if John Fiedler, long-time voice of Winnie the Pooh, appeared in a similar prominent role. Dialogue and scene writing bears a lot of familiar slasher notions, all but tropes - but they're done well such as they are. While the narrative includes ideas that could easily be played to earnest, terrifying ends - religious zealotry, a long-simmering conspiracy, coordinated movement against an innocent woman - here they are amplified to a degree that only amplifies the pomposity.

True, 'Hallowed ground' is a bit inconsistent. For all the consciously overcooked bluster that initially greets us, in the second half that aspect takes a backseat and it feels like writer-director David Benullo was aiming for more straightforward horror thrills. Then, too, we get a small scene imparting the protagonist's backstory, and it's an intended emotional beat that here just seems out of place. The computer-generated special effects are an eyesore - glimpsed in the opening scene, and regrettably far more prevalent at the climax. An early passing line of throwaway dialogue includes an utterly unnecessary transphobic slur. And, while part of a cohesive, coherent narrative, a content warning should be mentioned for themes of sexual assault.

Still, where the narrative writing falters, rather than sloppiness I think this is more a reflection of the concept just not entirely working as intended. Because by and large, I think this is actually fairly well done. There's just enough personality to most characters so they don't feel entirely flat and dull; there's some intelligence in the dialogue, and the scenario; the scene writing seems fairly tight. A bit rough at the start, overall I think Keith Duggan's cinematography is suitably rich and crisp. Blood and gore looks fine. And while Benullo's list of credits doesn't particularly bat an eye, he demonstrates some capability in arranging some nice shots. From a technical standpoint, and in the broad strokes of the writing, I don't see any major issues with this movie.

The chief fault as I see it is simply that 'Hallowed ground' doesn't have one consistent tone. It's hilarious at the outset, catching us off guard, before easing into a more serious air of horror. It's possible that transition was intentional, but either way, the shift is noticeable and comes across as a tad incongruent; to have stuck with one mood throughout would have strengthened the whole. Regardless, I began watching with very low expectations, and was surprised at how enjoyable the picture turned out to be. It's hardly essential - whatever flavor of horror film you're looking for, there are better examples, and I can only offer a soft recommendation. When all is said and done, though, I found this duly entertaining, and I'm reasonably sure that, if nothing else is true, was the intent all along. So, even if imperfect, I'd call this a success.

A mediocre "remote religious community with a stupid cult" horror, in the "Children of Corn" manner. I watched it because of Chloë Grace Moretz and Jaimie Alexander, it wasn't boring, but soon I won't have any idea that I watched it, let alone what it was about. Within the genre, it can pass with the weaker

6/10

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.