Cherry Tree

Strange to see that this flick has a low rating. Of course I can understand it because it's not a typical horror. It's all about witchcraft but it take a while before things go awry.

But for me it immediately got my attention from the start. And i agree, you have to wait until the end before the real horror comes in and in between it's a bit of a normal story, maybe the story itself isn't that strong but I still found it worth picking up. In Belgium and the Netherlands this flick is well promotes even as it is a Irish flick because it's been supported by Jan Doense well known in both countries for his addiction to horror. And naturally at film festivals it was programmed by him.

The story is simple, a girl her father is dying but she's been bullied aged 15 and still being a virgin. A new teacher at school watches her closely and brings her into witchcraft. If she gets pregnant then the witch promise her she will heal her father. But there's one thing she must agree, she has to give over the baby to the witch to be offered to the Devil.

For the geeks this will be indeed be a no go flick but if you are a newbie then just pick it up. If you are a geek and can stand horrors without to much horror just until the end, pick it up too.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

What if you moved The Wicker Man to Ireland?

Cherry Tree

The film is a blatant rip off of both The Wicker Man and another recent British film called Wake Wood, its a tale of selling souls to a larger more sinister force. A bit of witchcraft a bit of devil worship and it's all tied together in a neat little bow.

The story is simplistic and a nice view of Irish life, it's a little predictable and a little uncaring but on the whole it's good stuff.

Cherry Tree seems to get a lot of flack, but it's really not that bad, it's a quirky way to end a day, a different way. It's nothing you've not Sen before, but it's also very much something we've not seen in a while.

Good effort Ireland.

I see other reviews calling this a rip off of other film ideas, but is that not simply a genre? Is every vampire film a rip off of Nosferatu? Every werewolf film a rip off of The Wolf man? You get the idea. It's an OK film, seen far worse.

The one thing that got me is why every cast member had an English accent when it was clearly filmed in Ireland?

CHERRY TREE is an Irish horror yarn that comes to us courtesy of the team behind Hammer's WAKE WOOD. I didn't like WAKE WOOD much, finding it an uninspired copy of PET SEMATARY, and CHERRY TREE in turn is a somewhat weak retread of ROSEMARY'S BABY except done on a low budget and lacking that classic film's atmosphere of deceit and dread.

Saying that, this isn't a bad film at all. It's quite well made and I appreciate what the filmmakers were trying to do here. A young cast give performances that are pretty good for a genre flick, with lead actress Naomi Battrick very effective as a protagonist who must find reserves of inner strength in order to fight some very literal demons.

As a horror film, CHERRY TREE goes for the gross-out approach throughout, with some very gory moments included particularly towards the climax. KILL LIST is another film that this one appears to be indebted to. The director also has an obsession with centipedes, although they're included as random CGI nasties here rather than being truly disgusting as in an '80s Hong Kong horror flick like CENTIPEDE HORROR. Anna Walton (who played the elfin princess in HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY) is highly effective in a crucial role.

There is nothing wrong copying a classic (at least that's how I feel, I know some people think this is sacrilege). There is something wrong if you don't do it right though. I'm still being nice considering how bad the acting and the script for this is. It's not that the actors in this try to be bad, but sometimes the script is not helping you do your work either.

There is nudity and blood though, so if you are into exploitation sort of, you may find things that are at least a bit exciting. So this is more graphic than Rosemarys baby for example, because it can. It doesn't elevate it or bring it close enough to even make it a contender. If you like filth, go ahead watch, but don't forget: you've been warned