Hallowed

I remember seeing the tagline "Say Your Prayers" which got me to give it a whirl. When I saw it last month, I really dug it! This reminds you of a great 1980's era horror flick with routine scare tactics, but done with good acting and a fast paced style. I almost didn't see it when I heard it was compared to "Halloween" which didn't work for me, I'm glad I made the trip to the city to check it out though as I found it to be better than Halloween. What I liked most were the killing scenes, which are really freaky and have a no holds barred style to them. I liked Cassie and her friends a lot as well as Father Jacob who was kind of freaky to me. Also, Gabriel is a good sick & twisted relentless killer...If you like 1980's era horror films, you will most likely enjoy this film. A good old-fashioned horror film that does what it intends to do: scare you.

A little different horror movie than the in-your-face brutal slashers as Saw & Hostel (which doesn't do it for me) Hallowed delivered what it promised... a retrospect horror film. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this film was released back in the 80's. The story was simple; there was suspense, some scares and even a little blood. No heads were ripped off and no flesh-eating zombies. Just a scary tale about a disturbed man terrorizing a small California city.

Of course the film isn't perfect. I rated it a solid "8" because it held my attention with great camera movement, awesome lighting and an eerie soundtrack, but some of the performances were less than perfect but you could tell the director did a good job despite the obvious lack of $$$.

I thought for sure I was going to regret buying this film after the DVD caught my eye on the shelf of my video store, but I took the gamble anyway being the horror fanatic that I am. First of all, I recently bought Harvest of Fear and Heebie Jeebies (other indie horror films at the same level) and hated both of them. Hallowed, although I didn't love or anything, did hold my interest and by the end of the film I found myself thinking it wasn't that bad. The acting needed to be better, but I thought the filmmakers did a decent job and the music was great in my opinion. So all in all Hallowed is a decent horror film and I'm glad I got a copy.

What sets hallowed apart from other films I have seen that could be considered a "B" movie? Well for starters, it overuses every cliché in the book, and does it with class. The killings? they're cheesy beyond belief, and the ending? WOW is all I can say. I laughed, I jumped, I thought, and I trembled. The film was shot on digital, which worked perfect for the film because of the flexibility it offers. Deep down I know it wanted to be serious, but it was so hard to do so. The dialogue invoked chuckles, the acting was stiff, and the plot, well lets say you could eliminate some walking for some solid prologue and epilogue space. BUT. That said, I enjoyed watching this film from start to finish because I expected nothing and received a pure gem. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes horror or "B" movies.

I caught this film in New York and have to say that for what I was expecting I was pleasantly surprised.

As with any slasher, the story isn't overly complicated, although it does make you (the audience) ask a few questions, and unfortunately (or fortunately however you look at it) some of those questions aren't revealed. My guess is that the director did it that way on purpose and maybe the DVD will have all the answers.

Most of the actors were believable, with the exception of the dude playing Gabriel who was stale and weak, but the picture/audio/lighting and music were all very pro. There are some creepy moments in the film and a few classic pop out scenes as well. It's definitely worth checking out.