Creepy children have a well-established role in the history of horror films. Think Damien in the Omen, Regan from The Exorcist, the twin girls in The Shining, the boy in the potato sack mask from The Orphanage and every child in the Village of the Damned. There is something really terrifying about evil children: apparently ‘innocent’ offspring gone wrong.
Weird rural villages with secret customs also have a place in the gothic trajectory. And Ireland’s rural landscape is connected with its own particular morbid pagan mythologies such as changelings and banshees.
Mix together a creepy child with a rural Irish village and add many of the classic terror devices of the legendary Hammer horror production company and you’ll have a sense of Wake Wood.
Louise (Eva Birthistle) and Patrick (Aidan Gillen) are a young couple who move to the rural village of Wake Wood after the horrific death of their only daughter who was viciously mauled to death by a dog, their relationship strained by the weight of their grief. They are outsiders in Wake Wood and this is obvious in every way, even down to the clothes they wear.
Cue eerie music, a car breaking down on a country road, a torch that fails to work and the ultimate slasher movie no-no when Louise wanders off on her own to look for help. She stumbles upon the villagers practicing an ancient pagan ritual which can bring back the dead for three days only, after which they must be returned. Desperate for more time with their daughter, the couple ask the assistance of the villagers. But Louise and Patrick must agree to the conditions of the Wake Wood clique and breaking them will have serious consequences.
This film borrows the best parts from the Hammer horror genre mixing ominous music and atmospheric shots with gruesome bloody animal scenes (Patrick is the village vet) and occasional jumpy frights. Wake Wood echoes both the good and the bad of low-budget horror, and whether you like to see a bloody organ ripped from a body or not is really a matter of personal taste. At times Wake Wood could be a parody of its own genre, perhaps pushing things too far. But it pulls back from the brink of ridiculous with its sinister mood and spooky atmosphere.
Alice, played by Ella Connelly is particularly good at walking the tightrope between evil little monster and innocent little girl. Timothy Spall is also impressive as the rather restrained, all-knowing village elder, Arthur.
Overall Wake Wood is a strong atmospheric horror with a unique premise. A creepy chiller that uses all the classic techniques of the low budget horror. It’s not sophisticated and it doesn’t have high production values. But for low-budget, old-school, Hammer style horror, you won’t be disappointed.
By Amanda Hegarty.
Calum
February 25, 2011
I’m afraid we were disappointed… very disappointed. Went along hoping for some gore and a bit of a fright, as you always do with these things, but the only remotely scary thing about it was how easy it was to predict exactly what was going to happen next.