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Overall Rating : 6.5/10
Directed By : David Benullo
Jaimie Alexander (Kyle XY (TV) )
Brian McNamara (I Know Who Killed Me)
Chloe Moretz (The Amityville Horror (2005) )
Nick Chinlund (Ultraviolet)
Supplied By : Genius Products
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : October. 4, 2007
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| PLOT After she becomes stranded in a small town, a young woman discovers her arrival there was foretold a century earlier by the town's founding preacher and that she is an integral part of his impending - and terrifying - rebirth. |
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| THE REVIEW 100 years ago, Preacher, Father Jonas Hathaway, whom was also the towns farmer had the most plentiful of crops, that is until crows began to eat away at them. A highly religious man, Jonas believed that the crows destroying the precious crops was God's way of punishing him, so in his twisted mind Hathaway looked for a solution. He comes up with the insane idea that if he sacrificed the town sinners in the name of God, that he would be redeemed by his Savior. When the town catches wind of the Preacher's wrong-doings, the find the crazy supposed "Man of God". and burned him alive while nailed to a cross, much like he would do while sacrificing someone - and as any Horror cliché goes, he vows to return to wreak havoc. It's 100 years later and we meet Elizabeth "Liz" Chambers....she's driving along a highway when she suddenly begins to have car troubles. With no other choice, she pulls into the town of Hope, hoping to get her car repaired. When told that it will take awhile, she stops at a local Diner, where there she would meet a Reporter named Sarah. Sarah is in town to write a story and in midst of conversation with Liz, she tells of the 100 year old story Hathaway. Intrigued, the two Ladies decide to go check out Jonas Hathaway's old farmland, because of it's legendary status. To capitalize on the status, Sara had planned all along to stage a picture of a Scarecrow still on the land. What there are unaware of is that they have posted the said Scarecrow on the exact area in which Hathaway was buried and his spirit still lurks there. His spirit takes the shape of the Scarecrow and eventually kills Sarah. Now alone, Liz must fight for her life, but soon it is revealed that her reasoning for arriving in Hope was foretold 100 years earlier. In the legend of Jonas Hathaway, he had actually chosen Liz Chambers to bare the child in which his spirit would over-take and thus be reborn in human form. The town, highly religious all work together to make the prophecy come to fruition, thus Liz must try her best to escape before it's too late. When I first saw the trailer online for HALLOWED GROUND, honestly I thought it was going to be just another bad Scarecrow slasher movie. There are just too many Scarecrow films out there and to tell the truth, almost all of them are bad. But luckily HALLOWED GROUND didn't turn out to be nearly as bad as I thought it would be - the trailer does this film absolutely no justice, and actually it kind of hurts it if you ask me. HALLOWED GROUND actually is not just another Scarecrow flick as the trailer and cover would suggest, I thought that it was actually kind of clever, it had an interesting plot, and plenty of twist to keep the overall film entertaining. Unlike most film's involving a Scarecrow of some sort, HALLOWED GROUND didn't just involve one going around killing helpless victims, and stalking our film's heroine, it actually had a somewhat deep plot, not to mention that the Evil Preacher's spirit not only embodied a Scarecrow, but it actually jumped to other bodies as well. This to me, was both thoughtful and clever, because it was a great avenue to execute a twist the audience doesn't see coming. Also this film differentiates itself from others in that when our Heroine Elizabeth tells the Sheriff that she is being chased - get this, he actually believes her. This usually doesn't happen in a slasher film, you as the viewer usually have to witness at least 30 to 45 minutes of watching people not believe the main character and as the end of the film draws near, predictably they have no choice, but to believe them. Some people may end up citing this as something "bad" about the film, and although I do admit it's out of the ordinary, at least it's different(who wants to see the same stuff over and over again?) The film's fast pace also helps the film overall. Instead of a long over-drawn prologue, the film, (which is only about 83 minutes in length) movies straight forward into the the story that it's going to tell. In my opinion, this film never seemed to die down until it's finally moment, very, interesting, fast-paced, and dare I say, even exciting. The story is also accompanied with some very well-thought camera setups and angles by the director, all of which help the film succeed in keeping everything fresh and fun in the long run. The acting in HALLOWED GROUND is above average, headed by the newest star of TVs KYLE XY, Jaimie Alexander. Jaimie portrays the character of Elizabeth with realism, the character is just coming off of the death of her young son Jesse for him she blames herself for hid death. All of the sudden she is thrust into this situation she didn't see coming, and we definitely feel her mental anguish. Alexander is a great actress and she has a knack for making her characters very personable and likeable - when she did the small interview for us before the release of her first film, REST STOP, I just knew she would go far, and by the look of it, she's now well on her way, Another standout performance was by Chloe Grace Moretz(THE AMITYVILLE HORROR 2005 remake), although her role is brief in natural, she shows a lot of raw emotion, and as far as the film goes, I see her character as a way that God is redeeming Elizabeth for the tragic loss off her son - she now once again has someone to need her. Overall, HALLOWED GROUND is a lot more than just your average direct-to-video flick, it was actually a pretty good one. The story isn't just some thin on-the-fly written effort, I actually believe it took some thought. Sure it isn't the deepest story I have ever seen, but it's quite plausible as far as movie standards go. It is for the most part a story about religion but unlike many a religion driven plot, it isn't in your face and forced upon the audience - it is the film's first priority for the most part sure, but it also has enough action, suspense and a twist or two to make it's religious overtones not the sole focus of the film's audience, so I think it balances out quite well, |
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| GORE
METER 3.510 A couple of impalements, gouged out eyes and dismembered limbs |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 5.5/10 I thought the scoring was really fitting, fast paced, much like the movie, it just fit really well. | ||||
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM When I settled in to watch HALLOWED GROUND, again, honestly I didn't think I was going to like it much. I thought it was it was going to be just another low budget slasher that had nothing more to offer other than a few cheap effects, The lesson is that you should never trust a film's trailer, in some cases it can make film look better than it is, or as in this case, make a film look truly awful. I really enjoyed this film, as not only was it a slasher, it also had a story(imagine that for a low budget film) I thought HALLOWED GROUND was a great film, and would recommend it! This DVD will be available October 9, 2007 |
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