Wake Wood

I watched this film a few weeks ago and i found it to be a very good horror film. i found it to be a very gripping sort of film with some nice views of the Irish countryside. It is about a young couple whose daughter is torn to death by an angry Alsatian not very far from their home. To get over the terrible loss of their daughter they decide to start a new life in Ireland in a small village called Wake Wood. Soon after they arrive there the girl's mother Louise finds that the local villagers are involved in some rather unusual behaviour. I found this film to be very entertaining throughout, with a very good storyline. I thought that the young girl's parents Patrick (Aidan Gillen) and Louise (Eva Birthistle) were very good actors too. I would definitely recommend this film: 6/10

After the death of their beloved daughter Alice (Ella Connolly) by a savage dog, the veterinary Patrick (Aidan Gillen) and the pharmacist Louise (Eva Birthistle) move to Wake Wood, a small town in the countryside. Patrick befriends the local leader Arthur (Timothy Spall) and the couple grieves the death of Alice.

Sooner Louise witnesses part of a bloody ritual in the woods and they learn that the villagers practice a pagan ritual to bring back to life the beloved deceased one for three days for a better farewell within the first month of the casualty and within the village limits. Patrick and Louise accept the conditions and lie to Arthur about the date that Alice died. They succeed in resuscitating Alice but something goes deadly wrong.

"Wake Wood" is an interesting film that has a storyline very similar to "Pet Sematary" with desperate parents using a weird ritual to revive their beloved nine year-old daughter. The dramatic and creepy story is supported by good performances and worth watching this Hammer film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Despertar dos Mortos" ("Awake of the Dead")

I was happy when I heard that Hammer studios was back in business. So far they delivered 2 flicks, The Resident (2011) and this one. Wake Wood leans more towards the Hammer style then The Resident although both do have their own thing. Wake Wood has more red stuff. But that doesn't make a flick. My only point of negativity is the use of CGI. There is one scene that I didn't like, when they make a close-up of the child's neck and we see her wounds disappear. It was done 100% CGI and I hated it. I guess one shot is also CGI, when blood sputters out of a neck.

But luckily the film has a good atmosphere. It takes place in Ireland and let that be the country of Paganism and Witchcraft. And that is what it's all about. Bringing back the death by old rituals. As I stated it do contain a lot of blood but it never becomes too gory. It was David Keating his first attempt to make a real horror. And he succeeded. Some shots were typical seventies style , even hammer style and the way it was edited was also a return to the seventies. The acting was okay. Only Eva Birthistle we knew from the horror The Children (2008). She even has a small nudity in Wake Wood.

If I must choose which one, Wake Wood or The Resident, leans most to the old Hammer I would say wake Wood.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Following the unnecessary, yet excellent remake 'Let me In' Hammer returns with Wake Wood a supernatural chiller in which a child is brought back from the dead to comfort her parents for three days. But she's not quite the angelic child she was.

Eva Birthistle plays the grieving mother Louise and Twelve Rounds (2009) bad guy Adian Gillen is exceptional as the deceased child's father. Reliable Timothy Spall and the child actress are notable and the supporting cast are solid. 

There's some effective bloody gore, grizzly births, severed spines, dog attacks and killings. Some supernatural elements take place out of shot to avoid the use of CGI, which adds to the believability and saves the budget.

Wake Wood is dark, damp and dreary just as it should be. Nevertheless, it is slightly stifled by a filmed for TV look. That aside, with a small budget director David Keating keeps the blood flowing and the pace going.  It benefits from plausibility and atmosphere with an on location shoot. There's plenty of shadows, eerie music, sharp editing and a grounded screen-play (by Brendan McCarthy) to keep you watching with a grin that Hammer may have a place in this century.

With elements of  Don't Look Now, Case 39, Carrie, The Wicker Man and Pet Cemetery to name a few you could argue it's all be done before and better. However, Wake Wood's great ending debatably leaves you thinking sometimes less is more.

I found the story line original, or at least something I haven't seen in the past 10 years, because it's nearly all been done by now. The story moves at a good pace, showing you mysterious things along the way, teasing you a little before revealing what exactly is happening.

I would describe Wake Wood as a mix between the Exorcist and The Wicker Man. While it never reaches the brilliance of the previously mentioned films Wake Wood is a solid film, with good acting, particularly from the ever excellent Aidan Gillen. The cinematography is hardly groundbreaking but suits the mood of the film well.

Any fan of supernatural horror should be satisfied with what Wake Wood has to offer.