Cherry Tree (2015)
Faith’s world is turned upside down after she finds out that her beloved father is dying. When the mysteriously alluring Sissy Young becomes her field hockey coach, Faith finds a compassionate spirit and much-needed mother figure. Little does she know that Sissy is the head of a centuries-old witches’ coven that uses the fruit of an ancient cherry tree in a secret ritual that restores life to the dead and dying. Offering to cure her father in exchange for a child, Sissy strikes a bargain with Faith, who suddenly finds herself pregnant with a baby that’s growing at an alarming rate. But with the clock to the child’s birth ticking down and the true intention of Sissy’s plans for humanity becoming more apparent, Faith and her father must stand together in order to save both their lives.
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People are voting emotionally.
Fantastic!
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Filmed in Ireland but presumably set in England, judging by the actor's accents, this is a tale of witchcraft, teenagers & life & death. The leader of the coven is played by Anna Walton, surely one of the best looking witches ever to grace the screen. Sexy on the outside but ruthless, powerful & evil on the inside, it's down to a 16 year old school girl to put paid to her dark scheme of domination. It's a good, well made film (though not without a few goofs & gaffs), well acted & contains enough gore for most. Yes, Rosemary's Baby is an obvious influence & the end is rather comical, but it's well worth watch. Just don't confuse it with Cherry Tree Lane!
Anna Walton has one of those faces. She seems to crop up in all sorts of productions, but it was a while before I realised she was Luke Goss's albino sister in 'Hellboy 2 (2008)'. Here, she plays Sissy, a sports teacher at Faith's (Naomi Battrick) school.Faith is a stunning fifteen year old virgin, casually bullied by her school friends. Her father is dying. Sissy, who has been observing her, has a deal to make The characters are well defined. Although defensive, Faith is a likable character, and as her predicament becomes more pronounced, we fear for what she's getting herself into. Equally, Sissy becomes less easy to trust the more embroiled she becomes in the lives of Faith and her father.The pace of the film is frenetic. Faith's makes a remarkable (impossibly quick) recovery from her various ordeals before embarking on avenging herself against the formidable coven of occultists – but then, when so many events are influenced by the supernatural, who is to say that she cannot defy all obstacles at such a lick? If you can get past that implausibility, it is easy to get caught up in the quick-fire revelations and development – there is a lot to be lost allowing the attention to wander.With such an attractive cast, there is little excuse for drifting. That, alongside some generous amount of carnage, make this a very enjoyable roller-coaster. The ending, which I think intends us not to take anything too seriously, is either a huge jump shock, or hilarious, depending on your point of view.
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
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.