Wake Wood (2011)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Did you people see the same film I saw?

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

(57%) A better than most family based horror from the new hands of Hammer horror. The great Tim Spall in a fairly decent in terms of screen time support role elevates the film by some margin, and even though the main line up isn't quite up to his standard I still found this to be a stronger film than I was first expecting. What this also has over many films of this type is quite a high level of blood and gore, plus it's entertaining, not that badly made considering the all too clear lowish budget. Overall the gore is there, it's watchable, it's not over-long, there's plenty fun to be had, and of course there's Mr Spall making this a better film than first assumed.

It's probably my own fault; that something in my computer was not able to track the voices, and the spoken sound quality was miserable. I tried closed caption English subtitles, It didn't work. Maybe it's my old XP system, but last night I watched a You Tube upload with excellent sound quality. (Some werewolf movie) The picture quality in this viewing was fine, no skips or stops, except for those, "give ya three seconds to turn me off" breaks. Sad to say only some of the dialog was fine, I got every word, enough so to keep me up with the events going on, but most of the time the spoken words were garbled; Particularly when there was soft talking, or whispering, forget it! I decided to give it a go. Spoilers Ahead, Yeah, go ahead and give it a try, but beware, it is very graphic and bloody, but it is also intriguing, I am talking about the uploaded movie at you tube, called,"Wake Wood" (2010) Directed by David Keating, who also co-wrote the screenplay. The feature was filmed in Ireland and Sweden, the Countryside is beautiful; the weather, moody.The theme of the movie is, "Be careful what you wish for" Indeed there is a lot of wishing going on, particularly by Louise the young pharmacist Mother, played by, Eva Birthistle, and her Husband, the earthy Veterinarian Patrick, played by Aidan Gillan. They are mourning the tragic death of their nine year old daughter Alice, played by Ella Connolli. Mauled by a mad dog. They seek solace in the countryside, in a small village named Wake Wood. A most unusual place, The town leader, named Arthur, well played by Timothy Spall offers Patrick a position as town Vet, for the local farmers, if he would consider staying there. It appears that the locals perform odd rituals, Pagan ceremonies, marching down the streets banging wooden sticks. Patrick and Louise are told by Arthur, that they could have their daughter back, just as she was before she was mauled, but it would be for only three days. Then the young girl would have to return to the dead. One of the conditions for the resurrection ceremony, is that the body can not be a month past the burial. Here to devastating effect, the parents lie in their desire to see their daughter.The recipe here, is to take some elements from Pet Sematary (1989), mix in some Monkey's Paw, and a touch of The Wicker Man (1973) and you have an effective little thriller, Disturbing images? Very much so. Violence and Gore, all very graphic, (At one point one has to wonder, why that damn fool got into the bull pen in the first place!) This being a horror film, it is inevitable that the nine year old Alice, brought back from the dead, is not quite the perfect counterfeit. Something is deeply wrong, but the happy parents will not acknowledge it.... Yet.Young Alice bounces from Bambi eyed darling, to Chucky eyes evil,with just a slight expression, She is one of the more creepy "horror movie" girls that I have seen.I was looking for the disclaimer about animals being harmed, I missed it, perhaps if you see it, let me know. I mention this because some of the Veterinary scenes were all too realistic. Clever lads at the prosthetic shop. did a convincing job with all the carnage.In truth, the real hurt here is not in the carnage depicted, but rather in the loss of a child experienced by the parents. This theme was well explored by Nicholas Roeg in his movie, Don't Look Back, (1973) certain elements from that film also show up here. Wake Wood grinds to a painful conclusion rather abruptly, I get the last shot in the film, but I still don't get it! Seven and a half out of Ten stars, for sustaining the mood, This was the first Hammer Film Production since the mid seventies.

As I mentioned in other occasions, the classic movies produced by Hammer Films had a big influence in my formation as a cinephile. Those films were the first ones to show me a mature aspect of the fantastic cinema, in which the adult subjects and the drama could perfectly coexist with vampires, wolves and all kinds of malicious creatures...including the human being. I think that that ideological transition is an essential phenomenon for every teenager, and it can definitely be exploited as "nostalgia" during the adult age. However, I want to think that the modern rebirth of Hammer Films (even though, strictly speaking, it never "died") does not only aim to evoking juvenile memories and promoting new editions of its classic films, but creating new milestones of fantastic cinema. The problem is that none of their recent films (The Resident and Let Me In) has been remarkable...until now, because even though I would not put Wake Wood at the same level of the classic films made by Hammer, I definitely consider it an excellent horror film.The screenplay from Wake Wood includes the classic elements from Gothic cinema; besides, the subjects of melancholy and contrition it deals with are universal, making the film timeless, because even though it is developed in modern-day UK, it could equally be a "retro" story without losing even a pinch of its narrative force and emotional depth. The actors make a perfect work in their roles; Aidan Gillen and Eva Birthistle are absolutely credible as a suffering couple whose sadness justifies the decisions they both make, and when the things go wrong, both actors express their characters' contradictory emotions without the need of words. And the girl Ella Connolly brings a good performance in a difficult character.It is impossible to deny the fact that Wake Wood has various similarities with The Wicker Man (1973 -how sad it is to think that, whenever I make a reference to that monumental movie, I have to add a pertinent clarification in order not to confuse it with the tedious remake which was made in 2006-). And the irony is that The Wicker Man was not even a film produced by Hammer. But anyway...we can find various similarities between both films: the town hiding a pagan secret; the patriarch who is worried about the welfare of the community, but who is also inflexible when he has to employ violence against its inhabitants; the new people in town who get accidentally mixed in stuff which is beyond their comprehension; and some more. However, I do not consider those similarities as a con, but as a pro which contributes to bringing Wake Wood a dense and spiritual atmosphere, which make it different to any other "rural horror" movie.The only thing I can say against Wake Wood is that a few details from the screenplay feel kinda forced. Nevertheless, I liked this film very much, and I enthusiastically recommend it as a great horror movie which is worthy of having the Hammer Films name attached to it.

This film is very scary!! i watched it with my son and he has seen several horror films, but with this one he didn't want to go to sleep by himself. I too couldn't get certain images out of my head. its a bit slow for about 10 minutes and it looks like a low budget, but then you get a bit of gore right up front and some shocking distributing stuff mixed in with real life stuff, making it even more real and gets you even more invoked and sick to the core! There are several jumps and the story line is kick ass and unique. I love the cocoon idea. the only thing that was a little strange was the idea of the daughter just been brought back to life for three days. good acting, especially the little girl she does make a good, ( well you will find out)