Wake Wood

So, Hammer is back. With Let Me In they successfully made an impact in the horror genre yet again; I’ll have a review of that up soon but today I want to talk about Wake Wood.

Wake Wood is about two people who move out to the country after their daughter is killed by a dog. They just want to get away from the city and pull their lives back together somewhere that is quiet and peaceful, or so it would seem. Upon seeing a strange ritual being performed in the middle of the night they are introduced to the other, more magical side of the village. They are told that they can have three more days with their daughter; the only price is that they must remain in Wake Wood forever. Of course they do take this up, but at a cost for both them and the inhabitants of the town.

What I found strange about this movie was that it was trying so hard to be others. There isn’t anything really original in the story, but in itself it is entertaining. Fans of movies such as the Wicker Man and Pet Sematary will straight away pick up what inspired this movie to be made. You can’t really argue that they aren’t good source materials to use, but what horror needs right now is some originality. Something that also bugged me was the editing during the last half of the movie. I’m not editing expert so I’m not going to be able to say that they got it wrong or anything but some of the death scenes just felt choppy as if they were trying to hide problems in the scenes. Maybe this was down to the fact that it was quite a small movie with not a big budget and this was showing through, but I found it was detrimental to the viewing experience at times. It’s a shame really because the gore in itself is not that bad.

The acting is adequate enough for the story it is telling, but I would highlight Timothy Spall as somebody who stands out as he really manages to make his character creepy and menacing, while trying to come across as caring. Spall really is one of the best British actors right now and manages to pull this movie together at times, as his character pulls together the community itself.

For all it’s weaknesses I’d not say this is a bad movie, it just could have been better. Being a fan of the Wicker Man and Pet Sematary I did enjoy the attempt to pull the two stories together, it just needed to be done better. As I’ve read other say, this is a movie to rent not really to own. If you like it after renting it then buy it, but it is worth at least a watch. If the movie manages one thing it shows that Hammer is back and is helping to strengthen then horror genre. Let’s just have a few more Let Me In’s and not so many Wake Woods.

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