Neil Welch
Following the death of their daughter, a couple move to a small rural Irish village, where they discover that the locals have a ritual which can bring back the dead for three bonus days. However, the dead person has to have been dead for less than a year, and their daughter misses out by a month or so. Still, no need to own up to that, despite the warning of consequences...This horror film is nicely atmospheric and well acted by a small but respectable cast. In fact, the only thing wrong with it is that it is completely derivative, being ripped off almost entirely from Stephen King's Pet Semetary even to the occupation of the father (vet) and twist ending. Still, throw in a smattering of Wicker Man...
gpeltz
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.
kosmasp
I won't spoil the ending and I don't think there is anything in here, that won't have been discussed in the general summary of the film. Still if you don't want to know anything about the movie, steer clear of this. You've been warned.Having said that, the summary line is pretty clear. As was the movie itself. Witchery and a nod to Stephen King included. And while you know this cannot be a good decision and even if you haven't heard of the Pet Cemetery, you will see where this is going. Unfortunately there is nothing new here. On the contrary, you get a few (obvious non-actors), that take quite a bit out of the movie. Don't get me wrong the main characters are portrayed by good actors, but even they can't really save this.
